Book It, M!

Madame M,

Am always up for a summer of books!  Will follow whatever line you take!  You don’t  make this easy, as I have a lot competing in my head, lol.  [Ten?!!!  How can I choose just ten? J]

Okay, here goes.  For the “favorites off the top of head” list, also in no particular order (I’ve taken the liberty of mentioning as one books that go together):

Homeland and Exile, both by R.A. Salvatore.  A fantasy story of a good and honorable master swordsman raised in a society of unending evil, and the deep and epic insights.

The Greatest Miracle in the World, by Og Mandino.  The story of Simon Potter the ragpicker, and his influence on Augustine Mandino through the God Memorandum.

Embraced By The Light, by Betty Eadie.  A vivid near-death experience, and one of hope.

I Can’t Accept Not Trying,  and For The Love of the Game, both by Michael Jordan.  One of history’s greatest athletes—and maybe its greatest competitor—in telling his story relates to the rest of us what real success usually requires.

A Man Called Peter, by Catherine Marshall.  The story of Scottish immigrant Peter Marshall, Preacher Extraordinaire and a mighty man of God, who preached what are maybe the best sermons since Jesus (some of which are included in the book).

A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, by Robert Olen Butler.  Stories of Vietnamese immigrants.  A way to look at the world, and a deep richness, that belies all the stupid simplistic talk.  If you’re going to read only one book about Vietnam, this is the one to read to have any hope of beginning to truly understand Vietnam.

Things Fall Apart, by Chinhua Achebe.   The classic African-written novel of village tribesmen in pre-colonial Nigeria—and the incredible insights into humanity.

Oil!  Upton Sinclair’s masterpiece novel of socialists, capitalism, the auto civilization, the fossil fuels industry, and more.

Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.  Lester Brown’s masterful work of just that.  By no means just an environmental book.

Conan 1, by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague deCamp, and Lin Carter.  The truest and best barbarian, with scant resemblance to the movies.

A veritable riot is taking place in my head right now.  The clamour from those that did not make the cut is that loud! J

Reality Skewed

Professor J,

You'll recall that a couple of weeks ago I posted about an uncomfortable church service I attended. This week the blogosphere exploded with a related story that everyone has probably heard about unless on a strict digital detox of some sort. Even if one doesn't watch much television it would have been pretty difficult to keep from hearing about the Duggars, their 19 children, and their show on TLC. 

I bring it up here because it conveniently brings together for us several topics we've discussed recently and can serve as a microcosm for things we see in society. For readers who may be completely unfamiliar with them the Duggars are fundamentalist, home schooling, adherents to the Quiverfull Movement. They are friends of, and campaign for Mike Huckabee and regularly take stands against the LGBT community. So last week when it was revealed that the oldest son, Josh, had sexually molested 5 girls (including his own sisters) the backlash was swift and loud.

As happens so often in modern American culture we see the "party" lines split just as we'd expect. There's the side that thinks since JD is sorry and his parents provided "counseling" that all should be forgiven and everyone is just being mean or that the Duggars are being persecuted for their beliefs. On the other side we have the people who want the show cancelled and possibly all the minors placed in protective custody while DHS does a full investigation. Did I mention that he was 14 when the events took place and that there's been no apparent misconduct since then? Certainly nothing that would indicate that the behavior is ongoing. The religious right just cannot understand the level of vitriol being hurled in the direction of this sweet family from Arkansas.

That's the problem. 

Nothing is more infuriating than hypocrisy. The right doesn't seem to get that. To the outside world this just looks like another case of the hyper-religious conservatives saying one thing and then doing something else. Getting caught. Asking forgiveness. Politicians. Mega-church leaders. Conservative celebrities. It's a long list and while Christianity is based on forgiveness, which we are reminded of when these scenarios happen, the world outside the church doors wants to know where that same forgiveness is for others. Many bloggers and tweeters this week asked the excellent question--what if he'd molested his brothers? Would the parents have been so hasty to cover it up and then stand by him? Would the little brother (s) have been told to get over it and trotted out to smile for the cameras at their father's campaign events (he has been a state rep) and the family's reality TV show?

This entire scenario reminds me of the Republican debate in the last election primary. Rick Santorum (another Duggar favorite) explained in one of his responses that the reasons Muslim extremists hate America is because of our freedom, democracy, blah, blah, blah. Ron Paul in his turn made the point that explaining things that way is simplistic and dishonest. They hate us because of our foreign policy. They hate us because of the way our government interacts with them. The religious right has the same problem but they don't see it. Are they hated because of their beliefs or how they relate to others? If everyone on the outside just hates Christianity in general and Bible believing Christians in particular then how do we explain the respect of a figure like Mother Theresa among the religious and secular alike?

Because unlike what we hear from the RR average people actually do know what Jesus taught and recognize it when they see it. How sad for all of us that it is seen so rarely. What is offered up instead is a sad forgery and misrepresentation, then dismay and anger when we are called on it.

Handbasket Ready

 Professor J,

Warning: This one's a rant.

I sat in church on a recent night and squirmed. My stomach churned and I felt sick. I didn't know if getting up and walking out would be the right thing. The sweet distant family member who had invited us wouldn't have understood and sometimes you have to decide where and when to try to explain why you disagree with something. I felt like the old lady in the insurance commercial whose friends are confused about social media--That's not how this works; that's not how any of this works.

Let me explain.

We'd been asked to join one of the sweetest people we know for the evening service at the church we use to attend. A large church where Mike Huckabee came to speak when he was governor. A church full of people who will vote for him in primaries and cheer him every step of the way as he campaigns for president. 

First there was some rousing music and a long prayer for the city that everyone was encouraged to read off the giant screens together. It included things like and end to racism and for businesses to come here to provide jobs. So far so good. But then a picture of the Supreme Court justices was put on the screen with a list of their names. The pastor of the church then asked people to pray about the case they were hearing on Tuesday about same sex marriage. The atmosphere turned solemn and he asked people to get down on their knees and pray that they would not have enough votes to legitimize same sex marriage as a constitutional right. There was a lot of talk about judgement befalling America and how much we'll deserve it if a couple of guys can get married. The language was more eloquent, somber, and scary than that but I'm snarkily paraphrasing. 

 I'm always surprised how quickly church services can morph into political rallies and vice versa in this country. I sat in my seat and subversively prayed for the hearts and minds of everyone present to mind their own business, although I probably prayed something more like "open minds and give a spirit of compassion and love. Then have them mind their own business."

After a long prayer the entire congregation arose and sang God Bless America. From the tone of it you would have thought some government entity was going to force them all into same sex marriages at gunpoint right after the service. After that things proceeded in a way that seemed more like church. I felt as though I'd been a victim of the old bait and switch. 

Later I wondered what was so upsetting to me. I know the noisy philosophy of this church and what they believe and I oughtn't really have been surprised. As I wondered what about it bothered me the most I soon realized that it was the list of things we'd not been asked to get down on our knees about during the years I'd attended.

War
Poverty
Hunger
Greed
Injustice

Some things that are actually mentioned repeatedly in scripture as things that God seems to get pretty worked up about. That injustice thing is a big one. Funny how we never hear anything about in many churches. I've certainly never been asked to kneel at my seat to pray fervently about the spirit of greed on Wall Street or income inequity. No one ever seems interested in praying about whether we are acting like a certain ancient empire when we invade other countries to democratize or liberate them, without asking, because of course, we know what's best for them.  

For some reason this one issue of same sex marriage is the line in the sand that evangelicals have latched onto. So an issue that has two consenting adults trying to create a permanent relationship, home, and family upsets people more than war.

War.

We are supposed to believe that two men or women living together under the banner of marriage is more terrible than violence and bloodshed. Or worse than the total destruction we saw drone video of this week. We are supposed to buy that judgement will come from on high because a couple of guys want to register at Pottery Barn for wedding gifts but that God turns a blind eye to corporate backed wars where we invade and destroy third world countries while enriching corporations who manufacture items that kill, maim, and destroy. Then we vote for candidates who ensure those corporations get tax breaks but have a meltdown over a single mom getting welfare.

We parade these twisted priorities (it's like no one has even read the gospels) like badges of honor and claim persecution if anyone points out that perhaps, you know, just maybe, it's a bit off somewhere.

I've venting here because this is what happens when I'm left to my own devices too long alone with a soapbox. And because I thought you, and some of our readers, might understand. I am so not up for another election already.

Perspective and Prospective

Madame:

The “drifting” of power and money to the few does indeed take place all the time, because the majority of people are concerned with living their lives, not seeking to amass great power and wealth.  And power and wealth tend to slowly beget more power and wealth.

Largely, only the driven, ambitious, focused, etc. care to amass great power.  Unfortunately, those are also more likely to have among them great numbers of sociopaths, megalomaniacs, the dangerously insecure, the unenlightened, the monstrously selfish, etc., not to mention the hypocritical and shallow.  Even more unfortunately, many of them will not even be satisfied with fomenting the “drift,” but will move rapidly to strongly and unscrupulously to either 1) serve bad power, or 2) amass bad power for themselves.  The cycle will continue at least until we both infuse in ourselves the sentiment that Jefferson repeated—the price of liberty is eternal vigilance—AND find a way to improve the human mental, emotional, and spiritual condition to vastly reduce the numbers of sociopaths, megalomaniacs, etc.

Which also means the better rule sets we craft and enforce, the better the playing field can contain the attempted excesses.

Still, there is no doubt that perspective needs to be maintained.  For instance:

“News is about things that happen, not things that don’t happen.  You never see a TV crew reporting that a country isn’t at war, or that a city hasn’t had a mass shooting that day.  Or that millions of 80 year olds are alive and well.

“Violent crime has fallen by half since 1992, and fiftyfold since the Middle Ages.  Over the past 60 years the number of wars and number of people killed in wars have plummeted (Prof note: The carnage of WW2 made that comparison too easy).  Worldwide, fewer babies die, more children go to school, more people live in democracies, more can afford simple luxuries, fewer get sick, and more live to old age.

“Problems that look hopeless may not be; human ingenuity can chip away at them. “We will never have a perfect world, but it’s not romantic or naïve to work toward a better one.” Steven Pinker, Harvard psychologist

“When things are bad, do good.”  Little known motto of a major charitable organization.

“I could do other things.  Make more money.  But I choose to be here, teaching here, because I believe in YOU.  That some of you are going to change the community, our society, even the world for the better. May your days be filled with passion, may you have a wonderful, exuberant career.”  Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor, explaining to students why he teaches at Berkeley.

“The free MUST remember the oppressed.” Amnesty International motto.

Muslim countries often don’t charge interest.  They have fees for transactions and pay dividends instead.  There are ways to think outside the box, and it may make greed not quite so damaging.

And if we are paying attention, we will always find life more wonderfully complex than we realized.  For instance (‘free market” fanatics may want to hold their heads to contain any explosive force), competition in Europe has often been CREATED by governments.  Certainly this is so for the phone service there, with the added twist that the governments forced the phone companies to be interoperable (one of the reasons phone service is generally much better in Europe than in the US).

I am, as you know, no advocate for pollyanish thinking, outlooks, or behavior.  But I also know that we can do much to make ourselves better.  One of the ways is to embrace the written word.  As Levar Burton asks, do your children, friends, family, and colleagues see you reading?  How many books do you have around home?  Do you have an evening a week where you don’t watch TV or do other things, but just read?  

Our reply to those who focus ONLY on negativity, who do so without contribution or desire for action to change, can thus be two simple questions: “What good book are you reading?  What are you filling yourself up with intellectually and emotionally?”

And yes, good Madame, I realize that I am speaking to the choir!  Try not to roll your eyes. :)

Where Do We Go From Here?

Professor J,

I was going to write about boycotting Black Friday or the quest for simplification in an overly complicated world. Well, I may still get to that. But first...this quote from Homeland hit home the other night:

“There are only wrong choices. I’m finally seeing it for the first time. Nothing good can happen in this f----ed-up world that we’ve made for ourselves. Can it?”

CIA station chief, Carrie Matheson is talking about her chosen vocation, but sometimes in every day life the varying perspectives and stories, nuances and motives, information and confirmation bias are all too much. The truth, increasingly maddeningly, lies somewhere in the midst of what we think we know. Information is fed to us from no one without an agenda. Clever tweeters lay out problems and solve complex problems in 140 characters or less. I can't even read the comments on blogs or news sites anymore where the worst side of people in their anonymity shows their true selves.

It would be easy to believe there are only wrong choices when things are grim.

Monday afternoon when I heard that the grand jury in Ferguson had reached a decision, I prayed for peace and justice. Admittedly something I have done far too seldom as someone who claims to follow Christ. Perhaps it's that I just finished a thorough re-reading of the Gospels and Acts. Perhaps it's that this reading was done with a spiritual eye out for the poor and oppressed. On the lookout for injustice. I highlighted hypocrisy. Underlined non violent choices in the face of corruption and hate. Tried to read it like it was the first time. Fresh eyes. Open heart and mind.

So Monday night's news was especially troubling. Not even because I was sure of the truth of anyone's testimony or knew (or thought I did) what the right course of action should be. But because the older I get the more aware I am of the experience of others. The other perspective. The different conclusion. Honest intent and split second choices. The power of hopelessness. How everyone's history up to this point affects thinking, perception, and judgement.

We are all trapped in our own narratives and it takes conscious effort to break out of that. I believe it's impossible unless we are willing to dialogue. To listen without defending. To look for common ground. To say that lots of things we disagree about can actually all be true at the same time. Sometimes many different parts of the story are true. Our brains struggle with gray areas.

Even when we get to the truth of the story, we aren't finished. The mother in the poverty stricken neighborhood knows what the problems are. So does the teacher, the owner of the liquor store, and the sanitation worker. Recognizing the problem doesn't bestow upon us the tools with which to solve them.  We are fractured and ill equipped to solve them without banding together. 

I found the following quote in the article, The Society of Fugitives

"Many in law enforcement recognize that poverty, unemployment, and the drugs and violence that accompany them are social problems that cannot be solved by arresting people. But the police and the courts are not equipped with social solutions. They are equipped with handcuffs and jail time."

We have more information than we need, but claim we need more. What we are desperately in need of is wisdom. We need people who act wisely.

Yesterday I found this TED Talk, Take an "Other" to Lunch."  In it, Elizabeth Lesser outlines her simple plan to change the world, but she also mentions the concepts of the mystic and the warrior. I liked this idea because I can feel both things tugging at me. She echoes your idea that small things matter. Things like listening and looking for common ground. 

Oh yeah, and let's not buy stuff on Friday and if we have to let's make sure it's local.

Can We Mandate Introspection?

Professor J,

Isn't that what fantasies are for? ;)

Your story about the lack of earthworms is a familiar one. The cost of a manicured lawn is far more than people should be willing to pay, and I suspect that few people have actually calculated the very real and long term cost. Those trucks make me cringe. My yard would probably make lots of other people wince as it is organic and dandelions and violets are welcome. Beekeeping presents a different perspective of what is beautiful. Recently at the recycling center near my house I saw hundreds of bees flying in and out of soda and beer cans. Maybe I should rename my honey Tipsy Honey. :)

Once again you have provided a thorough answer and detailed accounting of the struggles and the cost.

I liked this sentence from your post, "One small thing is to quite silently agreeing that a "little" eco-injury is okay."

I'm currently listening to a course on meditation and one of the precepts covered in an early lecture is to cause no harm. At least not as far as we are able. Of course we are able much more that we care to recognize. We could often do the right thing and for the right reason but, we (as you pointed out) have allowed ourselves to tell ourselves lies. Causing great harm not only to the earth and its creatures, but to our own disconnected spirits and minds. We seem to care little for the victims of our actions whether its the next generation or ourselves.

This disconnection, in my own humble opinion, is the root of the problem. So few people take even a moment on occasion to think about the repercussions of their actions and choices. We are consumed with consuming, and what good consumers we are. The ramifications of our actions (many of which are mindless) have far reaching effects without and within. We drive our cars to work or home and don't even remember how we got there. Our over worked over distracted minds are numb. A larger part of your plan would need to be to get people to think about their actions.

And that is painful.

Our (feigned) ignorance is so much more comfortable than facing the actual problems we are faced with. So we continue to distract and avoid in nearly ever area of life from relationships, community, and our part of the responsibility for all the things that have come undone and need to be healed, strengthened, and cared for. 

Chicago Ironic

Madame:

Sounds like there’s been a lot of work and transition on your plate in what is the usually slower paced summer.  I have felt some of that too, although I’m not sure if some of it for me is just that internally I really, Really, REALLY need the whole summer  to be non-work and that native American experience I described last week, just applied in the summer instead of the winter. :)

My own son has headed off to college (with some moving help from dad), living away for the first time.  It’s a strange experience for him, but it will be good for him.  Although I have enjoyed the DPS movie a few times, I am embarrassed to say that I have not shown it to my children.  Thank you for the good prompt to do so, for it is extraordinarily good, and particularly poignant given recent events.

Ironically, I am in Chicago again so soon, but this time, it is business, and there will be little opportunity to experience much of the city, alas.  However, also ironically, I have the last installment of last month’s Chicago travel diary to share (even though I think we could fill up more than a few posts discussing Ferguson, etc.):

7/27/14

Task-master (me), let the younglings sleep while I explored the town a bit.  I ran into a guy who said he was homeless.  He showed me his veteran’s card.  Not sure if he was, and not sure whether this is a new common scam or an indication of how much we’ve let our veterans down and also seeing the second and third order effects of our disastrous recent wars, but I’d run into the same thing on the streets back home.  This guy didn’t look like he was doing all that well, and as I listened to him, I was hearing all the while in my head the two brothers.  What two brothers?  My father and my uncle.  My uncle, although a pretty solidly nice guy, would say that I, if I doled out get-by money to a panhandler,  was either agreeing to be ripped off, or giving drinking or other addiction money, or just being an enabler and preventing the proper decisions and proper avenues for help.  My father would tell me that there but for grace—unmerited favor—could go us all, and therefore it is not ours to decide on whether it is legitimate or not, or whether  it is best for the person or not, but on the persons themselves and their spirits to work out. 

My father still, 10 years after his departure from this mortal existence, runs strong in me.  I gave the man a little money.  We talked for a little bit, and then he looked like he was needing to talk to/solicit some folks that were obviously walking to church.  As I walked down the street, I started to think about the structural homeless, the categories where most homeless fall under (veterans, mentally ill no longer institutionalized, substance addicts, and the displaced—lost jobs, divorced, etc.), and how we as a society now accept it as an “unavoidable background feature” where once it wasn’t all that acceptable, even just 30 years ago. 

Not sure if I was affected by the above or not, but I stumbled upon a church that looked interesting, so I stopped in and did a little revering.

I came back to check out of the B&B and the four were ready. We drove to a lighthouse, but it wasn’t open yet, although I was intrigued by the engraved marker and what that meant about that lighthouse/site unless the POTUS says otherwise!

We then met an old friend of mine who lives in Chicago (and his wife) for lunch.  It was good to catch up.  My daughter was much engrossed with the wife, because the wife travels regularly to China on business, and my daughter, who is fascinated by many things, has China as one of the top things on her list. 

It turned out to be a long lunch.  When we finally took pictures and said our goodbyes, I knew it was going to mean getting in very late (early in the morning).  It was worth it though to see him; it had been too long.   Before life scattered us, we had been very close buddies.

Did I mention that relationships were high on the list of matters that many native Americans got to invest in and renew over those three months every year?

Logging In The Travel!

Madame:

Your post about fearful parenting, and society’s punishment of those who aren’t irrationally fearful, would normally incense me to much comment.  But I will move that to the edge of the hibachi grill for now.  Btw, that picture is terrific.  On to more travel journaling!

7/26

Breakfast was good, made fresh on the spot at this Bed & Breakfast: turkey and cheese croissants, blueberries and grapes, cinnamon rolls, cranberry juice, pineapple, and green tea.  Took some oat bars and an apple for later.

Today we went to the Field Museum of Natural History.  It had a great 3D film about Waking the T Rex, an examination and CDI projection of the T Rex skeleton found by archaeologists and in display at that very museum. They also had an exhibit on Ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptian culture, market life, etc., as well as, of course, mummies.  

It had a below ground mockup that was interesting:

The boys enjoyed the Biomechanics exhibit quite a lot.  The sustainable, local area food at the café was very good.  There was also a hall of gems which was visually very appealing.  I enjoyed most, however, the Pawnee Earth Lodge.  As I sat on the buffalo blanket bed and contemplated the quite big and airy lodge, I was reminded of how much we hurt ourselves when we don’t try to learn from other cultures.  While the European settlers in the Americas were breaking their backs working year round, trying to impose their foreign plants, foreign animals, foreign practices and wills on a land, all the while disdaining the practices of the natives, the Native Americans would have three or more months a year where they would take TIME to:

Rest.

Renew.

Learn.

Contemplate.

Discuss.

Enrich relationships.

Respect.

Revere.

We would have invested more hours at the Field Museum, but we hustled out to go to the Shedd Aquarium, only to be quite disappointed that the aquarium was going to close early for some unexplained reason.  Always wanting to have a Plan B for such vacation snags, we caught the L back to Evanston (technically, north of there, in Wilmette), where we walked to the Baha’i Temple.  A quiet and serene place, it is the Baha’i House of Worship for North America, and one of only seven such in the world (one on each continent, soon to be more).  

It is a faith that stresses oneness of humanity and belief that different faiths worship or aspire in different ways the same one God.  They have been persecuted in many intolerant places, primarily Islamic dominated countries, and hundreds have been killed, some by execution, even though practitioners are typically non-violent and even pacifist.

The temple, built under the same principles at the Pantheon in Rome (remember?), is quite simple and conducive to contemplation.  It has sayings engraved in the walls or on mountings:

We tried to go to the beach, but were frustrated at how much had been privatized and was off limits.  So we came back to Evanston and ate Chicago deep dish pizza at Lou Malanati’s, a Chicago chain.  It was good stuff, and being outdoors eating was even better!

Generation "Change?"

Professor J,

My original reading of your post on Sunday left me with the feeling that even though the alarm sounding was getting louder and more frequent, the wealthy, powerful, and influential would fight harder to retain the inequality you outline.

A more careful reading recognizes the hope you see instead. I'd like to see some media numbers, if anyone keeps track of such things, of the frequency of such reports in the news, if there is a measurable increase, when that would have started to tilt, are some news agencies more likely to report on the alarm sounding, etc.

Perhaps there are studies and surveys going on which would reveal if there is a real and permanent turn in the tide. As I read your post I noticed in the last year or so that I've accumulated some anecdotal evidence that might build on the hope you see.

I can see some slight movement away from old views among people my age and older but from my viewpoint it looks as if the real change will happen in the next generation. Increasingly the young adults I come in contact with are concerned with the state of the world in general and society in particular. The things I'm hearing are about from them are the way they desire to help change things for the better.

My Italian son, who I adopted in Italy if you recall, is working for a church in our city and is charge of local missions. He's always sharing about things going on around town, an inner city farmer's market, a woman who runs an art garden after school so impoverished children who don't have things like art supplies at home can be creative, a local artist who is helping kids make comics about their neighborhood. My young friend and two others rent a house in the very neighborhood where they are serving in order to feel connected to the community. He sent me a message last week to let me know that he' planting some flowers to help out the bees. :)

My own son is rejecting personally great chunks of the materialism and consumerism that keeps our society so bound up in the culture of me. He talks often of wanting to make a difference and live a life that matters. He tells of a skate park he goes to in a run down part of town. The skaters have impacted the neighborhood by cleaning up the area. Now kids show up to watch them skate, ask questions, and hang out. They are also being introduced to a new sport.

Over the weekend I was away at a silent Catholic retreat. There was a group of 6 college age kids attending as well. I would see them sitting quietly with stacks of books, or walking in the fields. When we could finally talk at breakfast on our last day I found out who they were and what they were doing. They were members of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. They had dedicated a year of life after college to the organization. The six of them lived in a house together and each received one hundred dollars a month to live on and meet all expenses. Not surprisingly simple living is one of the core values along with spirituality, community, and social justice. Attending a silent retreat was one of the requirements of their year of service.

What do you think? Can all of this translate into something bigger and long lasting? I'm thinking of the 60s where there was so much of this same attitude among young people in the country. And they did have a great impact and many of the results have lasted. But for the majority it seems that the responsibilities of life eventually crowded out the desire to go a different way.

Thoughts on that?

And here's something fun I'll be doing in May. The Minimalism Game. It's a challenge those two cool guys over at The Minimalists came up with. For our readers who feel like they are drowning in stuff, find a partner and make May the month of real spring cleaning. 

The Nitty Gritty

Professor J,

Discernment-- how to get people to know that they need it let alone try to cultivate it? Whenever I hear the story of Solomon I think to myself that he must have had a lot of wisdom already to even know that it was the thing he should have been asking for.  Someone who is basing their criteria for happiness on various external goals or acquisitions will have a hard time grasping the value of a rich internal life.

I recently watched a TED Talk that shed light on something else at play in life, grit. Here's the video:

It reminds me of a study my daughter recently shared with me that she'd read, in which they gave Chinese students and American students very difficult math problems to solve. American students worked on the problems an average of 3 minutes and then gave up. The Chinese students? They never gave up. The people conducting the study literally had to take the test away from them.

How in the world to instill that in people? As you can see from the video, we don't know. 

The world's major religions have been advocating lots of things that turn out to be pretty good advice now that we study what makes people happy and leads to physical and emotional health. That assembling in churches or temples? Well, now we know how healthy social connections are for us. Separating yourself for times of prayer and meditation? Turns out that's pretty good for us too. Singing and chanting? Good stuff. The compassionate care of others and living beyond yourself? One of the keys to living a truly happy life and having a feeling of significance. Fasting? Self control? Moderation? Very healthy advice.

So it isn't that we don't necessarily know what to do. The trouble comes in the doing. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  Every day. All day. Or maybe that's just me. :)

Which brings me right back around to those endless every day choices...

A Movie, a Book, Some Pondering

Professor J,

Electricity was restored eventually and we survived, but alas, with wicked colds. I'm generally a fan of the colder months but winter has outstayed his welcome and is free to move on. Daffodils in the garden are waving goodbye to him as I write. :)

Your answer was thorough and informative although you were correct in saying that some of your examples were problematic. Is it your opinion that after a certain point (you might want to guess at the tipping point) peaceful political solutions are unlikely or even impossible?

Our Finnish friends continue to set forth a good example.

Watched an interesting movie the other night, Promised Land. Have you seen it? Co-written by Matt Damon (who's passionate about the water issue) it is the fictional story of a small town and what happens when a huge natural gas company comes to town to buy the land rights from farm owners for fracking.

I just finished, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, by Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip. I've read lots of self help style books and this one is a practical easy read that would be perfect for a young person just starting out. I read it on my Kindle and then ordered my son a copy.

A couple of his ideas that are a twist on conventional wisdom are having systems instead of goals and managing your energy instead of your time. If a person's goal is to lose 20 pounds they often revert to old habits once they reach it. If your system of eating is a healthy one and exercise is built into your day you are building a lifetime of good habits that will have a bigger impact on your overall health. Likewise most people try to manage their time but he recommends trying to figure out at what times of the day you have the most energy and planning your activities accordingly.

Now, I've just done the "what have I been watching/reading" thing, so I'll follow my own advice and share what I've been thinking/pondering. :)

For years I read a variety of books. I remember one day several years ago I was reading a book by a well known businessman about leadership. My daughter, about 12 at the time,  asked me why I was reading it, as she didn't see the use I could get out of it as a stay at home mom. I think I responded along the lines of "you don't ever know what life will throw your way" or something. Which has turned out to be true. When life has handed me unexpected things both good and bad, because of the reading on all those different topics I've had a basic knowledge of lots of things and when I was thrown real curves I had a deep well of information to draw from. True stories about people who not only survived tragic and terrifying circumstances but over came helped me keep perspective and hope on bad days. On good days I utilized all the reading I'd done about managing money wisely. On the string of ordinary days that make up the majority of life all the other reading I'd done gave everything layers of deeper meaning.

Sometimes I wonder--who would I be if I hadn't read all those books?

What Do You Think?

Professor J,

I'm having one of those weeks where certain ideas that I've been focused on seemed to converge in a whirlpool of information and experience. Do you ever get the feeling the universe wants you to understand something now?

I've been thinking about, well...thinking. Your last post pointed out, to some extent,  how the lack of it weakens and divides. And as you've alluded to many times, it is often the people who have spent the least amount of time giving deep thought to anything who are the ones who are the most sure of their opinions and beliefs.

I'm reading John Maxwell's new book, Thinking for a Change. I like the title's double entendre. Maxwell can usually be relied upon for good advice in the motivation and leadership departments, but I was intrigued with the skills he's promoting:

1. Acquire the wisdom of big-picture thinking - does my thinking extend beyond me and my world
2. Unleash the potential of focused thinking - concentrate to find clarity on the real issues
3. Discover the joy of creative thinking - get out of the box and find break through thinking
4. Recognize the importance of realistic thinking - does my thinking have a solid mental foundation
5. Release the power of strategic thinking - is my thinking leading to plans for today that help me reach my potential tomorrow
6. Feel the energy of possibility thinking - possibility thinking can help you find solutions to even the difficult problems
7. Embrace the lessons of reflective thinking - am I revisiting the past to gain understanding and learn from what happened
8. Question the acceptance of popular thinking - am I rejecting the limitations of common thinking
9. Encourage the participation of shared thinking - am I engaging others to expand and sharpen my thinking
10. Experience the satisfaction of unselfish thinking - am I considering others and their needs
11. Enjoy the return of bottom-line thinking - am I staying focused on results

*copied from a reviewer's post 

While I've been reading this book other things have come to mind. First, our ability to control our thoughts and actually change our brains by doing so. Buddhist monks, for example show an amazing capacity for empathy and compassion when studied, proving that indeed "as a man thinks, so he is." Read the article about one such study here: This Buddhist Monk is the World's Happiest Man My daughter and I recently discussed after our yoga class that it never occurs to us during our practice to hold any negativity or ill will toward anyone. Yet I've heard many Christians condemn yoga and meditation as dangerous (for unclear reasons).

Might the  knowledge of the mind's power be why Christians are admonished to do the following?

"...be renewed in the spirit of your minds." Eph. 4:23

"... whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Phil. 4:8

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" Rom. 12:2

Studies have shown that the self talk we engage in can greatly affect our behavior, the difference between saying "I can't eat that" and I don't eat that" for instance. Here's an article about the study: The Amazing Power of "I Don't" vs. "I can't."

Hopefully Maxwell's book will attract lots of readers (and doers also). We can't change the entire world overnight but we can start with our own thoughts and self talk.

They Give "Love" A Bad Name

Madame,

I join you (and the Black Eyed Peas) in asking, “where is the love?” 

And Anne Rice echoed your sentiments when she announced that she was still a follower of Jesus, but no longer wanted to be known as a Christian, due to so many giving the title a bad, bad name she wanted no affiliation with.

Jesus and his disciples would well recognize the same twisters, the same selfish deceivers, the same obeisance to elite servitude (and the same attitude that everyone else is on their own), and the same cultural adherence to unexamined (and often corrupt and deliberately self serving) “laws”—religious or otherwise—in our modern day.  And how deeply, bitterly, ironic that the two greatest commandments of the Bible as summed up by Jesus in Matthew 22 are so readily ignored, especially the second.

The lack of reading on the part of people, and their resulting susceptibility for being “taught” twisted ideology by self-serving demagogues who tell them what “The Good Book” says—what the people themselves should have read—leads to the abysmal situation where religion is twisted to cause evil effects, precisely the kind that Bill Maher and others rail so effectively about.

But even all the criticisms of biblical chapters and their possibly questionable robustness do not detract from the emphasis on the poor, the sick, the hungry, the weary.  Even a cursory reading of the New Testament Jesus would give pause to true believers.  Pause, because most of the words are about love, tolerance, brotherhood, forgiveness.  Further pause when they discover the few words of condemnation that Jesus uses, and the few instances of great anger, are reserved for precisely the same types of proselytizers of the ‘prosperity gospel” and their plutocratic allies.

Even unbelievers can see how good a world it would be if people would mimic Jesus, or Katie Davis, or anyone who lives out those two commandments, including and especially the second.  When we don’t live out the second, we don’t really live but merely exist, for we feel the emptiness of it all deep inside us from  the disconnection from our neighbors.  And maybe, just maybe, sense that true change for lasting good means we must live out fully that second commandment.  A good reminder in this “most wonderful time of the year.”

Because in a globalized world, we’re all neighbors.  And really, always have been.

Mustard Seeds for Cynics

Pope Francis is Time's Person of the Year. Thank goodness. I can't imagine what kind of post I'd be writing if it had been Miley Cyrus, which was apparently a real possibility. I guess I'd feel the same way I did when Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize for his slide show over Irena Sendler who rescued about 2500 Jewish children from the Nazis.

I'm not a Catholic so why is this my Christmas post? Because lately, my faith has been waning. Not necessarily my faith in God, but faith in Christians. (This is where well meaning believers point out to me that people will always disappoint, but Christ never will even thought the New Testament says that Christians will be known by their love.) My faith has taken a beating in the past couple of years. What with world views blown and all. My default position is now doubt. I hear people say that someone is a good man or has character and I say to myself "as far as you know." And  I'm embarrassed by what I hear come out of the mouths of my fellow believers.

I often wonder-- where's the love?

And along come a couple of people the world really needs right now. The Pope and Katie Davis. Two people with amazingly different backgrounds, my two examples that prove that the world recognizes and respects real Christianity when they see it. They know it doesn't look anything like the Westboro Baptist Church. Even if they don't subscribe to it, they know what it is supposed to look like.

It's supposed to look like Jesus.

That would mean it would detest hypocrisy and greed. It would never ask if you believe in evolution, or Noah's Ark, or gay marriage. It would be warm, welcoming, winsome. People would be drawn to the sheer kindness and generosity, grace and compassion of it.

The Pope is saying things that some of us have been thinking for some time, but aren't readily accepted in the Evangelical community. Radical things like, we spend way too much time discussing social issues and far too little time offering up unconditional love. He's the antidote to the Prosperity Gospel that has become firmly entrenched in church thinking.  Here's the thinking by behind his being chosen as explained by the editor of Time, Nancy Gibbs:

"Rarely has a new player on the world stage captured so much attention so quickly -- young and old, faithful and cynical -- as has Pope Francis. In his nine months in office, he has placed himself at the very center of the central conversations of our time: about wealth and poverty, fairness and justice, transparency, modernity, globalization, the role of women, the nature of marriage, the temptations of power...

He is embracing complexity and acknowledging the risk that a church obsessed with its own rights and righteousness could inflict more wounds than it heals... For pulling the papacy out of the palace and into the streets, for committing the world¹s largest church to confronting its deepest needs, and for balancing judgment with mercy, Pope Francis is TIME's 2013 Person of the Year."

Katie Davis is a fellow Tennessean who was Glamor Magazine's Woman of the Year in 2012. She eschewed her affluent life in a posh Nashville suburb to move to Uganda and care for hundreds of vulnerable children, adopting 13 girls herself. Her genuine love and humility reflects her personal beliefs in a way we rarely see. She is one of those people who is just going about her life in the most sincere way, but everything about her makes one wonder--What am I doing? 

I am not trying to imply that there aren't lots of other Christians who are living out their faith in powerful and dynamic ways. What makes these two notable for me is the fact that non believers are recognizing that there is something different about them. That people who claim no faith find them inspiring. That magazines full of advertising and consumerism are saying that there may be something else to aspire to.

Sometimes that mustard seed, no matter how small needs to be watered by a good example.

Merry Christmas. 

Where's the War?

Professor J,

It's supposed to be the most wonderful time of year. Elvis wondered, "why can't every day be like Christmas?"

What has happened since these songs were written? There is no sleeping in heavenly peace as people lie awake at night and wonder how they are going to afford all the things Santa will be bringing (hopefully we don't have any tiny disillusioned readers). It seems like everything from banking to grocery shopping feels like a marathon.

I'm beginning to think that the book Scroogenomics had more of an impact on me than I realized.

...and then there are the Christmas police. Thanks, O'Reilly. The fantasy War on Christmas drains a little more joy out of it every year. I use to hear cheerful voices wish each other a Merry Christmas, but now often when I hear it said by a customer in the check out line, it's said in an antagonistic voice. Behind the phrase is not the genuine blessing of someone else's holiday but a snideness worthy of Scrooge. A tone that seems to say "That's right. I said Merry Christmas and I hope you are offended, or feel guilty, or are ashamed of yourself for lowering yourself to a generic greeting."

I can't say I've ever been to a city where decorating for Christmas was banned. My local fire station has a manger scene as part of a larger display. But we are bombarded every year with the same trite "Keep CHRIST in Christmas" message. And do you really need a sticker that let's me know you say Merry Christmas. Um...when you say it I'll kind of know.

The same is true of the ambient knowledge floating around in Christian culture that kids aren't saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school anymore. I recently taught a class on bees and honey to an elementary class. I was there at the beginning of the day and heard it for myself complete with "under God" which people regularly rant about having been removed. The Pledge was followed by a moment of silence. Something I'm sure the teacher was most thankful for.

I've heard people for years lament how hard it is to find a card that says Merry Christmas. There are many complaints about the phrases Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays. A few years ago when I cleaned out an elderly relative's card collection I was surprised how often those phrases were used in the overly romanticized past. I found some examples from the 40s, 50s, and 60s:

 












 

So since the entire thing seems to be over reacting at best and pure concoction at worst, I have to ask with you, Prof, who benefits from it? 

In an article about a completely unrelated topic I found this quote:  "The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that the way you use language shapes your perception of the world."

Let that one sink in.  

Hmmm... I may have to stop talking about how exhausting the Christmas season is. I may be making my words a reality. And I just got off the phone with my daughter who said this: I heard that song today "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year and I thought the most stressful time!" But that's probably just finals week talking.

Anyway, a most sincere and heartfelt Merry Christmas to all.