The best show on TV starts another season tomorrow. If you're a fan, you've been waiting all summer for this event. Kelli and I are fans and we've decided to make it a party every Wednesday night for friends and fellow fans. Shows like these are always better watching them with others (as long as "that guy" who talks throughout the whole show doesn't come – we won't invite him).
So tomorrow night @ 8pm (come earlier if you want) stop on by and watch the season premiere of "Lost" with us. It is in HDTV – did I mention that? Everyone's invited (minus the guy mentioned above), and bring something to share with the crew – drinks, popcorn, gummy worms whatever.
I have been thinking a lot about my envoironmental responsibility and ecological footprint lately. I wanted to pass on some of the concepts that have been challenging me. Ignorance is bliss on these issues, but it's still ignorance 🙂
Bottled Water –
My friend Justin posted this article months ago about the ecological effects and realities of bottled water production that got me started thinking on the subject.
Treehugger.com (I know it sounds cheesy, but it's a great site for ideas/products to live more green) posted this article on this church in Canada that decided to boycott battled water for theological reasons. Not sure I am ready to go as far as to make it a black and white theological issue to make water a commodity, but it challenging none the less. And I appreciate their conviction (even if they are Canadian).
Kelli and I have decided to go "tap" instead and except for a recent case of "flavored water" (what in the hell is that all about anyway) that mysteriously appreared after our last trip to the grocery, we have been fine without the luxury of bottled water.
Air Conditioning –
In California, Kelli and I never used the AC in our house, we had it, but never needed it (I miss that beautiful place). But here in Arizona, the story is a bit different. 120 degree summer days make it really hard to not bathe yourself in super-cool AC. Kelli and I resist as much as possible and try to keep our AC set at 85 degrees as much as possible. I will admit this is for financial reasons more than it is for environmental reasons, but I have been realizing that our thriftyness benefits the planet quite well.
Kester Brewin, a British teacher, author, and faith practicioner I recently met and respect a ton, recently wrote on his blog about the US's use of AC as a way of life. You can find the article here. It is interesting to hear a non-American's perspective on the American need for such cool surroundings. The bottom line is that we use WAY more AC than the rest of the planet (which I guess isn't all that surprising, but it is embrassing). Kelli and I recently returned from Mexico where most homes, stores, and public places are sans Air Conditioning. It was hot and humid while we were there and we found ourselves running back ot our hotel daily longing for the rush of ice-cold air that met us as we opened the door to our hotel room. The locals must have thought we were insane, spoiled, and definitely American. Gotta think through this AC thing a bit more.
Anyway – just some rambled thoughts on being more responsible with the planet we call home.
Friends and fellow travellers – Kelli and I are back in the states. Mexico was amazing as usual, but we are glad to be home. Looking forward to catching up with you and dreaming about the future.
Kelli and I are having a great time down here in Mexico. We met some good friends of ours down here and it's great to catch up. We are in the most beautiful part of Puerto Vallarta – old towne. Cobblestone streets, very European-feeling shops lining the streets, the sound of the ocean around every corner. I will have some pictures soon.
Wny most of the time do we have to get so far away to remember to "slow down". Yesterday we laughed at ourselves when we got frustrated at our waiter for taking so long with the food. We were literally sitting in the sand 15 feet from the waves waiting for tacos and shrimp. The waiter had already brought the Coronas and Pacificos. Why were we so ansy, so impatient? I am convinced it's because we are Americans, it's in our blood.
So from here on out I am going to try to forget how to be an American and re-learn the Mexican way of life – where people seem to be far more important than time.
Kelli and I leave today for a MUCH needed getaway to Mexico. We have been way too stressed lately and we both feel it. Time to relax, refocus, rethink, relove, re-eat and drink, re-explore, our favorite country – Mexico. We will see you in a week. Did I mention the kids are staying with grandparents?
By the way, if you want details about what the next week will look like for us think of the Corona comercials that play so often on TV. Us, the beach, good books, and maybe even a Corona or two.
Last week I started a new book called "Simply Christian" by one of my favorite author/theologians, N.T. Wright. Wright has challenged my thinking in so many ways and that has made me a huge fan. So While I was killing some time recently at our local B&N, I picked up this book. I have heard this book described as similar to C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity – which is a bold claim.
As I read the introduction, I became more excited than I have ever been to read a particular book. As Wright is explaining his purpose in this book, he explains that he has broken it into three parts. He starts by describing the first part. Here's the passage that hooked me:
"First, I have explored four areas which in today's world can be interpreted as "echoes of a voice": the longing for justice, the quest for spirituality, the hunger for relationships, and the delight in beauty. Each of these, I suggest, points beyond itself, though without in itself enabling us to deduce very much about the world except that it is a strange and exciting place."
Community/spirituality/beauty/justice are aspects of the Kingdom, but are also as Wright calls them, "echoes of a voice" that the world hears and longs for, but doesn't understand. To help them understand is what Kelli and I do. That is our profession; our calling.
This book is so exciting to me because we for over a year now have felt these exact things. Check back for updates on this book as I finish it this week.
This weekend, the community of faith I am a part of had a community garage sale to raise money for a friend of ours in need. It was a LONG weekend, but a really good one. In fact one of the best in the six+ months our little band of friends has been gathering. It was a good one because the garage sale was a beautiful glimpse into what the early church must have been like. Here we were, a group of friends committed to each other, hawking our junk for a small profit all in the names of compassion and generosity. It wasn't easy – we must have spent at least 15 hours or so together (most of that in the 100-degree heat). But it was good. In fact it was probably more fulfilling that any other church experience I have ever had. And for the past 24 hours I have been trying to figure out why.
The best answer I can come up with is that I experienced a deeper committment than I have ever experienced before from those I "church with". See, I have seen a deep committment to each other before inchurches I have been a part of, but usually that committment was really to the institution of the church. People committed themselves to the organization, much like they would a country club, a home owner's association, a political party, or a fraternity. In our community, there is no formal organization to commit ourselves to – no institution to make sure "survives" year-after-year, no "we-will-do-anything-to-make-sure-we-succeed" organization to buy into. Our community is a bunch of friendships connected to each other by a collective interest in the ways of Jesus. Our committment is to Jesus and to each other. We are discovering the beauty of such a thing.
I wonder if that is a major reason that the church seems to be impotent in America. I wonder if we are leading people to commit themselves – their finances, their talents, their time – to an organization. I wonder how the average American must view that. I wonder if the average American misses Jesus in the church because he's clouded by organization. I wonder if giving is perceived as dues. I wonder if "congregational meetings" are seen as council meetings. I wonder if evangelism is seen as recruitment. I wonder if meeting community needs are seen as dutiful philanthropy.
We wonder why Americans have trouble finding passion about their faith.
My good friend Josh just left our house and my mind is racing. Kelli, Josh, and I talked for the past few hours about life, faith, and how well the two are working together. What came to my mind, as it has seemed to so many times recently, was how much we talk big of living differently, but in reality, we aren't that much different. Blame part of it on the fact that we are as flawed and hopeless as any other human on this planet, and put the rest of the blame on us directly. We have gotten too busy, too comfortable, too lazy, too casual about this Jesus we claim to follow. Something has to change. Something has to be done. Not just for the sake of doing, but for the sake of balance, for the sake of justice, and for the sake of integrity. So here's where we're headed, a life lived centered around community, Christ, creativity, and compassion. No other distractions, no other agendas – just figuring out how to live in these ways – community, Christ, creativity, and compassion. We'd love to share this life with others, learning from them along the road. If you resonate with this simple, yet serious way of life, you're more than welcome to join us – the more the merrier.
My good friends Travis, Dave, and I were hanging out a few nights ago over bad cigars in Camarillo, CA when Travis mentioned that he felt incredibly conflicted these days. Travis and his wife Jyll are a month away from having their first child and three months away from moving across the country to begin a new community of faith in Jyll's hometown of Providence, RI. There's enough to be conflicted in those realities alone! But that's not really why he felt conflicted.
His "inner conflict" was coming from stepping away from an identity he has known for so many years. With his upcoming move, he is leaving an existing church to initiate one from scratch. He is leaving the known for the unknown. He is leaving a church that operates (like many American churches these days) with an assumption that if they just do things well (worship service, spiritual services to offer members, etc.), the people of their surrounding city will be interested and "come and see" what this Jesus is all about. He is moving to cultivate a new community of faith in a part of the nation that for the most part isn't in any way interested in this brand of Christianity. He can no longer assume that people "will come and see". His paradigm of the church must change – and it is. These are all tied to his identity. Over the past 5 years or so, he has found fit and favor within groups of people who see faith playing out through a similar lens. He finds himself feeling as though he is on the edge of a cliff ready to jump. I give him some major credit putting his feet to the edge.
I think most of us have felt as though my friend Travis does. Our identity is tied up in what others think about us. I know this from experience. For the past year, I have wrestled with the expectations of others. As our family walked away from missions organizations and denominations, I often felt (and still at times do) that we were walking out on our ecclesiastical families. I felt as though were were being viewed as liberal crazies who where abandoning all common sense. As we asked theological questions that we felt comfortable asking, we felt as though in the eyes of others we were "flipping the bird" to our conservative evangelical roots. Maybe we were. We felt really alone at times – stuck between being the people we felt was calling us to be and the people everyone expected us to be.
But why are we so afraid of this "inner conflict"? Why do we feel as though it is always better to fit within some existing groups of thought or faith. Don't we each have an obligation to wrestle with God (and life) as individuals and to come to our own conclusions? And if we are truly honest and always on journey (growing, evolving, changing) aren't we always going to discover conflict within ourselves? For me that fact is reflected in my choice of blog title, "Confused Clarity". Just as we grasp the idea of Jesus, we have to reframe our understanding with the perspective of his relation to the trinity. Just as we clean up one area of the messiness of our lives, we discover four more. Just as we come to terms with our imperfection, we run across Jesus' charge to be perfect (Matt 5:48). In conservative theological circles (and I suspect most other theological circles as well) there is pressure make our complete understanding of God all be able to be wrapped up in a nice package that can easily be labeled.
Maybe our inability to flee from conflict speaks of our relationship to God as humanity. God obviously has a handle on the things of the world – he created them. But we are so far from having a handle on most things. We are most definitely not God! So maybe we should take more comfort in this "inner conflict" and in fact expect it. Maybe we should become worried when we have periods where we don'tfeel this sense of conflict instead of when we do feel it. Maybe we should learn to expect it and even pray for it. Maybe it is a gauge of the journey we are on.
Matt and I just got back from the Soliton Sessions on Sunday. We had a great time and met some new friends. These are some of the "tricksters" we shared the weekend with – Shane Claiborne, Greg Russinger, and Si Johnston – each brilliant in their own right. Matt and I had some great chances to talk about ourselves as well as about the community we are a part of here in Mesa. I am still processing a list of concepts – most of which were stirred by dialogue with Kester Brewin about "dirt" and the boundaries we create around us that keep us from all things dirty and from thus becoming dirty ourselves. Interesting stuff. Also thanks to Gareth, Pagitt, Travis, Andy, Rob & Angela, Jon, the people of the bridge (way to practice what you preach), and most of all Miki for letting us stay on your floor.
