All's not fair..evidently

Yeah, I had hijacked Kevin's blog (http://waspjerky.blogspot.com) to post this, but he deleted it. So I'll post it here. Guess you don't share EVERYTHING in marriage. (Unless you're the McCarty's.)

On poverty and the like

I'm having a really great conversation with my older, conservative, Southern Baptist pastor Uncle. It's actually quite civil and stimulating. Here is one of my recent responses:


You know, I don't really think that we can eliminate poverty. Its existence is a consequence of our fallen state. As Christians, (or humans for that matter) we will never be able to eradicate suffering of all/any form. It's part of the challenge that we have of living of the "right now" and the "not yet" redemption of Christ. We are justified, we are being sanctified, but as part of creation, we are "not yet" what God intended us to be, and social ills such as poverty are a part of that.

However, on the same note, just because we can not fully realize the alleviation of suffering, God does not excuse us from trying to address such problems. References to poverty and serving the poor occur about 3000 times throughout the Bible. Poverty and the poor are close to the heart of God it seems. Therefore addressing the poor should be the heart's desire of the (global) body of Christ. I do think that the developed world does need to own up, that we as individuals need to accept as well, some responsibility for the impoverished status of many nations. Our industrialized wealth has come from exploiting the peoples and resources of many other cultures/nations/people. If we eliminated slave labor, sweatshops, the past gains of slavery, so and and so forth, most people of the developed world could not afford to live the same disposable lifestyle of comfort that we now enjoy. If that $5 sweatshirt were made by people paid a living wage that would provide for the bare necessities, it wouldn't cost only $5 and I wouldn't be able to have at least 5 of those sweatshirts in my closet.

The rich (and I think that includes me and you..and most people we know in the States/Western Europe) do not have to realize the real cost of the things that we purchase, use, spend because we are so far removed from the production. And it is this building of wealth on the backs of others that I think should move Christians to see that this is not Godly. God does not forbid wealth, but it should not be built on the backs of others or at the expense of others.

It is a myth that there is unlimited wealth to be had, as we are beginning to realize by our lack of physical resources. Our global market place effectively cripples certain countries from participating on equal footing mainly because of international debt. You probably know this already, but these high interest loans are offered to countries who have no other means of supporting themselves. This often is during a disaster, emergency, or other event. These loans are highly unregulated and often fall into the hands of the corrupt ruling, wealthy officials (like in Honduras). Here is a link that describes it way better than I can http://www.osjspm.org/debt.htm


Forgiving these debts is far from a panacea. But it could help stop the trend of the growing gap between the developed nations and the developing ones that are stuck in a rut of poverty. I also don't think that making developing nations into nations like the U.S. or the EU is a good idea either. It's actually impossible. Because, while making up only four percent of the world's population, the U.S. operates one third of its automobiles. U.S. citizens consume one quarter of the world's global energy supply. Therefore, other nations can not move out of their poverty without great sacrifice on the part of those of us who have economic and political power. To not be actively keeping other people in poverty, we will have to sacrifice our standard of living. The western world needs to become less spoiled and demanding, the developing world deserves clean drinking water, decent shelter, food, healthcare, and vaccines as much as I do. (Not that I deserve anything, but you know what i mean...) I'm not looking for some communistic shangrila, but if our nation is so "predominantly" Christian as many like to claim (which I"m not sure this is an accurate claim) then Christians should bear in mind their impact on others when living their lives.

I think that the efforts that your church is making in Honduras and in your community are fantastic. If only every church would do so. But as you said, "But all of that is a drop in the bucket compared to what is needed. And the needs of Honduras are a very small percentage of the staggering needs of the world." That is why I think more than charity is needed. Charity is a wonderful thing, but we are also called to justice. I wish, no I pray, that the Church could address poverty in such a comprehensive way. My opinion is that doing so will require questioning our governing bodies, structures, institutions and to move beyond these structures as the Church. For us it will be a costly and painful thing to do if we do it with the heart and dedication asked of us by God. It will require that we no longer think of ourselves first as Americans, but as Christians. The direct association of the two is (my opinion, here) a profanity of what true dedication to Christ is. If my calling by Christ is limited because I"m seeking to protect the interest of my country, then I have my allegiances wrong.

What plans are there to deal with the other glaring needs of the human race after we eliminate poverty? How do we deal a death blow to our propensity for greed, injustice, hatred, racism and the like? Is poverty the worst of these ailments?

Well, it actually appears that poverty and injustice are often one and the same and are the result of greed, hatred, and racism. It is no coincidence that people of color are disproportionately affected by poverty. We will not overcome poverty without dismantling racism in our society. We should commit ourselves to racial justice and reconciliation in our personal lives, our congregations, our neighborhoods, and in the very structures of our society. We will not overcome poverty with economic solutions alone, but also through rebuilding the bonds of healthier families and supportive communities, which hold our society together, and especially through nurturing and raising our children.

Now that I've got a poorly written sermon here, I will say that some of the organizations that I link to are idealistic. However, the Church (especially in America) has been negligient in this area. With the exception of some social gospel movements, we have largely ignored God's calling to serve the "least of these." (Evangelicals in particular have done a horrible job of this compared to Catholics/Mainline Protestants). By looking at where we exert our political power, you would think that the biggest calling of Christians would be to fight abortion and homosexuality. It's not that these are not important issues. On the contrary, I find that both of these also go back to poverty, injustice, and strengthening our communities. But to try to control others into having Christian values does no good, no sense focusing on the symptom rather than the disease.

The Church needs prophetic voices, and to be corrective sometimes they have to be loud, hopelessly hopeful, and off the beaten path. Isaiah walked around naked for three years cause God told him to, so just because it sometimes looks crazy, I don't want to ignore God working. I don't want us to abandon reason, but to examine our reasoning. And yes, addressing issues like these does put us in the company of people that at times make me uncomfortable. This cause at times is rampant with relativism, theological liberalism, and the like. But all the more reason for a conservative Christian theology to be strong and present in serving the Kingdom of God.

Shallow as a Frisbee

Okay, so I'm not a bastion of deep thoughts lately. I've been busy doing school, work, practicum, being a conscientious pet owner, taking licensure exams, and stuff like that. I'd hate to break a pattern. Over at Ship of Fools they have the most hilarious clip. It is wet your pants, roll on the floor, sexually repressed church funny. All I have to say is, be careful when you want to say "pitch his tents" in a sermon.

Go have the best laugh you've had in awhile.

They say it's your birthday!!!

Hey ya'll. It's this guy's birthday. Go make him feel special. ;)

I hate blogger...

Blogger is having all kinds of bad problems with my photos. For pictures of the basement disaster as well as our trip into the city on Sunday, go here.

I am alive...

Okay, so I've been a little out of practice around here. I've been busy trying to tread water with school and my licensure exam, which was today. (What a way to spend fall break!) So, break wasn't as restful as I would have liked, but such is life.

In other news, we had an interesting event on Saturday. I didn't really think much of it when we had no water Saturday morning. I called the office, and they made some vague reference to a "major backup on your end of the building." Water was back on in the hour, I was home studying for said exam. No big deal.

That night we went to church and then to see Flight Plan. (DON'T DO IT!) AT 10:30, we thought, well let's do laundry since we're going to the city to see friends tomorrow. We make our way to the basement, the noxious smell of shit pervading as we descended the stairs.

Said "major backup" from earlier was a busted sewer pipe...oh, two units down from our storage unit in the basement. The apartment complex isn't necessarily responsible for pipe bursting or the fact it is located OVERHEAD...but the fact that they didn't inform the tenants in the two effected buildings, that is just plain rude.

So, we had to clean out a crap soaked Christmas tree, throw away a sleeping bag, dry out some chairs, disinfect everything, and take some hard core showers, all while trying to do our laundry. We moved our storage unit to another area that wasn't effected by the pipe break, but have no idealistic notions that it couldn't happen anywhere in the basement.

At midnight, we finally got to bed. Check out the pictures below to get the full effect of what a pain in the rear this was. EWWWWWW.....

Army National Guard to Start Buying Souls...

There is something so wrong about this...

Thoughts on Life and Church

I've been wrestling with how I can be both in ministry and a psychologist. I don't have a problem seeing how the two fit together, but convincing most churches otherwise can be really difficult. So, I set up a meeting with our teaching pastor at church. He was a marriage and family therapist for ten years before becoming the teaching pastor at our church. We chatted on Friday, and I thought that I'd share some of what we talked about. I hope that you all have some thoughts to share on what I say, as well. Of course, lately not many people have been around, so I'm either really f'ing boring (a real possibility) or my novelty has worn off, or people and their lives are as busy as mine.

*Consumerism is one of the most dangerous threats to the Church.* It was great to hear this from the pastor's mouth. It's not our job to create a better product, a better service, or to even keep you happy. It's our job as a leadership team to preach Truth, and if that draws people great, and if it doesn't okay. But Truth ultimately draws people who are looking for it.


*Churches that are inwardly focused are disgusting.* By inwardly focused, I mean offer ministries that only serve members and do not minister to the community as a while. I wrote my ugrad thesis about this. Some churches are all about serving themselves and the needs of its priveleged members. Instead, churches should be outwardly focused, looking to meet the needs of the community around them, to minister to suffering and to help the underserved and "least of these" thrive. Pastor said,"If people think we end up looking like a social gospel church, who cares. God knows who we are, and we know who we are in Christ. People who know us will know we are more than that."

Also, on this point, it was said that mega churches are disgusting because they just showcase the inward focus of small churches on a large scale. The magnification of self service might make us sick, but its the same sin that is present in countless other bodies of believers on a smaller scale.

*After the Gospel, anything goes.* Okay, some of you just passed out. Once you come to, let's talk about what this really means. You would think a church (according to many of my Christian friends) that supports such a theology would be overrun with relativism, homosexuals ;), and sin, right? Well, uh, no. Just those other issues that we may disagree on aren't worth splitting over. If we're going to be the body, let's be the body of Christ. And part of the Gospel is seeking justice, having support and recovery ministries, on and on. The Gospel is so pervasive, that if you seek to follow it alone, (a high calling) it will infiltrate all you do as believers.

*Post-Evangelical* What does this word mean? I want to know, and I need to do some reading.

Random Fun Making at the World

The absolutely most hilarious thing that I've seen in a long time is this adorable commercial of a little boy.

Also funny is this take on what it would be like if Jesus spoke at a Republican Party Fund Raiser.

And, as I'm reading Nick Hornby's A Long Way Down about four people who run into each other on top of a building in London on New Year's Eve each with the intention to commit suicide, I thought I'd share a quote that I liked from it:

How do people, like, not curse? How is it possible? There are all these gaps in speech where you just have to put a "fuck." I'll tell you who the most admirable people in the world are: newscasters. If that was me, I'd be like, "And the motherfuckers flew the fucking plane right into the Twin Towers." How could you not, if you're a human being? Maybe they're not so admirable. Maybe they're robot zombies.

Bueller? Bueller? Anyone? Bueller?

Southern Hospitality

Well, my mother doesn't read this, but if she did then she might see how some of the ideas that she put in her daughther's head might not be the healthiest in the world. I grew up in rural East Tennessee. It's a culture that places its women in a double bind. I was taught to be competent and not need men. I needed to fix my car, make straight A's, and be sure of myself. But I was also taught to be soft spoken and demure, play coy, and always be polite. Never insult a man's ego. Never expect too much emotional support from men. Never demand anything that you need. Just so you know, trying to be all of these things will make you insane.

Also consider that my mother grew up in a strong single mother family with two sisters and one brother, with a father that abandoned her family when she was two years old. My father had an authoritarian dad whose family caters to his every whim in such a subservient way that there is rarely conflict. So, the parenting messages were all sorts of muddled sometimes.

Another thing that my mother never does is send forwards. You know, those pithy, annoying emails that someone found amusing and thought that everyone including your second cousin should read. So, I found it INCREDIBLY interesting that my mother sent me a forward today. My interest was piqued.

Now, I know not to open emails with the title "Southern Women." But hope springs eternal, and I thought maybe the entire world had flip flopped, my mother had caught on to my anger about being shoved into a box that didn't quite fit all my life, and would preface such an email with something like "Look at this driveling pile of poop." But, no such luck, my mom sent the following as an actual serious forward.

Southern Women:
Southern women appreciate their natural assets:
Clean skin.
A winning smile.
That unforgettable Southern drawl.

Southern women know their manners:
"Yes, ma'am."
"Yes, sir."
"Why, no, Billy!"

Southern women have a distinct way with fond expressions:
"Y'all come back!"
"Well, bless your little heart."
"Drop by when you can."
"How's your Momma?"

Southern women know their summer weather report:
Humidity
Humidity
Humidity

Southern women know their vacation spots:
The beach
The beach
The beach

Southern women know the joys of June, July, and August:
Summer tans
Colorful hi-heel sandals
Strapless sun dresses

Southern women know everybody's first name:
Honey
Darlin'
Shugah

Southern women know the movies that speak to their hearts:
Fried Green Tomatoes
Driving Miss Daisy
Steel Magnolias
Gone With The Wind

Southern women know their religions:
Baptist
Methodist
Football

Southern women know their country breakfasts:
Red-eye gravy
Grits
Country ham
Mouth-watering homemade biscuits with momma's homemade jelly

Southern women know their cities dripping with Southern charm:
Charleston (Chawl'stn)
Savannah (S'vanah)
New Orleans (N'awlins)
Atlanta (Addlanna)

Southern women know their elegant gentlemen:
Men in uniform.
Men in tuxedos
Rhett Butler, of course!

Southern girls know their prime real estate:
The Mall
The Country Club
The Beauty Salon
(maybe we should add Wal-Mart)

Southern girls know the four deadly sins:
Having bad hair and nails
Having bad manners
Cooking bad food
Wearing too much makeup in the summer

Southern girls know men may come and go, but friends are fahevah!

Now...... Shugah, send this to some friends who
were raised in the South or wish they had been!


If you're a Northern transplant, Bless your little
heart... fake it. We know you got here as fast as you
could.....!!!

Now, I have to take some responsibility for this. I'm not quite adult enough to call my mom and tell her just how much this email hurts me, considering all the work I"m doing in therapy on the fact that I don't feel enough like a woman. My mother, a strong woman who is in the ministry, who thinks women are equipped to minister as much as men, who would fight to her dying day to be treated as an equal, subjects herself to such latent discrimination and it hurts me.

I've talked before about how my mother told me that she was basically disappointed in my pereceived level of feminity. This is interesting to me from the same mother who put me in Tball at the age of 4, who enrolled me in dance classes, told me I could do anything, and she literally fought city hall for equal wages for women at one point when I was child.


So, maybe I'm a snivelling ungrateful baby. My parents are happily married for 30 years, they were there for every game and award banquet, they taught me to love Christ and others, they never participated in manifest sexism, and they did not hold me back even when it scared them where I was flying.

But, it does hurt. And it makes me angry. GRRRRR.

Guess who's tagged, tagged again...

Hey! I'm back. I'll give you all crazy wonderful posts about my thoughts, some positive and some not, about the AACC world conference in Nashville and the people that I met there. Also coming up: the rocky dispute that might well defend the claim that single Christians can be frigid weirdos afraid of sexuality and reality...

But, on a lighter note,Zalm tagged me and validated my existence. So stay tuned for a brief and bizarre ride into my past and present...

10 Years Ago:

Living in Tennessee, in the same house I had always lived in. I was 15 and a sophomore in High School. I was dating an alto sax playing band geek who I actually should never have dated because he was headed for an entirely different future than I could ever imagine for myself. I was crushing on a skater arty/farty guy in my geometry class that I eventually dated for over a year, and who actually reminds me a lot of my husband, but this guy later broke my heart. I still thought the world was black and white, and so was my faith. The biggest drama in my life was my decision to quit the basketball team because of the asshole coach and not getting caught while making out. I do remember around this time was Homecoming, and I snuck back to the football stadium with my boyfriend (the band geek) to make out.

5 Years Ago:

I had met my *now* husband four months previously. We were pretty serious and already talking marriage. I was 20 years old and a junior in college. I got accepted into my interdisciplinary degree program. I was taking Sociology classes and working on my thesis. I thought I would become a youth minister. I read my first Francis Schaeffer book. I was in a class with an asshole professor who harangued me because I was a Bush supporter. I was taking a class that would change my life, Technology, Society, and the Common Good. And my women's flag football team won the championship with me as quarterback. Oh, and my team beat Philip Fulmer's daughters' football team in the process. After he saw me run the reverse at that game, he ran it next game. I can't prove it, but I swear he stole my play.

1 Year Ago:

Married two years and living in Illinois, I was at the beginning of my second year of my Master's program. I would soon learn that the license I wanted had been discontinued, and I would have to decide whether to get my doctorate. I was dealing with who I wanted to support in the election (I ultimately chose Kerry). I began walking the wire between my conservative family and not so conservative husband. I began to realize that I might actually need to go to therapy to provide it to others well. I found out I was going to Europe with Kevin and on a mission trip. Kevin would be full time at his job. I would soon start three jobs (that's too many). My life and life's outlook were under scrutiny and and in flux. They still are.

Yesterday:

I was in Nashville and finally reunited with Kevin after two weeks of being apart. We were visiting with the best man from our wedding, his girlfriend and roommate, and two of my colleagues who were at the conference with me. We started off with dessert at midnight at the Sunset Grille. It was one of my colleague's birthdays. We didn't get in until 2am. I dropped off my colleagues, and then ditched the last morning of the conference to spend time with Kevin and said friend/best man from the night before. Returned to have lunch with the rest of my colleagues and a couple of our profs who were at the conference. Drove colleagues to the airport and returned rental car. Then rode with Kevin back to Illinois. Had crazy "haven't seen you in two weeks" sex with him. :)

5 Snacks I Enjoy:
Pita Chips and Hummus, Gummi Bears, Flattened Bananas from Trader Joe's, Dried Apple Rings, Veggies and Ranch Dip.


5 Songs I Know All the Words To:
By Derek Webb: Wedding Dress, I repent, and Beloved. Bitch by Meredith Brooks, Pink by Aerosmith


5 Things I’d Do with 100 Million Dollars:
Give a lot away, Pay off my school loans, Put some aside to start my own free community center and clinic, Buy a house, Go back to Europe.


5 Places I’d Run Away To:

Smoky Mountains; All of Europe (especially Italy, Fussen,Germany, and Krakow); California (never been); Oregon (never been); Canada (never been)

5 Things I’d Never Wear:

Cliched Christian Tshirts, Anything that shows my midriff, a bikini, thong underwear, and low ride jeans that show my underwear.


5 Favorite TV Shows:

Well, I'll stick to ones currently running on Television:
Family Guy
Amazing Race
Desperate Houswives
Grey's Anatomy
House

5 Biggest Joys:

Spending time with my husband, bike rides on sunny days, knowing myself better, travelling to cool places, and working with my teenage girl clients.

5 Favorite Toys:
Settlers of Catan, My Awesome Flat Screen Monitor and Computer, My Dell Axim, My bicycle, and my kitty cats.

5 Fine Folks Who Can Now Consider Themselves Tagged:
Kevin, Insane Preschool Mom, Myste, Stephanie, and Meg