Category: reflections

re: My Life Canon

Last week I shared my Life Canon…
I’d like to add the following (which I recently added to the sidebar of my blog)…

I’m not sure what you’d call this, but I adapted it from something Brian McLaren wrote in Everything Must Change. It started as a challenge for our community group and its become more of a personal challenge to me each day – especially with it posted on my cubicle wall.

imagine if suddenly:
rather than seeking revenge, you sought reconciliation
rather than repaying violence with violence, you sought creative transforming nonviolent alternatives
rather than focusing on external conformity to moral codes, you were internally transformed by love
rather than loving insiders and hating outsiders, you welcomed outsiders into a new “us” and “we”
rather than anxiety about money or security or pleasure, you trusted ourselves to the care of God
rather than living for wealth, you lived for God who loves all people, including our enemies
rather than hating our enemies and competitors, you loved them and did unto them not as they have done unto you – or before they do unto you – but as you wish they would do for you

So what is your Life Canon? I tag: Thomas, Laurie, Brandi, Dollye, Eric, Brian, Smiley and Kevin.
(here are the rules)

McDonaldization, Wal-Martization and Fundamentalism

I think I was able to read two paragraphs this morning while listening to the encounter band practice before church this morning.
Two paragraphs but both quite powerful.
I really enjoy how some of the recent writers I’ve been reading from take “modern day terms” we’re familiar with and put them into context with the Gospel. For instance, rather than an Insurgency in Iraq (meaning a sudden increase in the number of soldiers) these writers would suggest an Insurgency of Love. They challenge me to think of the “third way” that I believe Jesus often told us to live by.

So here’s what grabbed me this morning, in between the band playing Praise you In This Storm and Now My Lifesong Sings…

The fact is, all religions of the world are under threat– from fundamentalist Islam, but more, from the McDonaldization and Wal-Martization of the world, from global consumerism, from forces that emanate not from Arabia or Afghanistan, but from New York and Hollywood– forces that make all religions equally superflous, trivial compared to the lust for a new car or a new pair of jeans.

Granted, as I told Laurie, I Twittered about this paragraph on my brand new Blackberry.

How hard it is…

Switch off that television

This video is making it’s rounds around the Interweb. I’ve seen it on 3 or 4 sites now but saw it first on Thomas’ blog a day or two ago. Everyone’s had some great opinions on it. I personally like Thomas’ best – maybe cause we’re looking at things in a similar way.

I’ll try not to steal his thunder. Watch the video and then read his post for sure. But here are just a couple highlights:

From the video:

Media that’s targeted at you but doesn’t include you may not be worth sitting still for.

Thomas writes:

The way Clay expresses it is basically… the new media (blogging/wikipedia/youtube etc) = consuming + producing + sharing > this is a shift from the old media that only expects you to consume.

People are watching less television and are doing something… making something happen… like just now as I create this post. It reminds me of the old Why don’t you? motto :: Why Don’t You Just Switch Off Your Television Set and Go and Do Something Less Boring Instead? :: kind of ironic, I know… but its real… and its now!

I have some great friends who chose not to purchase a TV for the first couple years of their marriage. They only had a small Commodore monitor hooked up to a VCR for watching movies. They finally gave in though when Tim needed his Texas Rangers fix and probably didn’t help that their girls were getting older – but I wonder how different our lives would be if we all stopped simply consuming television on a daily basis….

Speaking of anniversaries

My Google Calendar reminded me of something today.

3 years ago today I officially started my blogging adventure.
Stranger in a Strange Land 1.0.

Although back then, it was hosted elsewhere and looked a good deal different (I’m not sure what happened to the old header).

You may notice there are posts older than April 30, 2005 – have no fear – those were added after I started my blog so I could have some record of the columns I wrote for the Belton Journal and Harker Heights Evening Star. You might also find an old Xanga account out there that I tried briefly and I even tried building my own “blog” from scratch but that was taken down ages ago – after I found out all about CMS.

It’s been a great ride so far. The feedback has been great – well most of it :-).

Through writing my blog and reading others I’ve met some great friends like Thomas. I’ve connected with old friends like Chad. I’ve gotten a better insight into the lives of some very close friends. And I’ve even gained a better insight and understanding of my wife.

And hopefully you’ve each learned something more about me as well. Hopefully you’ve been able to see more of what makes me me. While my posts may not always be personal in nature – they are personal to me. They are things that make me think, influence me and challenge me.

Hope you’ve enjoyed the ride so far and hope you continue reading. Thanks!

Shift happens

wired
I noticed an interesting shift on the bus today.
As I sat down, with my laptop in it’s bag at my feet, my new Blackberry in my hand and my Zune in my pocket playing a new podcast an older gentleman sat down next to me.
Didn’t look close enough, but I’d say he was in his mid to late 50s.
I’m wearing dockers and a button down green shirt. I think I was told I should wear a tie to work everyday but I’ve tried to push that idea(l) further and further away from reality.
He was wearing a dark suit, white shirt and tie. He sat down and pulled out the Sports section of the Dallas Morning News.
He read the paper on our route downtown, reading each story of interest. Going from page to page.
I on the other hand listened to a podcast about GAP and GAP Baby using kids working in sweatshops to make their clothes and scanned the “headlines” of the day via my RSS reader.
As I put all my gadgets away before arriving at the bus stop I thought to myself, “I feel pretty wired and connected… but to whom?”
As he gets off the bus I imagine he’ll simply fold the newspaper and stick it under his arm or toss it in the trash on the way into his office.
Shift happens.

things you learn

Laurie shared a list of the things she’s learned over the last year on over on her blog and challenged me to do the same. So, never one to back down to (most) challenges here we go…

  • Men and women’s clothes are different (or soft water does a crazy number on clothes). While I can do my laundry for years upon years by throwing it all in the same load of wash on cold water and never have an issue, if you add a red shirt of your wives into the mix, your wives shirt will take over and dye all the other clothes with its red dye. The same applies for red towels you may have received as a wedding gift.
  • The house is always dirtier or messier than you realize.
  • You always have more money than you think you do.
  • If you make the mistake of keeping score for any period of time – you’ll quickly realize you’re loosing the contest.
  • There are different unwritten dress codes for weddings – all depending on what time of day the wedding is held and where it is held. Flip flops are very very very rarely OK to wear to weddings and baseball caps are out of the question.
  • Women don’t always need things fixed like men think they do. Your wife may come home and complain about 20 things at work. Your mind may instantly go into repair mode and without much trouble at all you’ve found a logical solution to the problem and go into a 12-step program to fix everything in the next 5 minutes. She doesn’t care. She just (most of the time) wants you to listen. If she wanted to know how to fix it, she would have said, “I need you to fix this for me.” This will only be said when there’s a jar that cannot be opened, a computer that’s not working correctly, there’s a problem with the entertainment system, the car is making a funny sound, or when you’ve really messed something up.
  • Communication is KEY. When your wife says, “I don’t want you to have to do that” she means “Under no circumstances should you do that” not “I’d prefer you chose to do that differently.”
  • “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” Sometimes when you get a great idea of washing a paint sprayer in the sink, so that you can clean each piece thoroughly and avoid getting soap and oil stain on the fairly new grass, one bad squirt of that spayer can make your idea look like the worst idea to come around these here parts.
  • All You Need is Love. Some might argue there’s more to marriage and life – but when you really get down to it – when two people truly love each other – that’s all you really need. Love can overcome any error, any mistake and any challenge. And it’s great to know that when you misunderstand what your wife said or your best laid plan goes awry – you still have a wife who loves you for reasons you’ll never understand and your love for her is the same.

Of course most of these things are said in jest. I can’t think of living my life when anyone other than Laurie. She thrills my heart each and every day.