journal : : field notes
The Exponential Impact of Giving
Take a look at this dryer on the left. Nothing special. Maybe you've purchased a dryer like this before. You probably decided you needed a dryer, went to a store, and bought a dryer. Simple process, right?
I'm no economist, but it seems to me that this is Reaganomics at its fullest. You needed a dryer. Free market capitalism assured you that you'd get a decent price, and you had the power to decided which dryer you wanted. Some of the money (very little of it, probably) trickled it's way down all the way to the manufacturer and parts suppliers (and their employees). You made your little contribution to the economy, and you have a dryer. Nice work.
But, this dryer didn't have such an ordinary path. Sure, it was once purchased from a store, brought into a home...but that's not the end of the story. Somewhere along the line, the family who owned this dryer decided that it no longer needed it. Soon thereafter, a small group of high schoolers from our church knocked on the original owner's door, asking them to participate in their bigger-better drive.
A bigger better drive is where you start with something quite small (say, a paperclip) and you go house to house asking for something bigger and/or better. Our youth ministry sent out teams with the purpose to coming back with items that could generate some funds for World Vision.
After a series of trades, their last stop in their journey produced a dryer. Consider the exponential impact of giving this dryer:
- The original owners blessed our youth ministry by giving it to them.
- Bekah and I purchased the dryer, adding $150 to their fund for World Vision.
- Bekah and I don't need the dryer (we just wanted to help out), so we're donating the dryer to Lutheran Social Services, who will pick it up and give it to a family who truly needs a dryer.
Wow! One dryer taught some students a powerful lesson on the impact of giving, allowed us the privilege of participating in giving, and an impoverished family abroad (via World Vision) and a needy family here (via Lutheran Social Services) all are blessed through the giving train of one measly dryer.
In God's economy, there is plenty to go around. There is no law of scarcity and supply and demand is determined based on need, not on greed. Take that Reaganomics!
Labels: economics, giving, reaganomics
TomsShoes...
Have you ordered a pair of
TOMS yet? C'mon! Who doesn't want some unique slipper-like shoes from Argentina? I'm wearing mine right now (pictured left, though they're no longer offering this particular style for the men...so yes, you might say I'm wearing women's shoes). They are fantastic.
Top 5 reasons to order a pair of TOMS:
5. They're basically slippers...that you can actually wear all day, in and out-of-doors. No socks + no laces = a great pair of shoes.
4. They're cheap (compared to most shoes); and they're your best shot at wearing a pair of shoes featured in
Vogue Magazine.
3. They have an unbelievable
WEBSITE.
2. Place your order before June 30th, with this code, '1PAIR4FEET', and you get $5 off your order (you're welcome). Place your order anytime this summer, and plug in 'JOSIEC' for free shipping. (again, you're welcome)
1. Your purchase guarantees a child in South America of South Africa a pair of shoes; probably the first pair they've ever owned. (and the hammer of guilt hits the table).
Labels: social entrepeneurship, south america, tomsshoes
Bingo...
"The absolutely vital issue for newer emerging churches will be their capacity to become geniunely missional. If they fail to make this shift, then they too will be another readjustment of Christendom. A mere fad." --Alan Hirsch,
The Forgotten Ways: Re-Activating the Missional Church, p. 71-72
Labels: alan hirsch, emerging church, missional
More mapping...
Just stumbled upon
Worldmapper, a great sight to help one gain a global perspective. Nations shrink and enlarge based upon the subject of measurement. For instance:
The World by Population
The World by Origin of Refugees
The richest 1/5 of our world. (where they live)
Here's my (least) favorite:Military Spending
Labels: worldmapper
Creed Thoughts!
Creed Thoughts is one of my new favorite blogs, written by Creed of
NBC's The office. If you don't watch The Office, shame on you. Regardless, comedic gold. For example, check out the most recent post (a great representation of Creed's line of thought on the show):
I turn all kinds of things into pies.
Who hasn’t lived in a cave at one point or another? That’s what they’re for.
You say diabetes, I say diabetos.
Every time I step on a nail, I thank my shoes for doing their job the best they could.
I’d grow a beard but I don’t have the time.
Reminder: Michael’s safe combo: 33-26-30Labels: creed bratton, television, the office
Map of Countries' GDP Compared to Individual States...
I initially saw this map of
David Leong's blog. It's a comparison to other countries' GDP's compared to states here in the U.S.A. Find your state and see which country lines up with it. Very, very interesting... (click map to enlarge)
Labels: American economy, country GDP, economic distribution
A Board Game Manifesto...
I'm sensing a little more explanation regarding my
Father's Day Gift Post would be helpful:
1. I'm not a nerd. I don't go to Star Trek Conventions, and I've never played Dungeons and Dragons.
2. Settlers of Catan is the most amazing board game ever.
3. You need to by Settlers of Catan, and it's spin-off extensions. They are glorious.
Why? Because American culture has lost it's sense of what a game is. There are 2 types of games that reign supreme in American homes. First and foremost is the video game. I like a good video game as much as the next guy, but all that video games do is get one to focus even more intently on the 'god of the glowing screen.' It stifles discussion, conversation, and community.
The second type of game that's achieved prominence in America is the 'party-game.' You know, those games where there's not really a winner or loser. Everyone contributes, everyone has a little fun, and no one person accomplishes anything. These are designed for large groups of people, too large to truly get to know someone.
Let's bring back the board game. Board games by design are for 2-6 players, which fosters intimacy. They're played around a table, in close proximity to one another. The pacing of a board game is typically slower, allowing for more conversation. The fact is: you can play a board game with a few other people and actually get to know them in the process. You can play a board game as a family and actually talk to one another, face-to-face, maybe for the first time in months. (cue the infomercial 'gasp', 'wow', and 'no way!')
I'm not sure why this is (Europeans, please enlighten me), but it seems as if Europe still 'gets it' in terms of board games. All the great board games come from Europe.
Settlers of Catan (and it's extensions) all come from one heckuva genius in Germany name
Klaus Teuber. Seriously, once you play one of his games, you'll be astounded at his innovation.
It's a game of settling and expanding in an unexplored land, building using basic resources of wood, ore, brick, and sheep. It involves strategy (but not so much to only cater to geniuses), a little luck (but not so much to make strategy pointless), and savvy trading (allowing for good interaction with other players). The best part: the game board is adaptable, allowing for a different game experience every time. I once heard a Catan fan describe it like so: "It's like Risk, only it's better and it's for normal people...." (Sorry Risk fans, his words, not mine)
We've purchased installments of the Catan series
HERE and
HERE. We have the regular Settlers of Catan, the 5-6 player expansion, Seafarer's of Catan, and Cities and Knights of Catan (which blows all the aforementioned out of the water).
So, bust out a board game with friends and family...you'll be surprised at how refreshingly simple and fun something as ol' fashioned as a game night is.
Labels: board games, settlers of catan
I, Rigoberta Menchu...
In my quest to learn as much as I can about
my daughter Eloisa's culture. A must read re: Guatemalan culture is
I, Rigoberta Menchu: An Indian Woman in Guatemala.
Rigoberta Menchu is an indigenous leader in Guatemala, political activist,
Guatemalan presidential hopeful, and
1992 Nobel Peace prize recipient.
What's great about this book is that it offers a perspective so often lacking in Latin American discussions: the indigenous. Rigoberta's story of her people is heart-breaking, difficult to read, and yet strangely inspiring.
Given my daughter's indigenous heritage, I now have a much better appreciation for the suffering of her people.
Labels: adoption, Guatemala, rigoberta menchu
My kids are awesome...
...and incredibly thoughtful, given their youth (Ben is 2 and Isa is 7 mo.). My father's day present arrived a few days early, and well...Dad likes.
Labels: fathers day, personal, settlers of catan
Subversive Hospitality...
I'm in the throes of sermon prep on The Sheep and the Goats (Matt. 25:31-46). Here's a sampling of some ideas I'm playing around with in my brain:
- God is THE gracious host, and He calls His people (Old and New Testaments) to participate in the sacred act of hospitality.
- The Israelites of the Old Testament were expected to understand their role in the promised land as 'strangers welcoming strangers'. In the New Testament, this theme is developed (we are aliens...in this world but not of it, etc.), and Jesus' teaching on hospitality provides much needed clarification to a Jewish audience that narrowed it's scope of hospitality, as well as a Greek audience that only offered hospitality when it assured political or economic gain for the host.
- Jesus, in Scripture, is portrayed as both needy guest and gracious host.
- Thus, as Christ followers, we are called to care for one another, especially the 'least' among us.
- In so doing, we are participating in a revolutionary, subversive act.
- Hospitality is subversive because it levels the playing field. It removes the superficial barriers of socio-economic status, caste, and social stratification that limit our interactions.
- Hospitality is subversive because it messes with our clean demarcation between public and private, faith acted and faith personal. Our attempts to be independent, isolated, private people are thwarted. If you've ever read C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce, you know what I'm getting at. Lewis' hell is essentially a suburban sprawl, where people continue to spread out, isolate themselves from one another.
- Hospitality is subversive because it brings visibility and respect to individual's that the community-at-large seeks to keep invisible and demeaned
- Hospitality is subversive because it crosses the social barriers that society builds. Rich and poor, black and white, educated and uneducated, become intimately intertwined in relationship.
- Ultimately, hospitality is a foretaste, a unique glimpse into the kingdom fully manifest, where people from every tribe and tongue will feast with the King of Kings. (Yeah!)
A prominent source for many of these ideas is
Christine Pohl's Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition. Fantastic read. . .
Thoughts?
Labels: church, hospitality, justice
In the Land of Plenty...
Labels: food, poverty, rich
Community...
"A Christian community is evangelized
in order to evangelize
A light is lit
in order to give light.
A candle is not lit to be put under a bushel, said Christ.
Is is lit and put up high
in order to give light.
That is what true community is like.
A community is a group of men and women
who have found the truth in Christ and in his gospel,
and who follow the truth...
The preacher no longer needs to preach,
for there are Christians who preach by their own lives...
each of you who believe
must become a microphone
a radio station,
a loudspeaker,
not to talk, but to call for faith."
--
Oscar Romero,
The Violence of Love, 97-8.
Labels: Christian community, evangelism, oscar romero
Thinking Blogger Award...
I find it ironic that in the midst of my blogging dry spell (I admit I haven't put a lot into it lately), I've been awarded the Thinking Blogger Award, nominated by Becky at
Flip the Pig (a great philosophically oreinted blog, by the way). Per custom, I am now able to nominate 5 others (the essence of the Thinking Blogger meme). I'm not sure who has been nominated already and who hasn't, so if this produces any repeats and I thus curse some dying child by depriving him of a matching grant from Bill Gates (anybody else get those stupid spam emails?) then I apologize.
To avoid such blood on my hands, I'm going to nominate some lesser-known blogs that should be well-known. Plus, I'm not entirely sure what the qualifications are for said award.
- Ben Miller at "...and gain He Asked 'Why?'"--Ben lives in a Brazilian favela, serving the poorest of the poor with Word Made Flesh. Ben, you should write a book.
- Joel Newton at "Intersections"--Joel is a Jr. High Youth Pastor and a NASCAR fan, which are two activities that I'm certain would be present in my personal purgatory (only due to my ignorance on both subjects). I'm trying to avoid such an intermediate state by appreciating Joel's thoughts on life, faith, ministry, NASCAR, and pop culture. He's got some good things to say: check him out.
- Tim Knipp at "Who I Am and Who I Could Be"--Tim doesn't blog every day, but when he does blog, it's full of thinking-ness. He's a brilliant soccer nut and pastor. (Tim, this award is a blatant attempt to get you to blog more often. The world needs your wisdom).
- J. Burgett at "Belongings"--Lawyer, Catholic, Armchair-Theologian, Foodie...and Runner. That's a combo worth reading.
- Mark Van Steenwyk at "Jesus Manifesto"--A ne0-monastic anarchist's thoughts on life, politics, theology, and radical discipleship. Good stuff, Mark.
- Honorable Mention: Dustin Bagby at "Up The Slippery Slope." This isn't like the participation medal you all used to get for swim team. I'm not saying that Dustin's blog is any worse than the aforementioned. Knowing Dustin, he hates this kind of stuff, so hon. mention is my way of giving him props without the responsibility. You're welcome Dustin.
- also: check out J.R., Ed, Mariam, Trevor (& Co.): all good people with good things to say (I 'thinking' that they've already been nominated)
Labels: blogging
Slate.com on Church Signs...
Great little article and slideshow
HERE on the history of church signs (courtesy of
Slate). Huh. I think I wrote about this, once upon a time. Oh yeah,
I DID.
Labels: church signs, slate, writing
New family blog...
We've begun the process of merging our
adoption blog and
Ben's blog into one
new family blog. We've already left Ben's blog behind, at his 2 year birthday, and as soon as our adoption is complete, Eloisa will join him. Check out the brand new custom header, courtesy of
Iris Media. Bekah won it in an online contest. Nice...
Labels: adoption, family, personal
