One Little Step

It's Earth Day, a 'holiday' I think I care about more this year than ever before. Oprah had a fascinating show today on the subject, and I'm still amazed at the number of families and people around the country that still don't ever think about the impact their choices have on our planet. It is astounding to me how many families still choose not to recycle or turn out lights or leave the air conditioning on while keeping the windows open. There's one HUGE thing though that if all of us stopped doing would make an enormous positive impact on our planet. Watch this short video on the true story of bottled water, I promise you will learn something and you will be surprised. We were. I know some people still think they want to buy bottled water that is flavored because of the taste, but I found last weekend a great solution. I cut up a lime and stuck a slice in my nalgene bottle with the water and for the whole weekend I had great flavored tap water :)

I think this is so much more than promoting another "soap box" idea, to me it truly is a deeply theological issue. In Genesis we were given the task of caring for our world, and I'm pretty sure if God showed up today he'd look at the piles of plastic bottles, the floating garbage islands in our oceans, and the pure amount of sheer waste we produce every week and tell us we haven't exactly lived up to the task he gave to us. I don't know, just an opinion. Seriously, watch this video, it's not long, and it does matter.

The Story of Bottled Water

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Hunger

I'm finding myself growing more and more hungry lately. Hungry for Jesus. Hungry to know him more, to follow him, even when that feels terrifying. There's a stirring deep in my soul for more. It's been a long, long time since I've felt this, felt such a desire to not just talk about Jesus, or write about Jesus, but to really know him, to see him, to touch him, to follow in his footsteps. And I am longing to see others know him, and come to love him too.

I long for this world to be different, I deeply desire to see change, to see those who have nothing finally receive their fair share, to see those who are wealthy give freely of their abundance instead of storing up treasures on earth while so many go hungry.

I wish with all my heart that the impression the world has of Christians was different. I hope for the day when the "religious right" would stop yelling about abortion and homosexuality and begin to see that "family values" and being "pro-life" should mean just as much energy and anger towards the fact that millions of children don't have food, or health care, or clean water in this world--that these are family issues too, these are pro-life issues as well.

This world is a mess, and this past week I have been hit hard with a desire to pray for change, for something to happen, for things to be different. I want to see our churches start to BE the people of God, to stop worrying about church attendance and the latest ways to "grow" or be "relevant" and start thinking deeply about the fact that "liturgy" actually means "service"--our worship service ought to be just that, serving. I had this sense while at youth group last week that I wanted more for these kids. I wasn't interested in their whining about playing link-arm tag one more time, I want to see them go deeper, and I don't know how to help them do that, and that bothers me. I'm sick of the status quo. God's calling us to a new place, and even though I am scared, I want to follow. I want to be part of something new, something bigger than myself, something eternal. And I don't know what to do with this, other than say "okay God, I'm here, I'm willing, and I'm ready to do what you call me to." And then to pray I hear him when he calls.

does democracy = Christian?

I have another question. I guess it goes a little bit along with my question posted in the 7 Quick Takes Friday post from yesterday about faithful interpretation of scripture. (Apparently now that I've taken a 6 month hiatus from seminary I'm back to being interested in theological issues!) The professor I work for made a very interesting, albeit off handed, comment in class last Monday that has stayed with me all week. He said "socialism is a bad word in American Christianity. We hate the concept of it, we fight for our rights and our freedoms, and we are somehow determined to make our government a Christian government. Well folks, the first church in scripture we are given a glimpse of was a socialist church. Acts 2, they shared everything with one another, they provided equally for all. They "sold all their possessions and distributed the proceeds among all people." (Acts 2:45) That is a radically different view than we get from our churches and pews today. I admit, there's something about this view I don't like. I cringe and balk at the idea that 'my' posesssions will be taken away, or that the money I worked for might be redistributed to someone who couldn't work. We don't like this idea as Americans. We've been indoctrinated that what I have is mine, what I've worked for is mine, and if there is anything left over it's good to give to charity. But from scripture it looks like they gave to one another first. There is no democracy in scripture, anywhere. So to continue waving the banner that America's democratic way of doing things is the "Christian" way of running a government is mind boggling to me. If we are so set on being biblical in our way of thinking then how did we get to a place where we are SO far from the examples of community life than scripture gives? The Old Testament reminds us over and over again that the economic structures were set in place to care for "the widow, the orphan and the alien (immigrant) among you." That was the central issue in how life was structured in Israel. Acts 2 seems to build on that with the establishment of a church that was meant to care for all who entered its doors.

I'm curious if anyone else has thought through this? What do you think? Is the American 'democracy' really the best form of government for a truly Christian nation, or is it just that we happen to like it because it grants us our own liberties? Just a few musings for a Saturday morning!

Celebrating the Inauguration (a week late)

I know our inauguration was a week ago, but my friend Jenn sent this to me today and I loved it, so I wanted to share it with all of you. She is a kindergarten teacher and she said the 1st grade class in her school had this up being displayed, which I just think is awesome.

Rosa sat
so
Martin could walk
so
Barack could run
so
All children can dream.

I DO think it is WONDERFUL that we have a president who is not a white male. For white males out there, this may not make a ton of sense, or it may take a bit to wrap your minds around this, but there is something powerful about seeing yourself reflected in the face of those who are leading you. If all we see is one type of person in the most powerful position in the world, we internalize the message (whether or not we consciously recognize this) that that type of person is the only kind of person who can effectively hold that particular office. I experienced that growing up in the church. As a young girl, I never got to see anyone who 'looked like me' leading, preaching, serving communion, or making key decisions in the church. And that caused me to internalize the message that "girls don't lead in the church, they can't." When I was in college and encountered the message that they could lead in certain churches, I couldn't handle that--it felt wrong to me because it was so contrary to the message I had believed for so long. But the more I saw women preaching, serving communion etc, the more I felt something resonating deep with in me. I realized I might be able to do that some day too. And I think, ok I know thanks to research, that the same happens with people of various ethnicities--when we see ourselves reflected physically in our leaders it gives us more encouragement and inspiration to believe we too could aspire to a similar position someday. America has always prided herself on being a 'melting pot' or a 'place for all people,' yet that is not often reflected in her leadership. America isn't made up of white males, yet that is the only demographic to ever have held the highest office. I think it is absolutely amazing that we finally have a president who looks differently on the outside because I think it is about time that we have a leader blacks can look at and see themselves in. If we are going to use the rhetoric about America being a place of equal opportunities for people, then it is about time our leadership start reflecting that. I am so proud to have Barack Obama as our president, and I look forward to the future of politics that may look a bit different.