For I was hungry…

Last night, I had a dream that woke me in tears.

I was invited, by God himself, to partake in a special dinner that included a very diverse and what appeared to be accurate representation of the diversity of the world. I then found out that for some odd reason, despite God hosting the event, we had to bring our own food.

So, I brought what appeared to be the finest, juiciest steak, a huge potato, and a glass of expensive wine…and I took my seat in a dimly lit room. Next to me, and around the table fit for about a dozen, are seated people that were from every part of the world-black, white, African, European, Mexican…

As I raised the first bite of steak to my mouth, I noticed that a wearied and dirty-looking woman and her child, who were seated across from me, had the same plate as I…but no food. I turned to God and asked guiltily,

“God, what have they done wrong? Why didn’t they bring food?”

God replied. “Nobody fed me.”

Would you be able to eat your steak and drink your wine at a table like this? Ya. Me either.

“Each one of them is Jesus in disguise.”
-Mother Teresa

For I was hungry, and you fed me.
-Matthew 25:35

The Power of the Journey

It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

What are we holding onto, Sam?

— J.R.R. Tolkien & Peter Jackson’s Film Adaptation: Screenplay for LOTR

Upon the hearth the fire is red
Beneath the roof there is a bed
But not yet weary are our feet
Still round the corner we may meet

A sudden tree or standing stone
That none have seen but we alone
Tree and flower and leaf and grass
Let them pass! Let them pass!

Hill and water under sky
Pass them by! Pass them by!
Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate;
And though I oft have passed them by,

Home is behind the world ahead
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadows to the edge of night
Until the stars are all alight
Then world behind and home ahead
We’ll wander back to home and bed

A day will come at last when I
Shall take the hidden paths that run
West of the Moon, East of the Sun.

— J.R.R. Tolkien

We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, will also reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God. Indeed only by myth-making, only by becoming ‘sub-creator’ and inventing stories, can Man aspire to the state of perfection that he knew before the Fall. Our myths may be misguided, but they steer however shakily towards the true harbour, while materialistic ‘progress’ leads only to a yawning abyss and the Iron Crown of the power of evil.

— J.R.R. Tolkien

… in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

— J.R.R. Tolkien

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

— J.R.R. Tolkien

A Night with the President: A New World Order

Throughout President Bush Sr.’s speeches and presidency, the theme of “A New World Order” is prevalent. As demonized of an ideal as it is, his New World Order (NWO) is not manifest destiny and it is not Pax Americana. The Bush agenda (both Jr. and Sr.) sought to spread the peace and prosperity that already had made America great. In the book, “Heartbeat: George Bush in His Own Words,” he comments on it. “The NWO really is a tool for addressing a new world of possibilities. This order gains its mission and shape not just from shared interests but from shared ideals. Although we have no road map to guide us through this world, we have a sure compass in principles.”

I recently attended an Alzheimer’s disease fundraiser in Indianapolis, Indiana; proceeds benefited the chapter and Alzheimer’s research centers at Indiana University Medical School and UCLA. The head of the UCLA center, Jeffrey Cummings, one of the world’s top Alzheimer’s researchers, gave the keynote address. President Bush Sr., who is 85, is in excellent mental and physical health. But, one of his best and most trusted friends, Ronald Reagan, died of Alzheimer’s disease.

“For two centuries we’ve done the hard work of freedom. And tonight we lead the world in facing down a threat to decency and humanity. What is at stake is more than one small country, it is a big idea – a new world order, where diverse nations are drawn together in common cause to achieve the universal aspirations of mankind: peace and security, freedom, and the rule of law. Such is a world worthy of our struggle, and worthy of our children’s future.” -1991 State of the Union

“We will succeed in the Gulf. And when we do, the world community will have sent an enduring warning to any dictator or despot, present or future, who contemplates outlaw aggression. The world can therefore seize this opportunity to fulfill the long-held promise of a new world order – where brutality will go unrewarded, and aggression will meet collective resistance.”

“We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order, a world where the rule of law, not the rule of the jungle, governs the conduct of nations. When we are successful, and we will be, we have a real chance at this new world order, an order in which a credible United Nations can use its peacekeeping role to fulfill the promise and vision of the U.N.’s founders.” -1991

Let me make this clear. This does not mean more power at the federal level. It does not mean “policing the world.” It simply implies the stopping of needless bloodshed, dictatorship, and anarchy that has bound people to tyrrany. President Bush’s goal was not global domination, nor the “Coordination of Regulation” that President Obama has called his slow, but sure, governmental takeover. If you look at it in context, which was the new beginnings after the Cold War, you find that it was simply the liberation and “thawing” of oppressed and frozen people that were held captive by the decades-long winter of the Cold War. The straitjacket of a divided world can only be fixed by accepting different people groups, their beliefs, customs, and histories (as opposed to Communism) and offer friendship and leadership to those hurting peoples. It’s not Pax Americana, it’s Pax Universalis–built upon shared responsibilities and aspirations. Christ shared these principles with us 2000+ years ago, with a strong and unending burden for the oppressed. Let us hope that the current administration shares some of these ideals.

America’s Exigencies & Her New Rally Cry, Part I

Our nation, post 9/11, is forever different. We have begun a government-run security overhaul. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security, the Patriot Act, increased border protection, tighter aviation security, and a new counterterrorism task force in the FBI are just several examples of a tighter, safer, and less porous superpower. Right?

Since 9/11, men and women seem retrospectively fixated on the resurgence of traditional family values and hierarchies-a sort of ‘John Wayne manliness’ and a ‘June Cleaver’ effeminate. Why do we, almost from instinct, resort to this mentality? Because it feels safe. It doesn’t take a social scientist or anthropologist to write a 300-page memo on the history of blah blah blah to figure out why we do it. There is a supreme, yet subterranean fear that exists within our country, and because of it, a vulnerability.

Vulnerability is not a bad thing. Because of its presence, we are able to find where we are weak and strengthen those areas. But, has the greatest increase in governmental security power in American history taken us back to the very place of naivete and gullibility? It is no doubt that the American ideal and its media strong-arm preach that vulnerability is weakness. Therefore, if this is true (which it is not) then we are unknowingly and uncontrollably veering down the proverbial slippery slope.

So, what do we do? Am I just another bloggo: solution-less and idea-less, yet full of cynicism and defeatism? Well, not entirely.

First, we must first identify who our ‘enemy’ is, and what he/she is so upset about. Oh, this seems so elementary and trivial…so much so that your brain probably skimmed right over it (must be that slippery slope again). However, failing to understand and implement this simple statement has led to the grave and ultimately avoidable misunderstanding of those enemies. When this happens, rights are violated, religion is used for evil, and wars begin and sometimes never end. Let’s look at the current situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan:

General McChrystal has asked President Obama to increase the troop population in Afghanistan, hoping to gain more control over the country and our common enemy. President Obama, General McChrystal, and their underlying administration have scrutinized the perfect battle tactics, the precise amount of insurgency, and the preferred withdrawal time table. But, who is the enemy in Afghanistan? Al Qaeda is the obvious and usually first answer. It’s also the preferred one, since we were brutally attacked by their organization in 2001. But, are we sure that they are the enemy? What about the Taliban? Are they so intricately enmeshed in Al Qaeda that they are virtually indistinguishable? Both are Pashtun and both enjoy a ‘home base’ in Pakistan’s tribal areas. The Taliban created their identity from being raised in Pakistani schools and refugee camps, not to mention receiving money and support from Islamabad, which subsequently stoked their rise. If America hopes to drive out these infidels by engaging in a semi-nuclear staring match, America is in for a painful blink. They plan to outwit, outlast, and outthink yet another alien superpower–just like the mujahideen did to the Soviets. So what should we do? Should we put on our Guy Fawkes masks and vomit verbiage and threaten mutiny? Should we, Vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition? (A touch of humor cannot hurt, right?)

Or, am I saying that we pull a ‘Charlie Wilson’ and covertly win the war in these countries? No. It’s actually much simpler than that. Last month, more soldiers died in this war than any month prior. Why?

What we need, what we absolutely need, is a personal touch. We need an insurgency characterized by not just nation-building, but people-building. We need some John Locke philosophy. It’s not easy-gaining the hearts and minds of Afghans is tough. But, as Locke would say, “It is easier for a tutor to command than to teach.” Therefore, our commanders and leaders must be humble enough…vulnerable enough…to accept that we now live in a different world-different from the global battles against the Third Reich of WWII. It is a battle against the viewing of people groups as merely people groups.

Noam Chomsky recently raised a simplistic, yet mostly ignored question: “…what do the Afghans want?” Have we ever asked this? America can only function in Afghanistan as long as there is moderate to large support within the general Afghan population. By ensuring the needs of the Afghan people are met, we can, and will, reduce the power of the Taliban. Unpalatable and humbling as it seems, it includes understanding what the Taliban wants–those radical, fundamental fighters who so easily sacrifice themselves in the name of God.

The United States typically gives complete allegiance and exclusive support to national leaders without considering how to promote a more traditional, and arguably more homeostatic, system of local power delegated to local, qualified leaders.

So, what is my point? Is America overbearing? Yes. Is America presumptive? Yes. Is America forceful? Yes.

Is America aware of its vulnerabilities? No.

In the face of unprecedented war mistakes, war bluffs, and war failures, we must come to terms with the fact that we are simply not getting it. We must uphold the rally cry: Security through vulnerability.

And yet, this statement is nothing more than a political, wartime slogan, right? – an artifact of its time, its meaning contingent on the setting in which it is used, like any other rallying cry?

End of Part One.

Feed My Starving Children

Proverbs 22:9 says, Generous hands are blessed hands because they give bread to the poor!

This last week at our home church, Southland Christian, we partnered with Feed My Starving Children. The organization (found here: http://www.fmsc.org/) is a model for NGO’s around the planet. FMSC meals are distributed in more than 60 countries through missionary partnerships at orphanages, schools, clinics, refugee camps and malnourishment centers around the world. But, they don’t simply drop off a meal with a pat on the back and head to the next country; rather, this program sustains hungry individuals for weeks on end, until nourishment has been met.

So, at SCC this last week, we decided to use our 10,000+ people to help feed the world. With hairnets applied and orientation by the FMSC staff complete, we took our positions. The tables were in place of pews, and instead of sitting and hearing, we were standing and doing. (Thus is the postmodern church…?)

After the week was over, and after 5,000+ volunteers packed meals, the total was revealed: Southland Christian Church packed 1,056,024 meals! Enough meals to feed 4,000 children for an entire year! It was a great event to be apart of, and I look forward to doing it again next year, when our goal will be 2,000,000 meals. Check out the video link below for a recap of what happened.

http://vimeo.com/7353384

Single golden retriever, seeking…

Stella, our golden, who has more personality than Robin Williams on speed, but simply hates when I sit around my desk doing homework for hours on end, has had enough. She’ll pace, watch tv (yes, watch tv-she loves The Dog Whisperer), whine, put her nose where she shouldn’t, and most incessantly, try to crawl up into your lap. She’s 55lbs, and anything that weighs that much should not be squirming around on your member. Or, and this is my favorite, she’ll lay on the couch next to my desk, sprawl out as far as she can, put her head up on the armrest, and, “Sigh…..”. And if I don’t notice her, she’ll do it again, but this time, louder. She’ll do this in increasing loudness until I finally glare at her…as if she was a 17 year-old girl saying, “This place is soooo boring.” So, in defiance of me, she logged onto “datemypet.com” and created an ad for herself, looking for a canine playmate. It went something like this:

My name is Stella, and I’m a single golden retriever, seeking fun-loving and energy-teemed male doggie. I’m a 55lb beautiful broad, who loves to run leashless, sniff dumpsters, and eat anything that isn’t lettuce (including the occasional permanent marker on white carpet).

• Looking for a lovely, strong, sleek adolescent neutered male who loves sniffing hinnies.
• I’m an equal opportunity hound: brown, auburn, black or white-doesn’t matter.
• Must be bigger than a Miniature Poodle (but cannot be a poodle) and smaller than a Newfoundland.

• Must like secret, romantic rendezvouses at the local dog park as well as midnight swims in the nearby pond.
• Must not love profusely licking himself, in addition to never mounting without asking.

If these fit your canine description, give me a howl.

Pretty incredible, isn’t it? Kids these days…

BTW, datemypet.com actually exists. I know, I know.

Suicide: The Nature of the Beast

I just attended a suicide seminar at my graduate school, which highlighted the dramatic need for suicide education among helping professionals. If you, for instance, have a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, you have most likely only had approximately two hours of formal training in suicidality. Considering that suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for 15-34 year olds, this is pretty commiserable.
As helping professionals in the mental health field, suicide needs to be considered outside the realm of a mental disorder. Depression, schizophrenia, mood disorders, etc. do not always cause suicide attempts. Up to 20% of suicide victims had no diagnosable disorder. Anyone should update themselves with the latest suicide information, risk factors, warning signs, and even treatment protocols. If more persons are clued into the nature of suicide, more lives can be saved. In a case with a suicide survivor, she said, “I couldn’t take it any longer. I felt as if no one loved me or even noticed me. I decided to walk to work, and if one person smiled at me, I would not kill myself. No one smiled, and I swallowed 200 Percocet and a pint of gin.” Take time to read the warning signs below. Taking five minutes to review warning signs/flags can save a life.

http://www.suicidology.org/web/guest/stats-and-tools/warning-signs

Warning Signs of Acute Risk:

• Threatening to hurt or kill him or herself, or talking of wanting to hurt or kill him/herself; and/or,
• Looking for ways to kill him/herself by seeking access to firearms, available pills, or other means; and/or,
• Talking or writing about death, dying or suicide, when these actions are out of the ordinary.

These might be remembered as expressed or communicated ideation. If observed, seek help as soon as possible by contacting a mental health professional or calling 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for a referral.

If you’re a helping professional, you might be interested in this research proposal for the next edition of the DSM, the DSM-V: Article Link

*Thanks to suicidology.org & artgazine.com

Yipiyuk

In the swamplands long ago,
Where the weeds and mudglumps grow,
A Yipiyuk bit on my toe…
Exactly why I do not know.
I kicked and cried and hollered “Oh!”
The Yipiyuk would not let go.
I whispered to him soft and low.
The Yipiyuk would not let go.
Yes, that was sixteen years ago,
And the Yipiyuk still won’t let go.
The snow may fall, the winds may blow.
The Yipiyuk will not let go.
I drag him ’round each place I go,
And now my child at last you know
exactly why I walk so slow.*

Romans 7:24

*Thanks to Shel Silverstein

Pur-ness

I bought a Pur water filtration system today at Target. I’ve been wanting one for a bit now, since the water out of my apartment faucet tastes a little better than sewage. The model I bought includes an option for flavor (I know, cool, right?). With the push of a button, I can inject flavor shots directly into my cup. Right now, I’m drinking 99.99% containment free, raspberry flavored water. As I drank my first glass, I thought to myself, “Wow…this tastes identical to Fiji water that I buy for $4.00 at the store!”

Which made me wonder, “Does Fiji water really come from Fiji?” I mean, really? It’s a so far away from America. Truman Burbank told me so-“You can’t get any further away before you start coming back” (Truman Show).

So, as anyone in my generation would do in order to research an question, I googled it. To my surprise, it actually does originate from the South Pacific Islands of Fiji. I could not believe that they actually ship that water 7,325 miles to my city of Lexington, Kentucky (I google “mapped” it). Which made me wonder, “Is it worth it?”

So, I did some more research, and it seems I was not the first to ask this question of the Fijian water company. First off, is this hurting the environment? Now, I’m not “green” in mostly any way. I don’t recycle (I know, I know…), don’t have solar panels on my apartment patio, and don’t buy fully recycled grocery canvas bags. But, I do respect God’s earth, and I hope to be a good steward of it. Anyways, one Fiji bottle is one liter, or 25g of plastic and and is made from PET (Polyethylene terephthalate)…thank-you, Dr. Brinkman (which, by the way, terephthalate is the single hardest word in the English language for me to pronounce).

Plastics of this type use around 6.45kg of oil per kg, 294.2kg of water per kg, and result in 3.723kg of greenhouse gas emissions per kg (http://www.petmachine.in/use_of_pet.htm). So, with a quick stoichiometry-like calculation on my Ti-83 (200kg/kg x 0.025kg[fossil fuels] = 5kg of water), 1 liter requires 5 liters of water in its manufacturing process. In other words, it requires 5x the amount of water to produce the one liter of it.

But, I also wanted to know how much it costs to ship Fiji H20 from Fiji. Let’s assume that the bottle producing company (which I also assume is not the Fiji company) and the shipping company charges 2x what it costs for them to produce it. I am not sure if these are valid assumptions, but who cares, it’s just a blog, right? So, according to a groundbreaking research article in the Journal of Consumer Culture (“Bottled Water: The Pure Commodity”) 160g of fossil fuels are used to make the bottle, 2g to deliver it to Fiji, (from China-our plastic maker) and 81g to deliver the full bottle to the me, in Kentucky.

So, going back to my macroeconomic class in college, the variable (opposite of fixed) cost is the fossil fuel (since we all know that the water that springs from the ground is free), which amounts to 0.25kg. A standard oil barrel holds 159 liters and one liter of oil weighs 850g/liter, therefore one barrel holds 135.15kg of oil (opec.com). One barrel costs between $50 and $70 (let’s say $60, unless OPEC decides to throw a tantrum), so 0.25kg would cost $0.11 (1 barrel/135.15kg x $60/barrel x 0.243kg). Then, since we assumed that the company charges 2x what it costs to produce, we’ll say $.22. That’s right – not even a fourth of a dollar for a liter of Fiji water. This leaves $3.78 for the manufacturer, retail store, etc.

Bottom line: drinking Fiji water is a colossal waste of money and an environmental absurdity. In fact, the Republic of Fiji is controlled by a military junta – a strict dictatorship. How does water bottled in a junta-controlled dictatorship get into the hands of Paris Hilton, Barack Obama, and Mary J. Blige (all of whom swear by it)? Morever, how does it become the epitome of chic?

To end this discussion, I leave you with a must-read article by Mother Jones Journalism called, “Fiji Water: Spin the Bottle.” It outlines the ins-and-outs of how this dictatorship controls the P.R. of Fiji water.

On Fiji‘s website, one of their slogans reads, “And remember this—we saved you a trip to Fiji.” I think I’ll forget the Fijian trip and instead, reach into my fridge.

*Photo #1: http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/purwater/37083/
*Photo #2: http://www.triplepundit.com/2009/08/does-drinking-fiji-water-prop-up-a-dictatorship/

Shaker Village

Stacey, my grandparents and I went to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, which is about 45 minutes from my apartment. We spent the afternoon there, being sent backwards in time nearly 200 years. It’s an amazing part of history, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Here are some pictures.

It was started as an offset of the Quaker movement, led by a woman name Mother Ann Lee. She started the religion, called the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing…but they shortened it to “Shakers.”

They rejected procreation.
They rejected earthly pleasure.
They rejected outside influences.

Mother Ann was “turned off” from sexuality from an early age. This manifested itself in never wanting to marry, until her father forced her to do so. Upon marrying, she got pregnant eight times–she lost four to stillbirths and another four before the age of six.

She was turned off from sexuality.

From there on out, she pursued perfection, but left out marriage and sex.

She became a radical.

She taught others that God had given her a vision-a vision that told of the attainment of perfection through the abolition of sexuality and marriage. They believed her. And the Shaker revolution began.

She believed that the convulsions experienced during worship was the Holy Spirit purging oneself of sin. And the name stuck-Shakers.

Obviously this was not popular and even shunned upon by her United Kingdom neighbors, so she decided to leave (after multiple arrests from the State) and head to America. And the rest is history–she told everyone she saw that she was the female embodiment of God on earth.

She claimed that she was perfectly sanctified.

And they believed every word she said, as if it were liquid gold, streaming from her lips. They would have served her, worshiped her, and even died for her. I sometimes wonder if she did it simply for the purpose of revolution. She said,

We [the Shakers] are the people who turned the world upside down.

As her fame grew, so did her spiritual power. She once claimed to speak to four clergymen for four straight hours in over seventy languages. She advocated that the only way to Heaven was through celibacy-that we can attain the road to the Pearly Gates if we could just keep our V-card in our pockets.

After several other miracles, around 1770, the society gave her titles like, “Mother in Spiritual Things,” and my personal favorite, “Ann, the Word.”

There were 6,000 Shakers at the height of the movement. Today, there are none.

Lasting, real Truth comes only from Above. Who are you believing in?

“Everybody is following somebody. Everybody has faith in something and somebody. We are all believers.”

-Rob Bell