Once the New Year's festivities have ended and I have had some time to reflect on the reading, I will go over Screwtape, chapter 7.
Happy New Year, folks!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
The Arrival of a New Year
Everyone who reads this post may or may not be anticipating the arrival of 2012 for whatever reason. Personally, I am looking forward to the New Year not because of any resolutions or "the end of the world" which some people are predicting, but because I am curious to know what God has in store for me and for everyone in the world.
For folks who live in Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, and the Philippine islands in the Pacific, there is probably no better place to be when watching the sun come up on January 1st. For myself, I will most likely wake up earlier than usual to watch the sun rise over the mountains and shine down into the valley...that is, if the weather is clear.
This year began with fear and anxiety on my part: fear of failure in academics and student teaching and anxiety about what the future held. Although I am no more certain of what may come in the days, months, and years ahead in my life, I have discarded my fear of failure for the courage which only the Lion of Judah can provide.
Ever think there was a reason for that name? God told Joshua over and over again in Joshua 1:5-9 that he should be "bold and very courageous", for God would be with him where-ever he went.
I have not made any resolutions for this coming year which I have not made already in past years and months. I have not determined that I will feel a certain way or behave much better than what I have, although there will always be room for improvement in my habits and actions. If anything, I want to increase my good habits in my Christian walk: prayer, study of the Scriptures, and working with others who earnestly seek to do God's will and not theirs. To give to others, even out of my relative poverty. To listen for God's instructions and obey when I hear.
What about you? What do you wish to do and be for the Kingdom of Heaven?
For folks who live in Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun, and the Philippine islands in the Pacific, there is probably no better place to be when watching the sun come up on January 1st. For myself, I will most likely wake up earlier than usual to watch the sun rise over the mountains and shine down into the valley...that is, if the weather is clear.
This year began with fear and anxiety on my part: fear of failure in academics and student teaching and anxiety about what the future held. Although I am no more certain of what may come in the days, months, and years ahead in my life, I have discarded my fear of failure for the courage which only the Lion of Judah can provide.
Ever think there was a reason for that name? God told Joshua over and over again in Joshua 1:5-9 that he should be "bold and very courageous", for God would be with him where-ever he went.
I have not made any resolutions for this coming year which I have not made already in past years and months. I have not determined that I will feel a certain way or behave much better than what I have, although there will always be room for improvement in my habits and actions. If anything, I want to increase my good habits in my Christian walk: prayer, study of the Scriptures, and working with others who earnestly seek to do God's will and not theirs. To give to others, even out of my relative poverty. To listen for God's instructions and obey when I hear.
What about you? What do you wish to do and be for the Kingdom of Heaven?
Monday, December 26, 2011
The Screwtape Letters: chapter 6, and a reflection on the Gospel of Luke
I have reflected at times on the suffering, fiscal and physical, of the citizens of the United States, Iraq, and Afghanistan over the past decade. If tempters such as Wormwood and Screwtape are fed with the suffering of their patients especial to periods of war and conflict, surely Lewis as a contemporary writer in the early 2000s may have drawn richly from the "War on Terror". The fear which has been instilled in the populations of many countries the world over as a result of this nebulous concept of waging war against an idea has been perpetual and, in my humble opinion these days, quite ridiculous. Looking at this ridiculous and perpetual fear through the eyes of the two tempters, however, I think Screwtape would have rejoiced at the events which have transpired since September 11, 2001 and what the mindset of political authorities has done to ordinary citizens.
Screwtape begins his fifth letter to Wormwood with a rather grandfatherly tone in recognition of Wormwood's "deliriously joyful drunkenness" over the anguish of his patient's soul at the onset of another European war (I surmise that Lewis is using the Second World War, though it is possible that the First is being referenced instead), and we get a glimpse of the "food" which sustains all of the subjects of "Our Father Below", a title which Lewis substitutes for the Devil. Yet, the cautionary words for Wormwood are not to rejoice in the first few sips of this heady draught, but to remain sober and decide how best to use the war to procure the damnation of the patient's soul so that Wormwood might drink the "brim-full living chalice of despair and horror and astonishment" for as long as he wishes.
Screwtape suggests that the Enemy makes use of a war in such very unfair circumstances and conditions (I have never known that a war was supposed to be fair, but this is beside the point). Men and women not in the Enemy's service look beyond themselves and strive for causes that earn them redemption in His eyes because those individuals were doing the best with what they knew. Men and women far advanced in the Enemy's service willingly go to die in such situations where they knew they WOULD die, prepared mentally and spiritually for that death. And many thousands, much to Screwtape's dismay, face the possibility of physical expiration not in the contented wordliness of a nursing home surrounded by a numbing lie in regards to the sorry state of their soul, but in constant awareness of the everpresent possibility that death is only a step away. Screwtape reflects that "in wartime not even a human can believe that he will live forever" and so "our best weapon, contented worldliness, is rendered useless".
Somehow, this chapter dove-tails quite nicely into the overall theme of Luke's Gospel, which he addresses to one Theophilus, a Christian in the first century CE who perhaps requested more information about Jesus from Luke or was given the very detailed account of Jesus' ministry simply because Luke decided that another account based on eyewitness testimony was necessary for the Good News to be given legitimacy in the minds of the very educated audiences. Whatever the case, Luke's attorney-like style does not conceal Jesus' testament that the systems and structures of governance and faith-based religion were being exploited for the temporal gain of those persons in charge, and that those seeking the Kingdom of Heaven must seek to give themselves and their own personal gain up for something greater than themselves.
What then, about the time of year in which I write this post? Merry Christmas indeed to all people, yet the reality of this time of year is far different than what many North American Christians experience in the comfort of their homes. Perhaps this is why I waited until now: hundreds of thousands of American citizens are homeless, and millions of people the world over are starving and dying of thirst. Billions are waiting for the Gospel, for true Good News.
I might call that far greater anguish and terror than the prospect of war.
As always, please respond to this post by leaving a comment if you have questions or oppose something written here. I by no means have all the answers and I am not trying to be the Ultimate Authority (that is reserved for God), and I welcome any feedback.
Screwtape begins his fifth letter to Wormwood with a rather grandfatherly tone in recognition of Wormwood's "deliriously joyful drunkenness" over the anguish of his patient's soul at the onset of another European war (I surmise that Lewis is using the Second World War, though it is possible that the First is being referenced instead), and we get a glimpse of the "food" which sustains all of the subjects of "Our Father Below", a title which Lewis substitutes for the Devil. Yet, the cautionary words for Wormwood are not to rejoice in the first few sips of this heady draught, but to remain sober and decide how best to use the war to procure the damnation of the patient's soul so that Wormwood might drink the "brim-full living chalice of despair and horror and astonishment" for as long as he wishes.
Screwtape suggests that the Enemy makes use of a war in such very unfair circumstances and conditions (I have never known that a war was supposed to be fair, but this is beside the point). Men and women not in the Enemy's service look beyond themselves and strive for causes that earn them redemption in His eyes because those individuals were doing the best with what they knew. Men and women far advanced in the Enemy's service willingly go to die in such situations where they knew they WOULD die, prepared mentally and spiritually for that death. And many thousands, much to Screwtape's dismay, face the possibility of physical expiration not in the contented wordliness of a nursing home surrounded by a numbing lie in regards to the sorry state of their soul, but in constant awareness of the everpresent possibility that death is only a step away. Screwtape reflects that "in wartime not even a human can believe that he will live forever" and so "our best weapon, contented worldliness, is rendered useless".
Somehow, this chapter dove-tails quite nicely into the overall theme of Luke's Gospel, which he addresses to one Theophilus, a Christian in the first century CE who perhaps requested more information about Jesus from Luke or was given the very detailed account of Jesus' ministry simply because Luke decided that another account based on eyewitness testimony was necessary for the Good News to be given legitimacy in the minds of the very educated audiences. Whatever the case, Luke's attorney-like style does not conceal Jesus' testament that the systems and structures of governance and faith-based religion were being exploited for the temporal gain of those persons in charge, and that those seeking the Kingdom of Heaven must seek to give themselves and their own personal gain up for something greater than themselves.
What then, about the time of year in which I write this post? Merry Christmas indeed to all people, yet the reality of this time of year is far different than what many North American Christians experience in the comfort of their homes. Perhaps this is why I waited until now: hundreds of thousands of American citizens are homeless, and millions of people the world over are starving and dying of thirst. Billions are waiting for the Gospel, for true Good News.
I might call that far greater anguish and terror than the prospect of war.
As always, please respond to this post by leaving a comment if you have questions or oppose something written here. I by no means have all the answers and I am not trying to be the Ultimate Authority (that is reserved for God), and I welcome any feedback.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
The Screwtape Letters, chapter 4
After some harsh rebukes for Wormwood, Screwtape addresses the subject of prayer by Wormwood's patient in chapter four. I want to address a few things about prayer which may seem obvious to some of you and not so obvious to others.
Screwtape encourages the temptation of the patient to anything other than serious prayer. By serious prayer, I am guessing that Screwtape means when the patient completely shuts himself off from the cares and concerns of the rest of the world and engages the Father one-on-one in true quality time between Father and adopted Son.
Prayer is not about feelings, but rather about the concentrated effort which talking to God requires of us. To borrow from a missionary in Costa Rica, "Is this God talking to me, or just last night's pizza?" I say this because prayer is not about getting some good feelings, but instead about honest labor, often on behalf of someone else.
God is present in the room, in the very space where prayer takes place. Enough said.
Finally, prayer is very much affected by the place in which a person prays. Consider that a sociable person in the company of several very good friends will pray far more earnestly in that setting than he or she will when alone in the privacy of their own room. Also, a person who does not feel at all comfortable praying in church save the rare instance that he or she is called upon to do so will spend hours in prayer where no one else may see. This is not an advocation of "to each his own". Rather, the encouragement is for a Christian to pray in the place where they are most dedicated to the task at hand: direct communication with God on behalf of others and self. Though this is not necessarily covered in the book, I wanted to include this reflection because regular prayer is as much a discipline for Christians as marching is for military recruits.
The next post will be a look at chapter 5 and a reflection on the gospel of Luke.
Screwtape encourages the temptation of the patient to anything other than serious prayer. By serious prayer, I am guessing that Screwtape means when the patient completely shuts himself off from the cares and concerns of the rest of the world and engages the Father one-on-one in true quality time between Father and adopted Son.
Prayer is not about feelings, but rather about the concentrated effort which talking to God requires of us. To borrow from a missionary in Costa Rica, "Is this God talking to me, or just last night's pizza?" I say this because prayer is not about getting some good feelings, but instead about honest labor, often on behalf of someone else.
God is present in the room, in the very space where prayer takes place. Enough said.
Finally, prayer is very much affected by the place in which a person prays. Consider that a sociable person in the company of several very good friends will pray far more earnestly in that setting than he or she will when alone in the privacy of their own room. Also, a person who does not feel at all comfortable praying in church save the rare instance that he or she is called upon to do so will spend hours in prayer where no one else may see. This is not an advocation of "to each his own". Rather, the encouragement is for a Christian to pray in the place where they are most dedicated to the task at hand: direct communication with God on behalf of others and self. Though this is not necessarily covered in the book, I wanted to include this reflection because regular prayer is as much a discipline for Christians as marching is for military recruits.
The next post will be a look at chapter 5 and a reflection on the gospel of Luke.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Reminders
Read the fourth chapter of the Screwtape Letters yet? I have; I'm just really tardy in getting around to writing anything!
The recent holiday (okay, two Thanksgiving dinners for me) has quite shifted many routines out of whack. This is more of a reminder to myself to cover the fourth chapter for a change instead of just posting something. Don't let me forget, folks!
The recent holiday (okay, two Thanksgiving dinners for me) has quite shifted many routines out of whack. This is more of a reminder to myself to cover the fourth chapter for a change instead of just posting something. Don't let me forget, folks!
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Thanksgiving
A time to give thanks for the blessings of the past year is coming a bit earlier than normal. Not that I am complaining, really; the big meal four days early? Are you kidding? No complaints here!
Whatever you're doing the rest of the week, wherever you are eating the meal, whoever you're with at the table, give thanks if you are able to God for everything He's done for you. The last eleven months, for better or for worse, have left you alive and with the means to read this post. Life, health, food, family, education, and the season of autumn; I cannot think of anything else that I would rather have right now.
Is there something which you are particularly thankful for? Let us know with a comment attached to this post.
Whatever you're doing the rest of the week, wherever you are eating the meal, whoever you're with at the table, give thanks if you are able to God for everything He's done for you. The last eleven months, for better or for worse, have left you alive and with the means to read this post. Life, health, food, family, education, and the season of autumn; I cannot think of anything else that I would rather have right now.
Is there something which you are particularly thankful for? Let us know with a comment attached to this post.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
The Screwtape Letters, chapter 3
At long last, we arrive at chapter 3!
In this chapter, we are made aware of the patient's home life to a certain extent. We know that the patient lives with his mother or his mother lives with him (hard to tell at times), and that their interactions are less than harmonious. To sabotage the patient's new spiritual life, Screwtape suggests several methods to Wormwood to increase the discord between the two. I will look at them each individually and in order, starting with:
"1. Keep his mind on the inner life." Doubt me not, this may seem like a decent thing to do...until we read on and discover that Screwtape means for the patient's focus to be entirely on himself at the expense of the world and people around him. There is mention of the "most elementary duties" being neglected in favor of "the most advanced and spiritual ones", and this may cause some confusion to us as well. So let's break down these duties in terms of what they might look like. An elementary duty for any Christian is the very simple act of helping someone in need without thought for self-gain. For instance, helping someone pick up the papers which they have dropped on the floor, or covering the coffee bill for a person who has left all their money at home are good examples of helping someone without thought for self-gain. Now, an example of a most advanced and spiritual duty might be the very careful planning and scheduling of intentional fasting during Lent. There is nothing wrong with either one, but Screwtape is hinting at having the patient's spiritual life becoming unbalanced, particularly so that the patient's relationship with his mother becomes severely fractured.
"2. It is, no doubt, impossible to prevent his praying for his mother, but we have means of rendering the prayers innocuous." Screwtape's suggestion here follows in the same vein as the previous bit of advice; namely, that the patient focus on the spiritual rather than the basic needs of the person which might be more urgent. To put the matter another way, praying for the salvation of a starving man's soul without giving the starving man the nourishing soup and water which he desperately needs immediately may result in a corpse, and so does the starving man little good for the present. Now the counter-argument may be that prayer is necessary. Yes. This is most true. Yet after having read through the Gospels, not once did Jesus attend to just the physical or the spiritual needs of the people he met and taught; he attended to both, often in the same sitting. As regards the patient and his mother, the challenge to the reader is to start with the very basic needs of the person they are praying for before moving on to that person's future and eternal life (or eternal death). The particularly chilling thought about the seriousness of Screwtape's point comes in the last sentence; many cases of domestic violence in the United States and around the world have occurred in the most spiritually-minded homes.
"3. When two humans have lived together for many years it usually happens that each has tones of voice and expressions of face which are almost unendurably irritating to the other. Work on that..." How many of us have had a classmate or co-worker or housemate who drove us nuts with certain habits, certain ways of phrasing their sentences, or a certain expression or body posture? Screwtape presses on this particular issue by encouraging Wormwood to use those expressions and tones to set both of the residents against one another. This process is further enhanced in...
"4. In civilised life domestic hatred usually expresses itself by saying things which would appear quite harmless on paper (the words are not offensive) but in such a voice, or at such a moment, that they are not far short of a blow in the face." Screwtape is pushing for such domestic tension here that the questions about mundane home routines become blown all out of proportion in a full-fledged verbal assault by each person involved. If Wormwood does things right and utilizes the third method to the fullest in this scenario, the patient and his mother will soon not be able to be in the house and share each other's company for even five minutes. I think I might leave examples to your imagination, as many of us have come from homes where this situation occurred at least once.
Notice that the assault is comprehensive in its approach, and that Wormwood is not being asked to pick out any one method of temptation, but rather that all four approaches seem to work very nicely with each other if done right.
Rather terrifying, isn't it? But my encouragement to anyone who is reading this post and seeing their own home life reflected in horrific accuracy is this: ask for the Lord to intervene and He will. After all, if we are told anything by Jesus about prayer, it is that we pray in full faith that when we "ask, and it shall be given", peace between ourselves and another person really will be given!
Chapter 4 comes with the next post!
In this chapter, we are made aware of the patient's home life to a certain extent. We know that the patient lives with his mother or his mother lives with him (hard to tell at times), and that their interactions are less than harmonious. To sabotage the patient's new spiritual life, Screwtape suggests several methods to Wormwood to increase the discord between the two. I will look at them each individually and in order, starting with:
"1. Keep his mind on the inner life." Doubt me not, this may seem like a decent thing to do...until we read on and discover that Screwtape means for the patient's focus to be entirely on himself at the expense of the world and people around him. There is mention of the "most elementary duties" being neglected in favor of "the most advanced and spiritual ones", and this may cause some confusion to us as well. So let's break down these duties in terms of what they might look like. An elementary duty for any Christian is the very simple act of helping someone in need without thought for self-gain. For instance, helping someone pick up the papers which they have dropped on the floor, or covering the coffee bill for a person who has left all their money at home are good examples of helping someone without thought for self-gain. Now, an example of a most advanced and spiritual duty might be the very careful planning and scheduling of intentional fasting during Lent. There is nothing wrong with either one, but Screwtape is hinting at having the patient's spiritual life becoming unbalanced, particularly so that the patient's relationship with his mother becomes severely fractured.
"2. It is, no doubt, impossible to prevent his praying for his mother, but we have means of rendering the prayers innocuous." Screwtape's suggestion here follows in the same vein as the previous bit of advice; namely, that the patient focus on the spiritual rather than the basic needs of the person which might be more urgent. To put the matter another way, praying for the salvation of a starving man's soul without giving the starving man the nourishing soup and water which he desperately needs immediately may result in a corpse, and so does the starving man little good for the present. Now the counter-argument may be that prayer is necessary. Yes. This is most true. Yet after having read through the Gospels, not once did Jesus attend to just the physical or the spiritual needs of the people he met and taught; he attended to both, often in the same sitting. As regards the patient and his mother, the challenge to the reader is to start with the very basic needs of the person they are praying for before moving on to that person's future and eternal life (or eternal death). The particularly chilling thought about the seriousness of Screwtape's point comes in the last sentence; many cases of domestic violence in the United States and around the world have occurred in the most spiritually-minded homes.
"3. When two humans have lived together for many years it usually happens that each has tones of voice and expressions of face which are almost unendurably irritating to the other. Work on that..." How many of us have had a classmate or co-worker or housemate who drove us nuts with certain habits, certain ways of phrasing their sentences, or a certain expression or body posture? Screwtape presses on this particular issue by encouraging Wormwood to use those expressions and tones to set both of the residents against one another. This process is further enhanced in...
"4. In civilised life domestic hatred usually expresses itself by saying things which would appear quite harmless on paper (the words are not offensive) but in such a voice, or at such a moment, that they are not far short of a blow in the face." Screwtape is pushing for such domestic tension here that the questions about mundane home routines become blown all out of proportion in a full-fledged verbal assault by each person involved. If Wormwood does things right and utilizes the third method to the fullest in this scenario, the patient and his mother will soon not be able to be in the house and share each other's company for even five minutes. I think I might leave examples to your imagination, as many of us have come from homes where this situation occurred at least once.
Notice that the assault is comprehensive in its approach, and that Wormwood is not being asked to pick out any one method of temptation, but rather that all four approaches seem to work very nicely with each other if done right.
Rather terrifying, isn't it? But my encouragement to anyone who is reading this post and seeing their own home life reflected in horrific accuracy is this: ask for the Lord to intervene and He will. After all, if we are told anything by Jesus about prayer, it is that we pray in full faith that when we "ask, and it shall be given", peace between ourselves and another person really will be given!
Chapter 4 comes with the next post!
Saturday, November 12, 2011
The recent events at Penn State
I'm going to go out on a limb and put Lewis on hiatus for at least another few hours. If people really want to read more information about the child molestation scandal unfolding around former Penn State football assistant Jerry Sandusky, please go to ESPN.com. For those people that want to get a bit of summary and an interpretation of the events, continue reading.
My gut reaction to the revelations of Sandusky sexually abusing at-risk boys (single-parent households, low-income households, and so on) was to call for the man's head. The state of Pennsylvania does not have a death penalty as far as I know, so I imagine that Sandusky will be given a very lengthy prison sentence that will end with his death in a prison cell. So much for that.
Now on to the university: the board of trustees perhaps believes that the correct and immediate actions have been taken by firing Joe Paterno, Gary Schultz, Tim Curley, and Graham Spanier. I believe that the board of trustees has made a huge error, considering that all four of these men and the graduate assistant (at the time) Mike McQueary were probably not trained at all to know exactly what to do in the event that they witnessed or were informed about sexual abuse of children on campus property. Penn State is a massive higher education institution which serves young adults who are no longer considered minors for almost everything except the consumption of alcohol before the legal age of 21; knowledge of reporting and handling child abuse cases is mostly confined to the Education Department and the Social Services Department which train students to be teachers and social workers. After all, many child abuse cases are first discovered because a teacher or social worker in a K-12 school setting suspects that a child is being abused after seeing a significant change in the child's behavior corresponding with signs of physical trauma appearing on the student where the teacher or guidance counselor or social worker can document in writing what they have seen and observed.
None of the four fired men was trained to handle a child abuse case. I have been trained as a teacher to act on my suspicions of child abuse and immediately begin documenting evidence and reporting that evidence to school authorities, which will then require me to cooperate fully with authorities investigating the evidence and the reports from myself and others. With all regard to the trustees who have taken action and to the media who have done a very thorough job of covering this series of events, everyone is dead wrong. Paterno was a football coach, not a teacher or social worker. Curley and Schultz were university administrators, not men with education degrees trained to spot such things and follow up on their suspicions. Spanier was a university president charged with advocating for the university students, not fingering child molestors that were once part of the Penn State staff.
Not that any of this mattered to Sandusky, who set them all up to be fired in disgrace. The reaction by the board of trustees will haunt them whether they know it or not as the knee-jerk response it was. The reaction of many media personnel to vilify all four men fired rather than the man who committed the crimes is idiotic and hypocritical at best; I'm looking at you, Ivan Maisel, Lester Munson, Mark May, and Pat Forde. None of you have been trained to handle such a case, and you all would have made mistakes. Just like the human beings that you are.
Sandusky will be put in jail, the board of trustees will be viewed very negatively by alumni and students, and the media writers will hold their jobs (unfortunately). Am I falling for Paterno's cult of personality? No. I am reacting to the situation as someone seeing four firings as a very poor course of action in the absolute wrong direction.
Soooo...what happens now? Penn State will face Nebraska in their last home game of the season without two members of their coaching staff. After the season is over, who knows? Some folks have suggested (Munson) that Penn State's football program, indeed the entire athletics department, be scrapped for two years or more and started over from scratch. Quite a wonderful punishment to the hundreds of student-athletes and coaching staffs who had absolutely nothing to do with Sandusky at all, isn't it? Sheer idiocy on Munson's part, and if he has the guts, Lester Munson will contact me right now and explain to me how he can so boldly tell so many young athletes to give up the sports which they love so much and sustain their academic endeavours to become young professionals in a field other than athletics.
To all the writers saying "here's how it should have been handled and because the four men did not do so, they deserved to be punished", check your egos and do a lot of soul-searching. ANYONE can make the mistake Paterno did, since no one else suspected Sandusky of such atrocities either. That includes all media writers who may have interviewed him, and that includes the four above which I have mentioned and their peers. I certainly could have done the same thing in Paterno's shoes, or Curley's or Spanier's or Schultz's, even.
In the end, perhaps the strenth of the reaction and lashback is because Penn State is viewed as a place and institution where nothing may go so horribly wrong. That includes my own reaction, which is written in some measure here. I must conclude by stating that Penn State IS what Paterno and others who shared his vision wanted it to be: a university where the students and academics truly are important. Penn State will in fact not be tarnished from this scandal, and proper blame will be placed where it should be placed: at the feet of an old man who was never what he seemed, and sought to gratify only himself and his own selfish interests.
My gut reaction to the revelations of Sandusky sexually abusing at-risk boys (single-parent households, low-income households, and so on) was to call for the man's head. The state of Pennsylvania does not have a death penalty as far as I know, so I imagine that Sandusky will be given a very lengthy prison sentence that will end with his death in a prison cell. So much for that.
Now on to the university: the board of trustees perhaps believes that the correct and immediate actions have been taken by firing Joe Paterno, Gary Schultz, Tim Curley, and Graham Spanier. I believe that the board of trustees has made a huge error, considering that all four of these men and the graduate assistant (at the time) Mike McQueary were probably not trained at all to know exactly what to do in the event that they witnessed or were informed about sexual abuse of children on campus property. Penn State is a massive higher education institution which serves young adults who are no longer considered minors for almost everything except the consumption of alcohol before the legal age of 21; knowledge of reporting and handling child abuse cases is mostly confined to the Education Department and the Social Services Department which train students to be teachers and social workers. After all, many child abuse cases are first discovered because a teacher or social worker in a K-12 school setting suspects that a child is being abused after seeing a significant change in the child's behavior corresponding with signs of physical trauma appearing on the student where the teacher or guidance counselor or social worker can document in writing what they have seen and observed.
None of the four fired men was trained to handle a child abuse case. I have been trained as a teacher to act on my suspicions of child abuse and immediately begin documenting evidence and reporting that evidence to school authorities, which will then require me to cooperate fully with authorities investigating the evidence and the reports from myself and others. With all regard to the trustees who have taken action and to the media who have done a very thorough job of covering this series of events, everyone is dead wrong. Paterno was a football coach, not a teacher or social worker. Curley and Schultz were university administrators, not men with education degrees trained to spot such things and follow up on their suspicions. Spanier was a university president charged with advocating for the university students, not fingering child molestors that were once part of the Penn State staff.
Not that any of this mattered to Sandusky, who set them all up to be fired in disgrace. The reaction by the board of trustees will haunt them whether they know it or not as the knee-jerk response it was. The reaction of many media personnel to vilify all four men fired rather than the man who committed the crimes is idiotic and hypocritical at best; I'm looking at you, Ivan Maisel, Lester Munson, Mark May, and Pat Forde. None of you have been trained to handle such a case, and you all would have made mistakes. Just like the human beings that you are.
Sandusky will be put in jail, the board of trustees will be viewed very negatively by alumni and students, and the media writers will hold their jobs (unfortunately). Am I falling for Paterno's cult of personality? No. I am reacting to the situation as someone seeing four firings as a very poor course of action in the absolute wrong direction.
Soooo...what happens now? Penn State will face Nebraska in their last home game of the season without two members of their coaching staff. After the season is over, who knows? Some folks have suggested (Munson) that Penn State's football program, indeed the entire athletics department, be scrapped for two years or more and started over from scratch. Quite a wonderful punishment to the hundreds of student-athletes and coaching staffs who had absolutely nothing to do with Sandusky at all, isn't it? Sheer idiocy on Munson's part, and if he has the guts, Lester Munson will contact me right now and explain to me how he can so boldly tell so many young athletes to give up the sports which they love so much and sustain their academic endeavours to become young professionals in a field other than athletics.
To all the writers saying "here's how it should have been handled and because the four men did not do so, they deserved to be punished", check your egos and do a lot of soul-searching. ANYONE can make the mistake Paterno did, since no one else suspected Sandusky of such atrocities either. That includes all media writers who may have interviewed him, and that includes the four above which I have mentioned and their peers. I certainly could have done the same thing in Paterno's shoes, or Curley's or Spanier's or Schultz's, even.
In the end, perhaps the strenth of the reaction and lashback is because Penn State is viewed as a place and institution where nothing may go so horribly wrong. That includes my own reaction, which is written in some measure here. I must conclude by stating that Penn State IS what Paterno and others who shared his vision wanted it to be: a university where the students and academics truly are important. Penn State will in fact not be tarnished from this scandal, and proper blame will be placed where it should be placed: at the feet of an old man who was never what he seemed, and sought to gratify only himself and his own selfish interests.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Long absences
If you read this blog regularly, you may have noticed that I have not made a new post for quite some time. I do apologize about that. I will be returning to a more-or-less regular posting with the Screwtape Letters; let me know through your comments if there is anything in particular which you the readers want me to address or if you wish for me to take a break from Screwtape and write about something else (I understand that not everyone enjoys Lewis' works).
So where have I been? Mostly running around on errands and doing my best to prevent my night job from getting me too discouraged. In light of those various responsibilities, I felt it necessary to get away from the blog for a bit. I do hope that you all will not punish me too much for doing so; as long as breaks do not become a habit from good routines, all is well, right?
More coming from Lewis tomorrow, as I take a look at chapter 3!
So where have I been? Mostly running around on errands and doing my best to prevent my night job from getting me too discouraged. In light of those various responsibilities, I felt it necessary to get away from the blog for a bit. I do hope that you all will not punish me too much for doing so; as long as breaks do not become a habit from good routines, all is well, right?
More coming from Lewis tomorrow, as I take a look at chapter 3!
Friday, October 21, 2011
The Screwtape Letters, chapter 2
When reading chapter 2 the first time (many moons ago), I thought that the language Screwtape used to lecture Wormwood about what to do with his patient's recent decision to follow Christ carried not a sense of urgency, but rather a sense of smug confidence. Screwtape does have good reason to be confident of the wisdom he imparts to Wormwood: many new Christians come into the faith and follow Jesus for a time...and then for one reason or another fall away.
One major cause of this phenomenon is not so much the terrible vices which many believers in church communities regard as terrible sins (gluttony, alcoholism, smoking, drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, profanity, and so forth), but rather the more subtle sins involving such slip-ups as hubris (excessive pride), a lack of charity or giving without thought of gain, a lack of compassion, violent and perpetual anger at everything and everyone, and other such mistakes which almost all people make at one time or another in their lifespan. This is not to say that vices are not bad; all sins may be seen as equally bad, especially when we consider God's view of sin. What Wormwood is to do with his patient is to press forward with his temptations, since many would-be saints of the faith were brought to "our Father Below", Screwtape calls him, through relentless attacks over an entire lifespan which eventually caused their complete downfall.
I am certain that Screwtape does not believe the cause lost with Wormwood's patient. Indeed, the initial conversion is only the beginning of a very long struggle for our souls.
Considering much of the second half of the chapter, I almost chuckle at times at the little imperfections of the congregation in which the patient is situated. Small things to be upset about, really. Yet the chuckle is often rueful, since I'm often guilty of what Screwtape is encouraging Wormwood to tempt his patient with: the sort of pride which makes the Pharisee praying at the temple in the Gospels sniff and mutter, "Oh Lord, thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there". I'm serious; no getting off the hook on this one, as I have done so as recently as two Sundays ago. This part of the book is actually a very good gut-check: deny that oneself is looking down one's nose at the very imperfect individuals praying and singing hymns on either side, and any individual may be certain that he or she is walking in pride (I am ducking my head and raising my hand to say I'm guilty at this moment).
Perhaps I might take this a step further. What about looking down one's nose at the workplace? If this is considered, I am guilty every day. Perhaps even hour, if I am completely honest. The thought is quite discouraging, but I believe that Christ died for our sins, especially for the sins of prideful thought that truly do plague every man at some point.
One major cause of this phenomenon is not so much the terrible vices which many believers in church communities regard as terrible sins (gluttony, alcoholism, smoking, drug abuse, sexual promiscuity, profanity, and so forth), but rather the more subtle sins involving such slip-ups as hubris (excessive pride), a lack of charity or giving without thought of gain, a lack of compassion, violent and perpetual anger at everything and everyone, and other such mistakes which almost all people make at one time or another in their lifespan. This is not to say that vices are not bad; all sins may be seen as equally bad, especially when we consider God's view of sin. What Wormwood is to do with his patient is to press forward with his temptations, since many would-be saints of the faith were brought to "our Father Below", Screwtape calls him, through relentless attacks over an entire lifespan which eventually caused their complete downfall.
I am certain that Screwtape does not believe the cause lost with Wormwood's patient. Indeed, the initial conversion is only the beginning of a very long struggle for our souls.
Considering much of the second half of the chapter, I almost chuckle at times at the little imperfections of the congregation in which the patient is situated. Small things to be upset about, really. Yet the chuckle is often rueful, since I'm often guilty of what Screwtape is encouraging Wormwood to tempt his patient with: the sort of pride which makes the Pharisee praying at the temple in the Gospels sniff and mutter, "Oh Lord, thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there". I'm serious; no getting off the hook on this one, as I have done so as recently as two Sundays ago. This part of the book is actually a very good gut-check: deny that oneself is looking down one's nose at the very imperfect individuals praying and singing hymns on either side, and any individual may be certain that he or she is walking in pride (I am ducking my head and raising my hand to say I'm guilty at this moment).
Perhaps I might take this a step further. What about looking down one's nose at the workplace? If this is considered, I am guilty every day. Perhaps even hour, if I am completely honest. The thought is quite discouraging, but I believe that Christ died for our sins, especially for the sins of prideful thought that truly do plague every man at some point.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Screwtape Letters, chapter 1
If anyone has gone out and purchased a copy of the Screwtape Letters and loved reading the first chapter, hooray! If you have not yet done so, please do and join in the reading.
One of the principal things which I was struck by upon reading the chapter again was the strategy Screwtape outlines for Wormwood regarding the patient's current situation and doings. Chiefly, the senior tempter instructs his nephew to carefully use the suggestion that reality trumps any silly notions concerning God and eternity in order to distract and deter the patient from thinking on these things. Insidious, is it not? Screwtape's example involving a former patient gives the impression that not only are the suggestions so seemingly harmless, but also that the suggestions are not even suggestions at all but rather flights of human thought and therefore of no consequence. To make delays on spiritual matters seem to be our own doing rather than attacks by the enemy who might not even be there...
There is also the matter of the "materialist" friend which Screwtape points out to Wormwood. I did not draw out a lot of deep theological meaning from this one, but I was reminded of the old adage "choose your friends wisely". In other words, the patient receives quite a bit of influence not just from Wormwood's suggestions but also from the company he keeps. Perhaps it's time to do a gut-check on the friends I've got? Oh, and just to be clear, co-workers are often a much different category than friends.
Questions? Comments? Be sure to leave your thoughts on this post and get some discussion if you wish to further delve into this chapter with me or others.
One of the principal things which I was struck by upon reading the chapter again was the strategy Screwtape outlines for Wormwood regarding the patient's current situation and doings. Chiefly, the senior tempter instructs his nephew to carefully use the suggestion that reality trumps any silly notions concerning God and eternity in order to distract and deter the patient from thinking on these things. Insidious, is it not? Screwtape's example involving a former patient gives the impression that not only are the suggestions so seemingly harmless, but also that the suggestions are not even suggestions at all but rather flights of human thought and therefore of no consequence. To make delays on spiritual matters seem to be our own doing rather than attacks by the enemy who might not even be there...
There is also the matter of the "materialist" friend which Screwtape points out to Wormwood. I did not draw out a lot of deep theological meaning from this one, but I was reminded of the old adage "choose your friends wisely". In other words, the patient receives quite a bit of influence not just from Wormwood's suggestions but also from the company he keeps. Perhaps it's time to do a gut-check on the friends I've got? Oh, and just to be clear, co-workers are often a much different category than friends.
Questions? Comments? Be sure to leave your thoughts on this post and get some discussion if you wish to further delve into this chapter with me or others.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
The Screwtape Letters, part 1: a preface
No, I will NOT post the entire book online, chapter by chapter. To do so would be an insult to the intelligence and reading abilities of you folks who are reading this blog.
Instead, I will be highlighting a few parts of each chapter and providing either a thought about the key phrases or an interpretation of Lewis' statement. A quick disclaimer: if someone sees something different than what my interpretation offers, that reader should immediately post their thought.
Having said that, here's a few reasons to read the Screwtape Letters.
1) C.S. Lewis, perhaps the best Christian author of the 20th century, wrote this book.
2) The book is cleverly written, and is an absorbing read if nothing else might be said about it.
3) Looking into the life of a very average man who makes the commitment to be a believer of Jesus Christ provides a chance to look at ourselves in much the same circumstances.
4) We take a glimpse at the war which is fought for our very souls every second, every minute, every hour of our lives and of the final victory which comes only through choosing to follow Jesus, who has called us to follow.
A look at chapter 1 will be in the next post, along with any news and thoughts about other subjects.
Instead, I will be highlighting a few parts of each chapter and providing either a thought about the key phrases or an interpretation of Lewis' statement. A quick disclaimer: if someone sees something different than what my interpretation offers, that reader should immediately post their thought.
Having said that, here's a few reasons to read the Screwtape Letters.
1) C.S. Lewis, perhaps the best Christian author of the 20th century, wrote this book.
2) The book is cleverly written, and is an absorbing read if nothing else might be said about it.
3) Looking into the life of a very average man who makes the commitment to be a believer of Jesus Christ provides a chance to look at ourselves in much the same circumstances.
4) We take a glimpse at the war which is fought for our very souls every second, every minute, every hour of our lives and of the final victory which comes only through choosing to follow Jesus, who has called us to follow.
A look at chapter 1 will be in the next post, along with any news and thoughts about other subjects.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Overtime, fog, and balance
I have been working twelve hour shifts for the past three days and have not possessed a lot of time to pour into writing, so please forgive me if all you readers out there wanted to smack me around with a nerf bat for not posting sooner.
Today on the way back from work, there was quite a lot of fog on the highway. I was reminded that the past few days, I had been operating in something of a mental fog. The long hours, combined with the type of work that I do and the fact that I did not really have a decent way to wind down after work before needing to go to bed, took a toll on my mind. I am able to take stock of myself and my surroundings more accurately. Stock of self: not running on a regular basis (MUST be corrected), drinking far too much alcohol (gotta cut back), and not able to tend to my personal budget and Christian disciplines of Bible reading and prayer. Stock of my surroundings: the local school districts are looking for substitute teachers (I'm qualified), one of my friends is going through a time of searching and job-seeking, the church where I am a member and regular attender is beginning a transition, my apartment has a lot of cleaning and tidying-up which must be done, the car needs to be cleaned...the list goes on, as you might guess.
I will not deliver a mind-blowingly deep philosophical treatise; indeed, such things are far beyond my capacity, much less my interest and patience. But here is a bit of truth: God gave us twenty-four hours in every day. How we spend those hours indicates whether or not we have balance in our lives. When we commit to one thing for too much time in a day, we begin operating in a mental haze.
I experienced this sort of thing when I was doing student teaching. Oh, I was fine during the time I spent in the classroom actually teaching and working with the students. Once school was dismissed for the day, my brain began operating at 10,000 RPMs, constantly trying to remind me of all the things that I had to do. I found that I was multi-tasking many different chores and trying to write out lesson plans and worksheets and find a chance to grab some down-time to relax and, and, and...not getting anywhere fast. I have since learned that balance (and a more disciplined approach to time management) are necessary no matter what the occupation is.
Perhaps this is why I do not mind overtime, but I do mind when work becomes all that I do in any given day. After all, when else can I read my bible, practice guitar chords and riffs, or write on this blog, eh?
Today on the way back from work, there was quite a lot of fog on the highway. I was reminded that the past few days, I had been operating in something of a mental fog. The long hours, combined with the type of work that I do and the fact that I did not really have a decent way to wind down after work before needing to go to bed, took a toll on my mind. I am able to take stock of myself and my surroundings more accurately. Stock of self: not running on a regular basis (MUST be corrected), drinking far too much alcohol (gotta cut back), and not able to tend to my personal budget and Christian disciplines of Bible reading and prayer. Stock of my surroundings: the local school districts are looking for substitute teachers (I'm qualified), one of my friends is going through a time of searching and job-seeking, the church where I am a member and regular attender is beginning a transition, my apartment has a lot of cleaning and tidying-up which must be done, the car needs to be cleaned...the list goes on, as you might guess.
I will not deliver a mind-blowingly deep philosophical treatise; indeed, such things are far beyond my capacity, much less my interest and patience. But here is a bit of truth: God gave us twenty-four hours in every day. How we spend those hours indicates whether or not we have balance in our lives. When we commit to one thing for too much time in a day, we begin operating in a mental haze.
I experienced this sort of thing when I was doing student teaching. Oh, I was fine during the time I spent in the classroom actually teaching and working with the students. Once school was dismissed for the day, my brain began operating at 10,000 RPMs, constantly trying to remind me of all the things that I had to do. I found that I was multi-tasking many different chores and trying to write out lesson plans and worksheets and find a chance to grab some down-time to relax and, and, and...not getting anywhere fast. I have since learned that balance (and a more disciplined approach to time management) are necessary no matter what the occupation is.
Perhaps this is why I do not mind overtime, but I do mind when work becomes all that I do in any given day. After all, when else can I read my bible, practice guitar chords and riffs, or write on this blog, eh?
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Continuing to work, even when you don't feel like it
I am employed on a temporary basis by a steel tool-fabrication factory in a town 25 minutes away from where I live. Now, the work which I do is not necessarily the most glamorous. Let's face it, assembling the toolholders and boring bars with the hardware necessary for the customers to use our products is not much fun. However, this job allows those parts to be shipped out, and when parts are shipped out, the plant makes money. That money pays our bills, pays for new raw steel to be shipped in, pays for the machines which we use, pays for machine tooling to replace worn-out or damaged tooling, and pays us all for the hours we work. It is important to keep this concept in mind for myself, as I would not want to show up for work otherwise. This is disregarding the fact that if I don't work, I'm homeless.
Having said that, I remember an incident only two weeks ago where a fellow temporary employee showed up for work, worked for an hour and thirty minutes, then said he was feeling tired, clocked out, and left.
I seem to recall a few things about the state of the national economy: unemployment stands at 9.1%, employers are hesitant to hire people who may not have the right job skills, pay-rates have been slashed for some sectors, and although manufacturing industries are slowly expanding, overall jobs growth is anemic at best. The employee that I am talking about is in his late teens/early twenties. I am in my late twenties.
Besides the generational gap between us, there is a definite work ethic gap between us. I suspect that this is what enabled me to return to full-time university studies while working full-time four years ago, survive on less than $500 a month while attending university full-time three years ago, pull off the best academic year I have ever had two years ago with barely enough money to pay for all expenses without a full-time job, and then finish up my senior year without enough money to pay for all education costs last year...and that was with student teaching.
Thinking back, there were several nights and days when I just did not want to continue working on the paper, lesson plan, journal, article, reflection paper, or assignment that was due the next day. Gritting my teeth and continuing to push through the fatigue and grogginess has given me teaching license eligibility, a bachelor's degree in history, and a coaching certificate in addition to this job which pays the bills and allows me to save a bit of money every month.
This stands in stark contrast to many people my age and younger who just don't feel like staying for the entire shift or showing up to work because of _______ (you may fill in the blank with any terrible excuse you might think of; legitimate family emergencies are not included, obviously). I think of the many low-paying jobs that I have had to share with these folks. I have wonderful references and a good work history because of my work ethic because I stayed and stuck it out when others decided not to show up. What does this say about them?
What does this post say about you? Are you someone who has taken several days off because you felt like it? Or because of poor decisions you made before you got to work that day, like consuming drugs or alcohol? Are you someone who has done tough work and seen other co-workers come and go? Are you a student set to graduate after this term? Are you wondering if you should have worked harder in school? Share your past experiences and what you have learned about yourself or others as a result. Just leave a comment below this post!
Having said that, I remember an incident only two weeks ago where a fellow temporary employee showed up for work, worked for an hour and thirty minutes, then said he was feeling tired, clocked out, and left.
I seem to recall a few things about the state of the national economy: unemployment stands at 9.1%, employers are hesitant to hire people who may not have the right job skills, pay-rates have been slashed for some sectors, and although manufacturing industries are slowly expanding, overall jobs growth is anemic at best. The employee that I am talking about is in his late teens/early twenties. I am in my late twenties.
Besides the generational gap between us, there is a definite work ethic gap between us. I suspect that this is what enabled me to return to full-time university studies while working full-time four years ago, survive on less than $500 a month while attending university full-time three years ago, pull off the best academic year I have ever had two years ago with barely enough money to pay for all expenses without a full-time job, and then finish up my senior year without enough money to pay for all education costs last year...and that was with student teaching.
Thinking back, there were several nights and days when I just did not want to continue working on the paper, lesson plan, journal, article, reflection paper, or assignment that was due the next day. Gritting my teeth and continuing to push through the fatigue and grogginess has given me teaching license eligibility, a bachelor's degree in history, and a coaching certificate in addition to this job which pays the bills and allows me to save a bit of money every month.
This stands in stark contrast to many people my age and younger who just don't feel like staying for the entire shift or showing up to work because of _______ (you may fill in the blank with any terrible excuse you might think of; legitimate family emergencies are not included, obviously). I think of the many low-paying jobs that I have had to share with these folks. I have wonderful references and a good work history because of my work ethic because I stayed and stuck it out when others decided not to show up. What does this say about them?
What does this post say about you? Are you someone who has taken several days off because you felt like it? Or because of poor decisions you made before you got to work that day, like consuming drugs or alcohol? Are you someone who has done tough work and seen other co-workers come and go? Are you a student set to graduate after this term? Are you wondering if you should have worked harder in school? Share your past experiences and what you have learned about yourself or others as a result. Just leave a comment below this post!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Next Phase in Life
Believe it or not, many folks come to a point where the road of life does not fork so much as turn into a free-way of a hundred or more exit ramps all branching off from the same highway. Now, I am sorta kinda past this point myself as I have tossed the dice on a career (teaching) and am preparing for my first few days of being a substitute teacher this month.
I do believe that many of my peers in the United States and also the rest of the world ages 25 to 34 are at something similar to the metaphor I have described above. The first career did not work out, the family business turns out not to be the dream that it seemed, an internship has just ended, work with an overseas mission agency is starting to wrap up, the harvest is over on the farm, or there just has to be something better out there than the current situation; whatever the case may be, I listen to the news and talk to friends in my age group and sense a general movement towards...
Towards what, exactly? A 50,000/year salary, a retirement/pension fund, a house to call home, a spouse and beginning family? Or to something else entirely, such as a life devoted to the faith, a life dedicated to serving others as a volunteer, a life doing something that you truly have a passion for rather than a life doing just enough to get by?
The book of Jeremiah offers some encouragement for any of you readers who are raising your hand and saying "Yes, that's me." In the 29th chapter at verse 11, God says through the prophet: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
I'm not exactly "saint" material, nor am I a very Biblically-educated Christian by any stretch of the imagination. Goodness, I only started seriously reading the Bible a month or so ago! I will not force anyone to conform with my beliefs using this blog or try to shove Christianity down a person's throat. I do want to allow readers to see some of the things which keep me going and draw from them if they will. If you object to anything I have written...well, you may always leave a comment under the post.
I do believe that many of my peers in the United States and also the rest of the world ages 25 to 34 are at something similar to the metaphor I have described above. The first career did not work out, the family business turns out not to be the dream that it seemed, an internship has just ended, work with an overseas mission agency is starting to wrap up, the harvest is over on the farm, or there just has to be something better out there than the current situation; whatever the case may be, I listen to the news and talk to friends in my age group and sense a general movement towards...
Towards what, exactly? A 50,000/year salary, a retirement/pension fund, a house to call home, a spouse and beginning family? Or to something else entirely, such as a life devoted to the faith, a life dedicated to serving others as a volunteer, a life doing something that you truly have a passion for rather than a life doing just enough to get by?
The book of Jeremiah offers some encouragement for any of you readers who are raising your hand and saying "Yes, that's me." In the 29th chapter at verse 11, God says through the prophet: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
I'm not exactly "saint" material, nor am I a very Biblically-educated Christian by any stretch of the imagination. Goodness, I only started seriously reading the Bible a month or so ago! I will not force anyone to conform with my beliefs using this blog or try to shove Christianity down a person's throat. I do want to allow readers to see some of the things which keep me going and draw from them if they will. If you object to anything I have written...well, you may always leave a comment under the post.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Autumn is here!
I'm nothing if not excited about the sudden plummet in temperature and the cold rain which has descended upon the valley between an outlying mountain ridge and the greater mountain range where I live. Autumn means many things that I love: the excitement of American football games played at local high schools and between some of the most prestigious American universities, the changing leaves of trees in my neighborhood, a crisp dry smell that lingers in my nose every time I breathe in (in general, just not today), barn parties, apple cider, pumpkins carved into jack o'lanterns, Oktoberfest beer by Samuel Adams, deer-hunting stories both true and fictional, and the anticipation of a bountiful harvest and Thanksgiving weekend.
If you have something to be thankful for, take the time to write it down somewhere. Should your keyboard be the closest thing to a writing utensil, go ahead and leave a comment on this post. Keep the language clean as children and grandparents may be reading this, and give thanks!
If you have something to be thankful for, take the time to write it down somewhere. Should your keyboard be the closest thing to a writing utensil, go ahead and leave a comment on this post. Keep the language clean as children and grandparents may be reading this, and give thanks!
Friday, September 30, 2011
Relief Sale
I do not now, nor will I ever, shamelessly promote an event which I will be attending/serving at. However, I did want to voice a thought or two about giving money or time to alleviate the suffering of others.
Now, when I say suffering, I don't mean wanting a few more dollars in a paycheck or wishing for the newest technological assistance. I mean the tornado-or-hurricane-destroyed-my-house-and-business type of suffering. The I-don't-know-where-my-next-meal-is suffering. The please-give-me-medicine-or-I-will-die-in-one-hour-from-AIDS suffering.
I think this is why we do Mennonite relief sales in Virginia every year. Not because we just want to catch up with folks that we haven't seen in ages (we can do that at Christmas too, by the way), or because we want real, home-made baked goods. I think members of the Mennonite church truly believe that there are millions of people to whom we can be the living, breathing example of Jesus' hands and feet at work in the very messed up world we humans live in.
Feel free to post your thoughts or reactions if this slugs you in the gut or makes you pause for a bit.
Now, when I say suffering, I don't mean wanting a few more dollars in a paycheck or wishing for the newest technological assistance. I mean the tornado-or-hurricane-destroyed-my-house-and-business type of suffering. The I-don't-know-where-my-next-meal-is suffering. The please-give-me-medicine-or-I-will-die-in-one-hour-from-AIDS suffering.
I think this is why we do Mennonite relief sales in Virginia every year. Not because we just want to catch up with folks that we haven't seen in ages (we can do that at Christmas too, by the way), or because we want real, home-made baked goods. I think members of the Mennonite church truly believe that there are millions of people to whom we can be the living, breathing example of Jesus' hands and feet at work in the very messed up world we humans live in.
Feel free to post your thoughts or reactions if this slugs you in the gut or makes you pause for a bit.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Taming the Tongue
I am reflecting on the past few days and in part from the book of James in the New Testament. Most of the third chapter of James' letter deals with the sheer power of words; how often has that little statement starting with "sticks and stones..." been proven false in your life experience, hmm? Vitriol and manna alike come from between our lips, and yet I myself have often forgotten this little fact at work and at home.
So I myself have begun working on harnessing my mouth to give life and stop committing verbal homicide. The first thing to go has been profanity, in large part because I am sure that Jesus would make a very wry face at choice words and phrases I have put together in the work place. Am I trying some self-help tricks here? Not at all. I have found myself searching for the mastery of myself that can only come from God in the thick of the moment's heated tension; somehow, that has made all the difference.
Secondly and perhaps far more important, I am looking now to speak in a way that encourages. Now, don't get me wrong: this seems like such a trite task to accomplish. At my current workplace and with my current co-workers, said task is not very easy at all. The prevalent sentiments are quite negative despite the record-setting accomplishments of all three shifts these past two months, and when a person is immersed in such an environment...well, I confess that I get sucked in quite regularly. As my co-worker Tony puts it, "we should be singing and dancing because we're working here with our pay-rates, benefits, and insurance coverage, because there's 15 million people outside those doors without a job." I agree completely. And yet the fussing and complaining continue...
This is not a rant about my job, but rather a quick background introduction to my nightly reality so that anyone reading this may understand my goals regarding my personal speech. "Out of the same mouth come blessings and curses. My brothers, this should not be!", says James. I believe he has a point. Speaking to early Christians, James points out that there is a drastic and harmful dichotomy regarding speech among Christians. Paul addresses the need of Christians to be different from the Greco-Roman Mediterranean culture surrounding the early church in many of his letters. Until recently, I nodded my head and then let the teachings go over my head. Now I intend to address speech with devotion, because although I cannot attain perfection through this, I do want to be a better example of what a Christian looks and sounds like. After all, disciples come to Jesus after seeing and hearing an example of Himself per the Great Commission.
So I myself have begun working on harnessing my mouth to give life and stop committing verbal homicide. The first thing to go has been profanity, in large part because I am sure that Jesus would make a very wry face at choice words and phrases I have put together in the work place. Am I trying some self-help tricks here? Not at all. I have found myself searching for the mastery of myself that can only come from God in the thick of the moment's heated tension; somehow, that has made all the difference.
Secondly and perhaps far more important, I am looking now to speak in a way that encourages. Now, don't get me wrong: this seems like such a trite task to accomplish. At my current workplace and with my current co-workers, said task is not very easy at all. The prevalent sentiments are quite negative despite the record-setting accomplishments of all three shifts these past two months, and when a person is immersed in such an environment...well, I confess that I get sucked in quite regularly. As my co-worker Tony puts it, "we should be singing and dancing because we're working here with our pay-rates, benefits, and insurance coverage, because there's 15 million people outside those doors without a job." I agree completely. And yet the fussing and complaining continue...
This is not a rant about my job, but rather a quick background introduction to my nightly reality so that anyone reading this may understand my goals regarding my personal speech. "Out of the same mouth come blessings and curses. My brothers, this should not be!", says James. I believe he has a point. Speaking to early Christians, James points out that there is a drastic and harmful dichotomy regarding speech among Christians. Paul addresses the need of Christians to be different from the Greco-Roman Mediterranean culture surrounding the early church in many of his letters. Until recently, I nodded my head and then let the teachings go over my head. Now I intend to address speech with devotion, because although I cannot attain perfection through this, I do want to be a better example of what a Christian looks and sounds like. After all, disciples come to Jesus after seeing and hearing an example of Himself per the Great Commission.
Monday, September 26, 2011
A few keys from Winston-Salem and Paul Baloche
I attended a worship team seminar with four other folks from my church, including my very good friend Steve Horst. There was so much to learn from Paul Baloche and his friends who joined him; I have begun practicing longer and harder as a result with my electric guitar to learn triads and more power chords (send me some more information on that stuff if you are reading this and have stuff I might not), and I'm trying out vocal exercises I picked up as well. Aside from all the technical stuff, here's a few overall concepts that I am bouncing around in the vast space between my ears:
1. The worship team isn't there to perform like a concert band; we're there to lead a congregation of believers in earnest and sincere worship of our God.
2. Less is more, actually. The more band members are present up front, the lighter the musical burden is on all the musicians. The lead electrical guitarist can "noodle" if the acoustic guitar is covering the rhythm, the pianist/keyboardist can focus on the right hand melodies with a drummer providing the time, the guitarists do not need to use the bottom two strings if the bassist is providing the chord root notes, and so on. For me personally, this presents at once a lifting of a burden and also a tremendous challenge; I'm not the world's greatest noodler.
3. Take care of yourself as a musician and a vocalist. Eat right, drink the right fluids, do vocal exercises, get plenty of sleep, and yes, exercise. Tough to do with crazy schedules, but I believe that a holistic approach to our roles as worship team members is crucial. Kinda like the rest of life, huh?
4. Last, but not least: the focus is on God. Without God, there would be no reason for standing up in front of a bunch of people every week without pay and playing music that popular culture often labels as "lame" and "weak".
So yeah, a few things to chew on. Have a great day, folks!
1. The worship team isn't there to perform like a concert band; we're there to lead a congregation of believers in earnest and sincere worship of our God.
2. Less is more, actually. The more band members are present up front, the lighter the musical burden is on all the musicians. The lead electrical guitarist can "noodle" if the acoustic guitar is covering the rhythm, the pianist/keyboardist can focus on the right hand melodies with a drummer providing the time, the guitarists do not need to use the bottom two strings if the bassist is providing the chord root notes, and so on. For me personally, this presents at once a lifting of a burden and also a tremendous challenge; I'm not the world's greatest noodler.
3. Take care of yourself as a musician and a vocalist. Eat right, drink the right fluids, do vocal exercises, get plenty of sleep, and yes, exercise. Tough to do with crazy schedules, but I believe that a holistic approach to our roles as worship team members is crucial. Kinda like the rest of life, huh?
4. Last, but not least: the focus is on God. Without God, there would be no reason for standing up in front of a bunch of people every week without pay and playing music that popular culture often labels as "lame" and "weak".
So yeah, a few things to chew on. Have a great day, folks!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
The Problem of Pain
No, I will not wax poetic or reflective on C.S. Lewis' book by the same title. In fact, my thoughts today are much simpler and perhaps easier to read for many folks than Lewis' writing style, even though I have not read "The Problem of Pain" recently enough to recall any of the content.
The problem of pain which I am thinking about is concerned more with the physical toils of this life...and how far removed many Americans seem to be from the pain and exhaustion that goes with a hard day of work which many millions of people in other countries almost seem to accept unconsciously. I remember hearing a story from a friend of mine who went to Thailand with his then-girlfriend to visit her family. He observed rice farmers getting up in the morning, eating a bowl of rice with a small fish on top...and then working with simple tools and hands in the blazing heat of the Thai summer for fourteen hours.
My mind is boggled by this story whenever I think about it. In fact, I am starting to keep this story in the back of my mind whenever I think that a certain task is beyond my endurance. At the breaking point, I grumble at myself: "Think you've got it tough? Do this on a bowl of rice and a sardine for breakfast...wimp." Usually that is enough to goad me onwards.
How does this relate back to the removal of many American citizens from the problem of everyday pain that comes with hard, honest, back-breaking labor? Perhaps 5% of our workforce is engaged in agriculture, if that. The other 95% are engaged in service industries including finance, a dwindling manufacturing and heavy industrial sector, and a very stagnant housing and infrastructure sector. The government employs hundreds of thousands, but these still make up a small fraction of the whole.
I am convinced that the absence of pain has dulled the awareness of many people, taking away the ability to empathize and see other perspectives. Wrapped up in a pain-free, insulated world, some people in the United States have turned to look inwards and see everyone else as being not quite as good as they are. The problem of pain for these folks is that pain might reveal a certain ugly truth about themselves that they did not want to confront: character flaws and shortcomings are to be found in everyone, especially the individual doing the investigations of other people for their flaws.
Introduce a hard week's worth of demanding physical labor, and then another. Turn the weeks into months, and months into years. Pain mutes the self-promoting pride, sharpens the senses of touch and smell and taste, enhances the foresight which is also called common sense, and pushes the mental capacity of the individual to perform in times of bone-deep exhaustion and do so with no mistakes and no over-looked details. Pain experienced mutually allows people to find common cause in suffering, and forges bonds of friendship and teamwork that only get stronger over time.
Whether this is a God-sent gift to us is beyond my reason right now. I do know that God can open the eyes of a person's heart through the very problem of pain. If such were not the case, why would God allow pain to exist at all?
The problem of pain which I am thinking about is concerned more with the physical toils of this life...and how far removed many Americans seem to be from the pain and exhaustion that goes with a hard day of work which many millions of people in other countries almost seem to accept unconsciously. I remember hearing a story from a friend of mine who went to Thailand with his then-girlfriend to visit her family. He observed rice farmers getting up in the morning, eating a bowl of rice with a small fish on top...and then working with simple tools and hands in the blazing heat of the Thai summer for fourteen hours.
My mind is boggled by this story whenever I think about it. In fact, I am starting to keep this story in the back of my mind whenever I think that a certain task is beyond my endurance. At the breaking point, I grumble at myself: "Think you've got it tough? Do this on a bowl of rice and a sardine for breakfast...wimp." Usually that is enough to goad me onwards.
How does this relate back to the removal of many American citizens from the problem of everyday pain that comes with hard, honest, back-breaking labor? Perhaps 5% of our workforce is engaged in agriculture, if that. The other 95% are engaged in service industries including finance, a dwindling manufacturing and heavy industrial sector, and a very stagnant housing and infrastructure sector. The government employs hundreds of thousands, but these still make up a small fraction of the whole.
I am convinced that the absence of pain has dulled the awareness of many people, taking away the ability to empathize and see other perspectives. Wrapped up in a pain-free, insulated world, some people in the United States have turned to look inwards and see everyone else as being not quite as good as they are. The problem of pain for these folks is that pain might reveal a certain ugly truth about themselves that they did not want to confront: character flaws and shortcomings are to be found in everyone, especially the individual doing the investigations of other people for their flaws.
Introduce a hard week's worth of demanding physical labor, and then another. Turn the weeks into months, and months into years. Pain mutes the self-promoting pride, sharpens the senses of touch and smell and taste, enhances the foresight which is also called common sense, and pushes the mental capacity of the individual to perform in times of bone-deep exhaustion and do so with no mistakes and no over-looked details. Pain experienced mutually allows people to find common cause in suffering, and forges bonds of friendship and teamwork that only get stronger over time.
Whether this is a God-sent gift to us is beyond my reason right now. I do know that God can open the eyes of a person's heart through the very problem of pain. If such were not the case, why would God allow pain to exist at all?
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Profound thoughts...or not?
As part of an LTG (Life Transformation Group), I'm required to do a lot of Scripture reading. Although right now the group is doing a couple of smaller books, there will be times where I must read 25-30 chapters in a week. No, it's not too late, there's not something in your eyes, and yes you did read that correctly.
Personally, I am glad that the challenge is so great. Immersion in the Bible is something that I have never done in my three decades of existence, so getting my head forcefully plunged into the ice bucket (figuratively now; don't get any crazy ideas) has been a very good thing. Why?
I was listening to a conversation in the factory canteen one night about a mechanic who was violating state regulations for inspecting vehicles. Apparently the man had been caught and lost his business for six months. Another story which cropped up was about a butcher's business which had been quite successful and known through a few counties for the high quality of their products. That is, until the state government shut down the business and confiscated the property because the owners had not paid taxes for three years.
After listening to these stories, I was reading through Romans and found a section in chapter 12 or 13 (?) charging the Christians in Rome to heed and obey the authority of the Roman state/empire because God had given the rulers authority to take things away from citizens. This is a rough paraphrase, but Paul asked the Christians to pay taxes and revenues and respect to the current authority because the authority could take things away from them.
The heart of my thoughts today are: how much must we give to temporal, that is, earthly, authority? Going by the letter to the Romans, Christians in Rome needed to fulfill their fiscal obligations at the very least or run the risk of being stripped of all earthly possessions. Looking at some examples from my own experiences and past, a professor of mine withheld a certain percentage of his taxes every year. I also understood that this professor would have his house taken immediately upon retirement from the university by the IRS, even though he was still technically paying his taxes. Is the IRS unfair? Sure. But so are all other tax collection branches of all other governments in our world, now and in the past. I believe that many Christians in all denominations interpret Paul's message to mean whole-hearted devotion to our government. Not so. Rather, we give what the government is due.
I wonder if my co-workers have considered the world in this way. I believe that I am not the first person to listen to real-life examples and then go back to the Bible and read what wisdom is there concerning that real life situation. As Solomon said so sagaciously in the book of Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. That statement is just as true today as it was when the Teacher wrote his reflections on life down.
Personally, I am glad that the challenge is so great. Immersion in the Bible is something that I have never done in my three decades of existence, so getting my head forcefully plunged into the ice bucket (figuratively now; don't get any crazy ideas) has been a very good thing. Why?
I was listening to a conversation in the factory canteen one night about a mechanic who was violating state regulations for inspecting vehicles. Apparently the man had been caught and lost his business for six months. Another story which cropped up was about a butcher's business which had been quite successful and known through a few counties for the high quality of their products. That is, until the state government shut down the business and confiscated the property because the owners had not paid taxes for three years.
After listening to these stories, I was reading through Romans and found a section in chapter 12 or 13 (?) charging the Christians in Rome to heed and obey the authority of the Roman state/empire because God had given the rulers authority to take things away from citizens. This is a rough paraphrase, but Paul asked the Christians to pay taxes and revenues and respect to the current authority because the authority could take things away from them.
The heart of my thoughts today are: how much must we give to temporal, that is, earthly, authority? Going by the letter to the Romans, Christians in Rome needed to fulfill their fiscal obligations at the very least or run the risk of being stripped of all earthly possessions. Looking at some examples from my own experiences and past, a professor of mine withheld a certain percentage of his taxes every year. I also understood that this professor would have his house taken immediately upon retirement from the university by the IRS, even though he was still technically paying his taxes. Is the IRS unfair? Sure. But so are all other tax collection branches of all other governments in our world, now and in the past. I believe that many Christians in all denominations interpret Paul's message to mean whole-hearted devotion to our government. Not so. Rather, we give what the government is due.
I wonder if my co-workers have considered the world in this way. I believe that I am not the first person to listen to real-life examples and then go back to the Bible and read what wisdom is there concerning that real life situation. As Solomon said so sagaciously in the book of Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. That statement is just as true today as it was when the Teacher wrote his reflections on life down.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Grinding It Out
I find it rather strange that some folks would rather quit at something when the going gets tough rather than stick it out.
Perhaps I just grew up in such a different socio-cultural background and was given such a very different set of ideas about the need to work (even in a manufacturing job on the third shift) that I simply cannot comprehend the grumbling of some of my co-workers who want to leave because mandatory overtime has been increased by another eight hours this month. I was quite elated when I heard this news as it will mean a boost in pay for myself. So imagine my surprise and indignance at hearing about a man in his late 40s who has been working at the same place I have for the same amount of time I have saying that he "didn't sign up for so much overtime".
Here's where the rubber meets the road: work stinks. Period. I would not mind having a more enjoyable job myself, perhaps as a house painter or something like that. Yet, every single person who needs to have food, clothes, and shelter must work to get them. I know this, and every day this past summer that I did not have a job was like being subjected to the Chinese water torture in some ways; not enough to kill, but enough to drive me stark raving mad with frustration because of the realities of paying for the apartment, utilities, student loans, Discover card, and remaining tuition balance from my senior year. My need for income is quite high, and so I do not mind sleeping at odd hours and driving a half-hour each way for $9.00 an hour.
Others with less need...I'm not sure. I cannot fathom the reasons for wanting to leave jobs that will eventually pay as good as $17.00 an hour and more simply because second or third shift is not what someone wanted. If anyone wishes to add thoughts or even criticize something in this post, please do so; good discussions are something that I cannot get enough of.
Perhaps I just grew up in such a different socio-cultural background and was given such a very different set of ideas about the need to work (even in a manufacturing job on the third shift) that I simply cannot comprehend the grumbling of some of my co-workers who want to leave because mandatory overtime has been increased by another eight hours this month. I was quite elated when I heard this news as it will mean a boost in pay for myself. So imagine my surprise and indignance at hearing about a man in his late 40s who has been working at the same place I have for the same amount of time I have saying that he "didn't sign up for so much overtime".
Here's where the rubber meets the road: work stinks. Period. I would not mind having a more enjoyable job myself, perhaps as a house painter or something like that. Yet, every single person who needs to have food, clothes, and shelter must work to get them. I know this, and every day this past summer that I did not have a job was like being subjected to the Chinese water torture in some ways; not enough to kill, but enough to drive me stark raving mad with frustration because of the realities of paying for the apartment, utilities, student loans, Discover card, and remaining tuition balance from my senior year. My need for income is quite high, and so I do not mind sleeping at odd hours and driving a half-hour each way for $9.00 an hour.
Others with less need...I'm not sure. I cannot fathom the reasons for wanting to leave jobs that will eventually pay as good as $17.00 an hour and more simply because second or third shift is not what someone wanted. If anyone wishes to add thoughts or even criticize something in this post, please do so; good discussions are something that I cannot get enough of.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Day One
Ouch.
That's pretty much the only way to sum up the way I feel at the moment. My legs ache despite drinking water, stretching, and making sure that I am eating the right kinds of food. Ah well.
Life without pain seems...foreign to me. No, I'm not a glutton for punishment, and neither do I go looking for activities that can provide some kind of bodily harm. I'm talking about pain in all forms, whether physical, emotional, and yeah, even spiritual.
Right now, the pain I'm experiencing is quite insignificant. No, really! Some sore muscles after exercising? Former coaches of mine would probably wonder what my problem was if I complained about a little bit of physical pain. Psychological pain? Who doesn't have that in their lives to go along with emotional pain? I have decided, though, that spiritual pain is what could truly kill a person.
I'm talking about a true absence of God in one's life. As a Christian, I can't think of anything more painful than that. This first day of distance running after a long time away from the sport seems like a wonderful experience compared to the pain of being separated from God.
That's pretty much the only way to sum up the way I feel at the moment. My legs ache despite drinking water, stretching, and making sure that I am eating the right kinds of food. Ah well.
Life without pain seems...foreign to me. No, I'm not a glutton for punishment, and neither do I go looking for activities that can provide some kind of bodily harm. I'm talking about pain in all forms, whether physical, emotional, and yeah, even spiritual.
Right now, the pain I'm experiencing is quite insignificant. No, really! Some sore muscles after exercising? Former coaches of mine would probably wonder what my problem was if I complained about a little bit of physical pain. Psychological pain? Who doesn't have that in their lives to go along with emotional pain? I have decided, though, that spiritual pain is what could truly kill a person.
I'm talking about a true absence of God in one's life. As a Christian, I can't think of anything more painful than that. This first day of distance running after a long time away from the sport seems like a wonderful experience compared to the pain of being separated from God.
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