Here are some obvious things from the parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30…
The first two guys knew exactly what they were supposed to do, did it well, and doubled their Master’s holdings.
The third guy presumably knew what to do (otherwise the Master is the moron, which isn’t possible here), but didn’t carry out his responsibilities out of blatant disregard or terrible fear or championship-level laziness.
It seems like Jesus’ cautionary tale is directed at all of us who might choose a path that is motivated out of fear, or laziness, or simple foolishness.
The talents with which we’ve been entrusted are all that makes up our lives. Our mental capacities, emotional intelligence, physical attributes – everything that we are. We’ve been given this thing – life is a gift after all – none of us made ourselves. The inherent hard-wiring we all have been born with is to live life to our fullest potential. We haven’t been born into equal gifts, capacities, or opportunities, but we all have been created with the same goal to reach for our personal best.
So why don’t we?
I don’t think our issue is fear. Besides, the Master already called the guy (and us) on this. If we were truly afraid of God, we’d be motivated, at least toward a conservative return on our life.
I’d like to think that we’re all hard-wired for the first two responses. I think we are. But I think we may have adopted some software along the way that allows us to bypass our hard-wiring.
In July, our home computer crashed. The warning that my hard drive was shot came on the day it died. Thanks, Microsoft! A lot of the stuff on my hard drive was backed up, but not my iTunes – over 5,000 songs. I wasn’t worried, though, because I had recently synched my iPod with my iTunes, which meant that all my music was on my iPod. Cool. No problem. That is, until I tried to simply move my music onto iTunes on my new home computer. No can do. I wasted a few hours reading up on stuff, and finally went against my gender’s predispositions and called Tech Support. Oh the pain! I found out, unofficially from the iTunes support person, that I would have to buy a third party software program to work around iTunes. Silly that iTunes wouldn’t let me put my own stuff on my new computer… Grrr!
Apple blew it on that one. Bad programming. But I believe our human programming from God is perfectly designed to do well. What I think messes it up is lots of add-ins we allow or were given us that have become such a part of us that we don’t even know they are running in our background. Maybe this has something to do with us reflecting the third servant more than we would care to admit.
I wonder if we in the West really believe that it’s all God’s stuff in the first place. I think our drive for the American Dream has produced great results, but may also have shaded our vision. I don’t think we really believe that we are managers and not owners.
If we really believe that we’re managers and not owners, then we’d be asking different questions.
Instead of: “What can I do with my stuff to make myself more comfortable and happy?” we might ask: “What does God want me to do with all this stuff God has entrusted to me?”
Instead of: “What can I do to make sure I have more than enough?” we might ask “Since I’m not taking any of it with me anyway, who needs help that I can provide?”
There are a million questions we are tempted to ask as owners, few of which are related to the questions we need to ask as managers.
Note: If we get the right answers to the wrong questions, guess what? We’re still wrong!
Owner question: “What kind of God is going to hold me accountable?” Answer (wrong): “God is mean and unfair – I can’t win no matter what, so what difference does it make how I live my life?”
Wrong question.
Right question: “How can I best manage this life God has given me to produce the most and best fruit possible for the Master’s interests?”
Think about the possibilities now.
What is possible if we get this thing right? How much fruit can we produce? Especially over several seasons?
If the world ended in a few weeks, what could we accomplish? Only a little.
But what if we really let this paradigm take hold, how could we increase the Kingdom – the Master’s interests – over the next three, five and ten years?
All of the challenges the Napa community faces can be alleviated if people begin living in the Way of Christ, which is getting back to how God wired us for life in the first place.
Think about it…
Gangs aren’t so attractive if families are loving each other modeled after the love of God.
Gang leaders aren’t so motivated if they’ve discovered a movement and a community that will love them, empower them for great good, and redeem instead of destroy.
Domestic Violence disappears as couples learn the principles of mutual servant hood.
Unwanted pregnancies go way down as men and women learn the principles outlined in the scriptures.
Racial tensions ease as we see each other as equals, and treat each other as equals by respecting our respective backgrounds – a deeply Christian value.
What could Napa look like if we get this principle right? How would you do your life differently if you treated it as a gift instead of something you somehow earned?
This parable was leveled against the leaders of the faith that buried the potential when they should have been investing it wisely.
This passage, of course, also addresses finances, since it is a parable based on finances.
How will your spending change if you begin adopting a new worldview as a manager instead of owner? What do you suppose God thinks about you getting out of debt? God’s for it. What do you think is God’s take on financially supporting the Kingdom work of the Church so that we can move into Napa with greater strength? God’s for it.
I’m aware that we are potentially facing the worst financial chapter of our nation’s life since the Great Depression, and that talking about money may be the stupidest thing we could do. But understand this: the principles of financial stewardship that will get you through these tough times are the same principles that will enable you to get to a place where you can do great things for the Kingdom in this world.
We can take on some of Napa’s greatest challenges and redeem them as we trade in our falsified papers of ownership and embrace our title as managers.
We can not only lift up Napa, we can help redeem Tijuana from the ground up as we restore life to battered women and their children through Deborah’s House. We can take on human trafficking there and win, but only if we see ourselves as managers.
We can not just lift up one part of one slum outside of Nairobi, Kenya, but we can begin lifting the entire slum as we think “manager” instead of “owner.”
This series will give you lots of opportunities to trade in one hat for the other. Together we will see areas of our lives that reflect that third servant, and we will confess and repent, choosing to turn in God’s direction lest we end our lives with nothing but the skin of our teeth.
May you come to grips with the reality that you are not an owner, but a manager. May you begin living accordingly.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
In God We Trust: To Caesar and To God
They thought they had Jesus cornered.
They'd tried before, but this time they brought politics into it, and politically savvy people to make their move.
If he moved in one direction, the religious community would call him heretical. If he moved in the only other direction they could see, Caesar would have him killed.
Check mate.
The question posed to him (recorded in Matthew 22:15-22) was simple: should a good Jew pay taxes to Caesar or not?
After Jesus let on that he knew these inquisitors were up to no good, Jesus asked for a coin (he didn't have one of his own). He asked them whose image was stamped on the denarius. It was Caesar.
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to God what is God's," was Jesus' reply.
Those who sought to trap him walked away in dismay.
Not check mate after all.
Jesus' words were quite profound. Caesar thought himself a god who ruled the world. He sort of did. Good Romans who also realized his power and authority over their life and death did not publicly hesitate to give Caesar the worship he demanded. So when Jesus instructed to give God His due, this was quite radical - He was saying that Caesar was not God. In fact, the only thing due Caesar was the coin made in his image. Everything else? God's.
On Sunday, I interviewed five women who lived during a time when one of our cultural gods died for awhile: money. During the Great Depression and on into WWII, money was scarce. These women shared stories of their life experience during that era, and gifted us with principles that give us hope as we go through the closest economic crisis since 1929.
Give the audio a listen. Enjoy it. Live differently in response to the truth you hear, choosing to trust the real God when your false gods are shown for what they really are: false.
They'd tried before, but this time they brought politics into it, and politically savvy people to make their move.
If he moved in one direction, the religious community would call him heretical. If he moved in the only other direction they could see, Caesar would have him killed.
Check mate.
The question posed to him (recorded in Matthew 22:15-22) was simple: should a good Jew pay taxes to Caesar or not?
After Jesus let on that he knew these inquisitors were up to no good, Jesus asked for a coin (he didn't have one of his own). He asked them whose image was stamped on the denarius. It was Caesar.
"Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and give to God what is God's," was Jesus' reply.
Those who sought to trap him walked away in dismay.
Not check mate after all.
Jesus' words were quite profound. Caesar thought himself a god who ruled the world. He sort of did. Good Romans who also realized his power and authority over their life and death did not publicly hesitate to give Caesar the worship he demanded. So when Jesus instructed to give God His due, this was quite radical - He was saying that Caesar was not God. In fact, the only thing due Caesar was the coin made in his image. Everything else? God's.
On Sunday, I interviewed five women who lived during a time when one of our cultural gods died for awhile: money. During the Great Depression and on into WWII, money was scarce. These women shared stories of their life experience during that era, and gifted us with principles that give us hope as we go through the closest economic crisis since 1929.
Give the audio a listen. Enjoy it. Live differently in response to the truth you hear, choosing to trust the real God when your false gods are shown for what they really are: false.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
In God We Trust: The Banquet or The Dump?
Today begins a new series: In God We Trust? The days in which we now live are begging this question. Ironically, the dollars we use have this phrase written on each of them. But is it true? Is trusting God simply a catch phrase, a slogan, or is it a core belief from which every decision is derived in some way?
To help us dissect where our motives originate, I had you watch a film that illustrates one of the systems we find ourselves in; one which challenges our allegiance to God.
If you haven’t already, watch The Story of Stuff: http://www.storyofstuff.com/.
In this short film, Annie Leonard, an internationally recognized authority and proponent of sustainability and environmental health, helps us understand the origins of our consumerism tendencies and suggests some solutions.
It would be easy to simply journey through life and not be aware of the larger, more complex issues we find ourselves in. Indeed, that’s what systems do: they become such a subtle undercurrent that we don’t even realize we are enveloped in a system in the first place.
Enter Jesus.
Jesus came to call humanity to live another Way. A Way with the blinders off. A Way where Truth is the guide. The earliest people who followed Jesus’ teachings did it so well that they became known as the people of The Way.
In Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus taught with a parable about people who were so stuck in their particular system that they didn’t know a great opportunity when it came their way. People were invited by their King to join him for a banquet, yet none of them heeded the call. Chagrined, the King ordered that people who understood the value of the invitation be invited and welcomed. Those who understood the value of the invitation enjoyed the banquet. Those who despised the invitation missed out entirely.
This passage certainly can be immediately applied to its original context where the people who should have understood Jesus’ teachings first and most did not, and those who would not have been the most theologically astute found themselves at the Master’s table.
But a more broad application is fitting, too. Jesus came to proclaim that a different Kingdom was arriving, governed by different laws and ruled with a different tone. Living in this new Kingdom meant living differently than how life was lived in the other kingdom. One Kingdom led to a banquet, the other kingdom, the dump. Those who recognized the value of the invitation to live by the Kingdom enjoyed the banquet, those who didn’t, the dump.
This is true regarding how we interact with money, materials, stuff. If we continue living by the rules that the world has allowed, we will literally be living in a toxic dump. But if we live in the Way of Jesus, which is Kingdom of God living, we will experience life at a much richer level – a banquet by comparison.
The fact is that we live in a materialistic culture where consumerism reigns supreme. Don’t believe me? Then why are Christmas trees already on display in many stores? If you have lived most of your life in the US, then you have been heavily influenced by this system. Are you aware of this reality?
Maybe the system – especially in light of our current economic crisis – has caught up with you. Maybe you are overwhelmed with debt. Maybe you now recognize just how much junk you have, and how much you blow through without thinking.
There is another Way. We cannot live apart from a relationship with money, material, and stuff. But we can live in such a relationship where we do not serve money. We can do life serving God, where it really is God we trust, and we really do discover a banquet instead of a dump.
Are you ready to eat?
Supplement: Another Way (http://www.storyofstuff.com/anotherway.html)
Many people who have seen The Story of Stuff have asked what they can do to address the problems identified in the film.
Each of us can promote sustainability and justice at multiple levels: as an individual, as a teacher or parent, a community member, a national citizen, and as a global citizen. As Annie says in the film, “the good thing about such an all pervasive problem is that there are so many points of intervention.” That means that there are lots and lots of places to plug in, to get involved, and to make a difference. There is no single simple thing to do, because the set of problems we’re addressing just isn’t simple. But everyone can make a difference, but the bigger your action the bigger the difference you’ll make. Here are some ideas:
10 Little and Big Things You Can Do
1. Power down! A great deal of the resources we use and the waste we create is in the energy we consume. Look for opportunities in your life to significantly reduce energy use: drive less, fly less, turn off lights, buy local seasonal food (food takes energy to grow, package, store and transport), wear a sweater instead of turning up the heat, use a clothesline instead of a dryer, vacation closer to home, buy used or borrow things before buying new, recycle. All these things save energy and save you money. And, if you can switch to alternative energy by supporting a company that sells green energy to the grid or by installing solar panels on your home, bravo!
2. Waste less. Per capita waste production in the U.S. just keeps growing. There are hundreds of opportunities each day to nurture a Zero Waste culture in your home, school, workplace, church, community. This takes developing new habits which soon become second nature. Use both sides of the paper, carry your own mugs and shopping bags, get printer cartridges refilled instead of replaced, compost food scraps, avoid bottled water and other over packaged products, upgrade computers rather than buying new ones, repair and mend rather than replace….the list is endless! The more we visibly engage in re-use over wasting, the more we cultivate a new cultural norm, or actually, reclaim an old one!
3. Talk to everyone about these issues. At school, your neighbors, in line at the supermarket, on the bus…A student once asked Cesar Chavez how he organized. He said, “First, I talk to one person. Then I talk to another person.” “No,” said the student, “how do you organize?” Chavez answered, “First I talk to one person. Then I talk to another person.” You get the point. Talking about these issues raises awareness, builds community and can inspire others to action.
4. Make Your Voice Heard. Write letters to the editor and submit articles to local press. In the last two years, and especially with Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the media has been forced to write about Climate Change. As individuals, we can influence the media to better represent other important issues as well. Letters to the editor are a great way to help newspaper readers make connections they might not make without your help. Also local papers are often willing to print book and film reviews, interviews and articles by community members. Let’s get the issues we care about in the news.
5. DeTox your body, DeTox your home, and DeTox the Economy. Many of today’s consumer products – from children’s pajamas to lipstick – contain toxic chemical additives that simply aren’t necessary. Research online (for example, http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/) before you buy to be sure you’re not inadvertently introducing toxics into your home and body. Then tell your friends about toxics in consumer products. Together, ask the businesses why they’re using toxic chemicals without any warning labels. And ask your elected officials why they are permitting this practice. The European Union has adopted strong policies that require toxics to be removed from many products. So, while our electronic gadgets and cosmetics have toxics in them, people in Europe can buy the same things toxics-free. Let’s demand the same thing here. Getting the toxics out of production at the source is the best way to ensure they don’t get into any home and body.
6. Unplug (the TV and internet) and Plug In (the community). The average person in the U.S. watches T.V. over 4 hours a day. Four hours per day filled with messages about stuff we should buy. That is four hours a day that could be spent with family, friends and in our community. On-line activism is a good start, but spending time in face-to-face civic or community activities strengthens the community and many studies show that a stronger community is a source of social and logistical support, greater security and happiness. A strong community is also critical to having a strong, active democracy.
7. Park your car and walk…and when necessary MARCH! Car-centric land use policies and life styles lead to more greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel extraction, conversion of agricultural and wildlands to roads and parking lots. Driving less and walking more is good for the climate, the planet, your health, and your wallet. But sometimes we don’t have an option to leave the car home because of inadequate bike lanes or public transportation options. Then, we may need to march, to join with others to demand sustainable transportation options. Throughout U.S. history, peaceful non-violent marches have played a powerful role in raising awareness about issues, mobilizing people, and sending messages to decision makers.
8. Change your light bulbs…and then, change your paradigm. Changing light bulbs is quick and easy. Energy efficient light bulbs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than conventional ones. That's a no-brainer. But changing light bulbs is just tinkering at the margins of a fundamentally flawed system unless we also change our paradigm. A paradigm is a collection of assumptions, concepts, beliefs, and values that together make up a community’s way of viewing reality. Our current paradigm dictates that more stuff is better, that infinite economic growth is desirable and possible, and that pollution is the price of progress. To really turn things around, we need to nurture a different paradigm based on the values of sustainability, justice, health, and community.
9. Recycle your trash…and, recycle your elected officials. Recycling saves energy and reduces both waste and the pressure to harvest and mine new stuff. Unfortunately, many cities still don’t have adequate recycling systems in place. In that case you can usually find some recycling options in the phone book to start recycling while you’re pressuring your local government to support recycling city-wide. Also, many products – for example, most electronics - are designed not to be recycled or contain toxics so recycling is hazardous. In these cases, we need to lobby government to prohibit toxics in consumer products and to enact Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, as is happening in Europe. EPR is a policy which holds producers responsible for the entire lifecycle of their products, so that electronics companies who use toxics in their products, have to take them back. That is a great incentive for them to get the toxics out!
10. Buy Green, Buy Fair, Buy Local, Buy Used, and most importantly, Buy Less. Shopping is not the solution to the environmental problems we currently face because the real changes we need just aren’t for sale in even the greenest shop. But, when we do shop, we should ensure our dollars support businesses that protect the environment and worker rights. Look beyond vague claims on packages like “all natural” to find hard facts. Is it organic? Is it free of super-toxic PVC plastic? When you can, buy local products from local stores, which keep more of our hard earned money in the community. Buying used items keeps them out of the trash and avoids the upstream waste created during extraction and production. But, buying less may be the best option of all. Less pollution. Less Waste. Less time working to pay for the stuff. Sometimes, less really is more.
To help us dissect where our motives originate, I had you watch a film that illustrates one of the systems we find ourselves in; one which challenges our allegiance to God.
If you haven’t already, watch The Story of Stuff: http://www.storyofstuff.com/.
In this short film, Annie Leonard, an internationally recognized authority and proponent of sustainability and environmental health, helps us understand the origins of our consumerism tendencies and suggests some solutions.
It would be easy to simply journey through life and not be aware of the larger, more complex issues we find ourselves in. Indeed, that’s what systems do: they become such a subtle undercurrent that we don’t even realize we are enveloped in a system in the first place.
Enter Jesus.
Jesus came to call humanity to live another Way. A Way with the blinders off. A Way where Truth is the guide. The earliest people who followed Jesus’ teachings did it so well that they became known as the people of The Way.
In Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus taught with a parable about people who were so stuck in their particular system that they didn’t know a great opportunity when it came their way. People were invited by their King to join him for a banquet, yet none of them heeded the call. Chagrined, the King ordered that people who understood the value of the invitation be invited and welcomed. Those who understood the value of the invitation enjoyed the banquet. Those who despised the invitation missed out entirely.
This passage certainly can be immediately applied to its original context where the people who should have understood Jesus’ teachings first and most did not, and those who would not have been the most theologically astute found themselves at the Master’s table.
But a more broad application is fitting, too. Jesus came to proclaim that a different Kingdom was arriving, governed by different laws and ruled with a different tone. Living in this new Kingdom meant living differently than how life was lived in the other kingdom. One Kingdom led to a banquet, the other kingdom, the dump. Those who recognized the value of the invitation to live by the Kingdom enjoyed the banquet, those who didn’t, the dump.
This is true regarding how we interact with money, materials, stuff. If we continue living by the rules that the world has allowed, we will literally be living in a toxic dump. But if we live in the Way of Jesus, which is Kingdom of God living, we will experience life at a much richer level – a banquet by comparison.
The fact is that we live in a materialistic culture where consumerism reigns supreme. Don’t believe me? Then why are Christmas trees already on display in many stores? If you have lived most of your life in the US, then you have been heavily influenced by this system. Are you aware of this reality?
Maybe the system – especially in light of our current economic crisis – has caught up with you. Maybe you are overwhelmed with debt. Maybe you now recognize just how much junk you have, and how much you blow through without thinking.
There is another Way. We cannot live apart from a relationship with money, material, and stuff. But we can live in such a relationship where we do not serve money. We can do life serving God, where it really is God we trust, and we really do discover a banquet instead of a dump.
Are you ready to eat?
Supplement: Another Way (http://www.storyofstuff.com/anotherway.html)
Many people who have seen The Story of Stuff have asked what they can do to address the problems identified in the film.
Each of us can promote sustainability and justice at multiple levels: as an individual, as a teacher or parent, a community member, a national citizen, and as a global citizen. As Annie says in the film, “the good thing about such an all pervasive problem is that there are so many points of intervention.” That means that there are lots and lots of places to plug in, to get involved, and to make a difference. There is no single simple thing to do, because the set of problems we’re addressing just isn’t simple. But everyone can make a difference, but the bigger your action the bigger the difference you’ll make. Here are some ideas:
10 Little and Big Things You Can Do
1. Power down! A great deal of the resources we use and the waste we create is in the energy we consume. Look for opportunities in your life to significantly reduce energy use: drive less, fly less, turn off lights, buy local seasonal food (food takes energy to grow, package, store and transport), wear a sweater instead of turning up the heat, use a clothesline instead of a dryer, vacation closer to home, buy used or borrow things before buying new, recycle. All these things save energy and save you money. And, if you can switch to alternative energy by supporting a company that sells green energy to the grid or by installing solar panels on your home, bravo!
2. Waste less. Per capita waste production in the U.S. just keeps growing. There are hundreds of opportunities each day to nurture a Zero Waste culture in your home, school, workplace, church, community. This takes developing new habits which soon become second nature. Use both sides of the paper, carry your own mugs and shopping bags, get printer cartridges refilled instead of replaced, compost food scraps, avoid bottled water and other over packaged products, upgrade computers rather than buying new ones, repair and mend rather than replace….the list is endless! The more we visibly engage in re-use over wasting, the more we cultivate a new cultural norm, or actually, reclaim an old one!
3. Talk to everyone about these issues. At school, your neighbors, in line at the supermarket, on the bus…A student once asked Cesar Chavez how he organized. He said, “First, I talk to one person. Then I talk to another person.” “No,” said the student, “how do you organize?” Chavez answered, “First I talk to one person. Then I talk to another person.” You get the point. Talking about these issues raises awareness, builds community and can inspire others to action.
4. Make Your Voice Heard. Write letters to the editor and submit articles to local press. In the last two years, and especially with Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the media has been forced to write about Climate Change. As individuals, we can influence the media to better represent other important issues as well. Letters to the editor are a great way to help newspaper readers make connections they might not make without your help. Also local papers are often willing to print book and film reviews, interviews and articles by community members. Let’s get the issues we care about in the news.
5. DeTox your body, DeTox your home, and DeTox the Economy. Many of today’s consumer products – from children’s pajamas to lipstick – contain toxic chemical additives that simply aren’t necessary. Research online (for example, http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/) before you buy to be sure you’re not inadvertently introducing toxics into your home and body. Then tell your friends about toxics in consumer products. Together, ask the businesses why they’re using toxic chemicals without any warning labels. And ask your elected officials why they are permitting this practice. The European Union has adopted strong policies that require toxics to be removed from many products. So, while our electronic gadgets and cosmetics have toxics in them, people in Europe can buy the same things toxics-free. Let’s demand the same thing here. Getting the toxics out of production at the source is the best way to ensure they don’t get into any home and body.
6. Unplug (the TV and internet) and Plug In (the community). The average person in the U.S. watches T.V. over 4 hours a day. Four hours per day filled with messages about stuff we should buy. That is four hours a day that could be spent with family, friends and in our community. On-line activism is a good start, but spending time in face-to-face civic or community activities strengthens the community and many studies show that a stronger community is a source of social and logistical support, greater security and happiness. A strong community is also critical to having a strong, active democracy.
7. Park your car and walk…and when necessary MARCH! Car-centric land use policies and life styles lead to more greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel extraction, conversion of agricultural and wildlands to roads and parking lots. Driving less and walking more is good for the climate, the planet, your health, and your wallet. But sometimes we don’t have an option to leave the car home because of inadequate bike lanes or public transportation options. Then, we may need to march, to join with others to demand sustainable transportation options. Throughout U.S. history, peaceful non-violent marches have played a powerful role in raising awareness about issues, mobilizing people, and sending messages to decision makers.
8. Change your light bulbs…and then, change your paradigm. Changing light bulbs is quick and easy. Energy efficient light bulbs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than conventional ones. That's a no-brainer. But changing light bulbs is just tinkering at the margins of a fundamentally flawed system unless we also change our paradigm. A paradigm is a collection of assumptions, concepts, beliefs, and values that together make up a community’s way of viewing reality. Our current paradigm dictates that more stuff is better, that infinite economic growth is desirable and possible, and that pollution is the price of progress. To really turn things around, we need to nurture a different paradigm based on the values of sustainability, justice, health, and community.
9. Recycle your trash…and, recycle your elected officials. Recycling saves energy and reduces both waste and the pressure to harvest and mine new stuff. Unfortunately, many cities still don’t have adequate recycling systems in place. In that case you can usually find some recycling options in the phone book to start recycling while you’re pressuring your local government to support recycling city-wide. Also, many products – for example, most electronics - are designed not to be recycled or contain toxics so recycling is hazardous. In these cases, we need to lobby government to prohibit toxics in consumer products and to enact Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, as is happening in Europe. EPR is a policy which holds producers responsible for the entire lifecycle of their products, so that electronics companies who use toxics in their products, have to take them back. That is a great incentive for them to get the toxics out!
10. Buy Green, Buy Fair, Buy Local, Buy Used, and most importantly, Buy Less. Shopping is not the solution to the environmental problems we currently face because the real changes we need just aren’t for sale in even the greenest shop. But, when we do shop, we should ensure our dollars support businesses that protect the environment and worker rights. Look beyond vague claims on packages like “all natural” to find hard facts. Is it organic? Is it free of super-toxic PVC plastic? When you can, buy local products from local stores, which keep more of our hard earned money in the community. Buying used items keeps them out of the trash and avoids the upstream waste created during extraction and production. But, buying less may be the best option of all. Less pollution. Less Waste. Less time working to pay for the stuff. Sometimes, less really is more.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
The Movement
We’re all moving. Even if we’re sitting as still as we possibly can, we’re still moving. Our breath causes our chest to rise and sink. And even if we hold our breath for a moment, or even for a world record 17 minutes, our blood is still moving inside our veins. We’re all moving.
There’s a word for us when we truly stop moving: dead. You’re not dead yet. You’re moving.
The question is: are we moving within a worthwhile movement?
The ten day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the High Holy Days by Jews worldwide. Rosh Hashanah celebrates the Jewish New Year (Happy 5769, by the way!), and Yom Kippur is recognized as a Day of Atonement when people confess their sins to God and ask for forgiveness.
Rosh Hashanah is more than a celebration of a new year – it is a celebration of the movement of God in creation and in those who have believed. In the Bible (Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 29:1-6, specifically), God commanded Israel to celebrate these two highest of holy days by coming together as one huge family in celebration and reflection for what God has done, what they have done, and what God wants to do.
So, as you reflect on God’s creative work, take a moment and reflect. Who have you been created to be? How have you been gifted? What resources are you grateful to steward? How have you been blessed? What awful experiences have become lessons learned that will help you and others not to repeat them?
God called for this annual feast because God knew that people needed to be reminded of The Movement, and be encouraged to renew their commitment to it in community.
What is The Movement? The Movement is simply to save the world. To redeem it. To restore it to its original condition. To heal it. To make it whole. The entire created realm: the environment and the people who steward it.
The Movement had some significant milestones in history: the calling of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph to name some of the earliest Movers in the Movement. God called everyday people, peasants, nobles, men, women, educated, non-educated, Jews and Gentiles alike to invest in The Movement.
God has always been aware of the state of creation. God is not ignorant regarding humanity’s fouls against each other and the natural world. The goal of The Movement, however, is the Hebrew word Shalom, which refers to holistic peace and restoration in all of creation. In the story of creation, Eden is that prototype, and serves as the model for where we’re headed. An experience we really cannot fathom, yet one for which our hearts yearn.
If this reality happened tomorrow – shalom fully realized, The Movement fulfilled entirely – what would be different? What would be different about you? What would be different about your relationships? Your work? Your city? Your nation? The world? What would go away? What would replace it?
When God called people throughout history, God called them to a different way of life, a life of faith, where their actions were dictated not always by what the culture around them encouraged, but what they sensed God calling them to do. In the Bible’s Hebrews 11, we get a glimpse of what these people went through as they invested their everyday moving to The Movement.
Today reminds us that we are invited to join The Movement, which is still moving forward with us or without us. Today is a day when we take an honest look at ourselves and admit that we have been out of step, not in synch with The Movement at certain times over the last 12 months. Today is a day of collective confession, a day of repentance.
How have you been out of step with The Movement this past year? When have your priorities failed to coincide with the priorities called for by The Movement? When has your attitude not reflected that which propels The Movement forward? When were you lazy about your faith, apathetic about helping where help was needed, and stingy when generosity was necessary?
In ancient Jewish Yom Kippur services, the doors of the Ark of the Covenant were open for the entire service – the only service of the year when this happened. This symbolized Heaven’s Gates being open to people on that particular day. It was thought that those who confessed and repented would have their names written in God’s Book of Life, and God would bless them with a good year. Not so much for those who didn’t…
Actually, it makes sense. When we fail to recognize our propensity for idiocy, we usually repeat the same foolish mistakes, making our lives more miserable than necessary. But when we admit to ourselves, others and God where we recognize our error, we are less likely to repeat those mistakes, making for a better year ahead.
Confession was only half of the deal, however. The other half was commitment to The Movement. These High Holy Days were and are a time to remember what God has been up to, and decide to join God in The Movement.
How do we do this? With the very things we’ve been given to steward. Our relationships, our work, our gifts and abilities, our resources – everything.
God is calling us to recommit to The Movement. Should we commit, it will mean we bring more of God’s Kingdom in, which doesn’t leave much room for that which is not. It means the not-so-good stuff you mentioned earlier begins to fade. So, what can you do in order to be moving in The Movement’s direction? How can you pray differently? Speak differently? Love differently? Give differently? If you stop moving by this time next year, for what movement do you want to be remembered? What would you hope your obituary might say about the investments of your life?
In Jewish circles, the Ten Days of Awe that mark the High Holy Days ends with a Yom Kippur service when the people recite seven times, with increasing volume, “The Lord is our God.” Seven times proclaiming that we know we have a choice as to who rules our life, and we choose God. Not sex. Not sloth. Not silver. Not self. But God. Only God. Seven times – the number of perfection – pure devotion to God.
We are hear confessing our shortcomings and considering this commitment because countless people before us confessed and committed to the God who created them and called them to The Movement.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”
May it be so for you and for me and for all we invite into The Movement by this time next year.
There’s a word for us when we truly stop moving: dead. You’re not dead yet. You’re moving.
The question is: are we moving within a worthwhile movement?
The ten day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the High Holy Days by Jews worldwide. Rosh Hashanah celebrates the Jewish New Year (Happy 5769, by the way!), and Yom Kippur is recognized as a Day of Atonement when people confess their sins to God and ask for forgiveness.
Rosh Hashanah is more than a celebration of a new year – it is a celebration of the movement of God in creation and in those who have believed. In the Bible (Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 29:1-6, specifically), God commanded Israel to celebrate these two highest of holy days by coming together as one huge family in celebration and reflection for what God has done, what they have done, and what God wants to do.
So, as you reflect on God’s creative work, take a moment and reflect. Who have you been created to be? How have you been gifted? What resources are you grateful to steward? How have you been blessed? What awful experiences have become lessons learned that will help you and others not to repeat them?
God called for this annual feast because God knew that people needed to be reminded of The Movement, and be encouraged to renew their commitment to it in community.
What is The Movement? The Movement is simply to save the world. To redeem it. To restore it to its original condition. To heal it. To make it whole. The entire created realm: the environment and the people who steward it.
The Movement had some significant milestones in history: the calling of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph to name some of the earliest Movers in the Movement. God called everyday people, peasants, nobles, men, women, educated, non-educated, Jews and Gentiles alike to invest in The Movement.
God has always been aware of the state of creation. God is not ignorant regarding humanity’s fouls against each other and the natural world. The goal of The Movement, however, is the Hebrew word Shalom, which refers to holistic peace and restoration in all of creation. In the story of creation, Eden is that prototype, and serves as the model for where we’re headed. An experience we really cannot fathom, yet one for which our hearts yearn.
If this reality happened tomorrow – shalom fully realized, The Movement fulfilled entirely – what would be different? What would be different about you? What would be different about your relationships? Your work? Your city? Your nation? The world? What would go away? What would replace it?
When God called people throughout history, God called them to a different way of life, a life of faith, where their actions were dictated not always by what the culture around them encouraged, but what they sensed God calling them to do. In the Bible’s Hebrews 11, we get a glimpse of what these people went through as they invested their everyday moving to The Movement.
Today reminds us that we are invited to join The Movement, which is still moving forward with us or without us. Today is a day when we take an honest look at ourselves and admit that we have been out of step, not in synch with The Movement at certain times over the last 12 months. Today is a day of collective confession, a day of repentance.
How have you been out of step with The Movement this past year? When have your priorities failed to coincide with the priorities called for by The Movement? When has your attitude not reflected that which propels The Movement forward? When were you lazy about your faith, apathetic about helping where help was needed, and stingy when generosity was necessary?
In ancient Jewish Yom Kippur services, the doors of the Ark of the Covenant were open for the entire service – the only service of the year when this happened. This symbolized Heaven’s Gates being open to people on that particular day. It was thought that those who confessed and repented would have their names written in God’s Book of Life, and God would bless them with a good year. Not so much for those who didn’t…
Actually, it makes sense. When we fail to recognize our propensity for idiocy, we usually repeat the same foolish mistakes, making our lives more miserable than necessary. But when we admit to ourselves, others and God where we recognize our error, we are less likely to repeat those mistakes, making for a better year ahead.
Confession was only half of the deal, however. The other half was commitment to The Movement. These High Holy Days were and are a time to remember what God has been up to, and decide to join God in The Movement.
How do we do this? With the very things we’ve been given to steward. Our relationships, our work, our gifts and abilities, our resources – everything.
God is calling us to recommit to The Movement. Should we commit, it will mean we bring more of God’s Kingdom in, which doesn’t leave much room for that which is not. It means the not-so-good stuff you mentioned earlier begins to fade. So, what can you do in order to be moving in The Movement’s direction? How can you pray differently? Speak differently? Love differently? Give differently? If you stop moving by this time next year, for what movement do you want to be remembered? What would you hope your obituary might say about the investments of your life?
In Jewish circles, the Ten Days of Awe that mark the High Holy Days ends with a Yom Kippur service when the people recite seven times, with increasing volume, “The Lord is our God.” Seven times proclaiming that we know we have a choice as to who rules our life, and we choose God. Not sex. Not sloth. Not silver. Not self. But God. Only God. Seven times – the number of perfection – pure devotion to God.
We are hear confessing our shortcomings and considering this commitment because countless people before us confessed and committed to the God who created them and called them to The Movement.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”
May it be so for you and for me and for all we invite into The Movement by this time next year.
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