As I celebrate my 33rd birthday today, I find myself looking back in awe of all of the opportunities and experiences God has given to me. I am amazed that this little kid from Pennsboro, WV would get to see and do so much!
I have now lived in 5 different states and travelled to many more. I have seen the great cities of New York and London, and the natural wonders of the Grand Canyon and the arches and deserts of Utah. I have seen the monuments of Washington, D.C. and the battlefields of Gettysburg and Antietam. I have jumped out of an airplane and snorkeled in the ocean. I have swam with dolphins and ridden on a camel. I have hiked in both the Rocky and Appalachain Mountains and walked on the beaches of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. I have seen the last standing Wonder of the World, the Great Pyramids of Egypt and sailed down the Nile River. I have had opportunities to serve halfway around the world in Indonesia with ESL and five minutes from my front door with Habitat for Humanity.
I have experienced the deepest heartaches and the most exhilerating joys. I have gone on a 7 day silent retreat and a 40 day fast, and celebrated with throngs in a stadium and feasted on the finest steak dinners. I have mourned the loss of all four of my grandparents and an uncle, and celebrated the birth of two nephews and a niece. I have lied awake in the longest lonely hours of the night, and watched my beautiful bride walk down the aisle to me. I now get to spend the rest of my life with the most beautiful, amazing woman in the world who is my very best friend. Many great friends have passed through my life and thankfully some remain and will always share this journey with me.
I have tried and failed at both surfing and dancing. I have gone to school for financial planning and massage therapy but am not currently practicing either. I have seen Lifehouse in concert 5 times. I still have my Saturn. I have been able to make a lot of people laugh, and hopefully made very few cry. My family has always been there for me, and I love them very much. I also love my new in-laws and look forward to getting to know them more. My life is ridiculously blessed. I hope I have been able to share that blessing with others.
I will close with words oddly coming from Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins. "All credit belongs to God, who thought this whole thing up."
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Saturday, April 02, 2011
The Poor You Will Always Have With You
I always feel frustrated when this verse gets abused as a condescension towards work to alleviate poverty and suffering. The point, I think, is mainly in the words that come next, "But you will not always have Me." Jesus' argument was not to say to stop working to alleviate poverty but to recognize the unique circumstances of what was happening at that moment.
Along with my new church's current sermon series which often deals with such matters, I have been binging this year on reading books calling Christians to wake up from the stupor of our culture and become aware of our call to serve those in desperate need. So far this has included "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger", "Charity in Truth" and "Radical". Pope Benedict's work has been my favorite, but all have something valuable to share. I would also recommend some of my past reads including "The End of Poverty" and "Living High and Letting Die" which are secular reads from an economist and a philosopher, respectively.
I am finding several challenges in attempting to live out the calling these authors inspire me to do. One of these is that if I am not careful, I can drive myself crazy with guilt. As David Platt, the author of Radical points out, nearly everything we purchase as Americans is relatively speaking a luxury when considered on a global scale. For instance, I could have eaten much more simply yesterday (and presumably shared the savings with those in need), but instead for the luxury of convenience I ate out for both lunch and dinner, all the while knowing the problems of hunger that largely come from our horribly discriminating global distribution network of food. Is what I ate wrong?
Another hazard is that being passionate about this kind of thing can lead a person to become very judgmental of others. Displays of overt luxury from others start to become odious and one can easily begin to assume that these individuals are greedy and selfish when that might not be the case at all. Jesus' stern rebuke to Peter comes to mind here; "What is that to you? You must follow me."
Perhaps the biggest struggle is knowing at what point "balance" becomes "lukewarm." Material possessions are not inherently evil and we are free to enjoy them as we give thanks to God for them. But they also should also not become cumbersome obstacles towards sharing generously and loving others. Where that line is for each person and in each circumstance is ultimately between them and God, as we seek to obey the Word and be led by the Spirit. Father, help me to choose wisely and lovingly.
Along with my new church's current sermon series which often deals with such matters, I have been binging this year on reading books calling Christians to wake up from the stupor of our culture and become aware of our call to serve those in desperate need. So far this has included "Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger", "Charity in Truth" and "Radical". Pope Benedict's work has been my favorite, but all have something valuable to share. I would also recommend some of my past reads including "The End of Poverty" and "Living High and Letting Die" which are secular reads from an economist and a philosopher, respectively.
I am finding several challenges in attempting to live out the calling these authors inspire me to do. One of these is that if I am not careful, I can drive myself crazy with guilt. As David Platt, the author of Radical points out, nearly everything we purchase as Americans is relatively speaking a luxury when considered on a global scale. For instance, I could have eaten much more simply yesterday (and presumably shared the savings with those in need), but instead for the luxury of convenience I ate out for both lunch and dinner, all the while knowing the problems of hunger that largely come from our horribly discriminating global distribution network of food. Is what I ate wrong?
Another hazard is that being passionate about this kind of thing can lead a person to become very judgmental of others. Displays of overt luxury from others start to become odious and one can easily begin to assume that these individuals are greedy and selfish when that might not be the case at all. Jesus' stern rebuke to Peter comes to mind here; "What is that to you? You must follow me."
Perhaps the biggest struggle is knowing at what point "balance" becomes "lukewarm." Material possessions are not inherently evil and we are free to enjoy them as we give thanks to God for them. But they also should also not become cumbersome obstacles towards sharing generously and loving others. Where that line is for each person and in each circumstance is ultimately between them and God, as we seek to obey the Word and be led by the Spirit. Father, help me to choose wisely and lovingly.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Please Reduce My Benefits and Raise My Taxes
No, seriously. I am sick and tired of Americans who loudly complain about how big the federal government's budget deficit is and will be, and yet when pressed about which programs they want to be cut, they don't want to cut any of them. Further, when asked if they would accept a tax increase to reduce the deficit, they again say no. Guess what? It doesn't work that way.
I think it would be worth a tax increase to reduce or eliminate the budget deficit, and improve areas like infrastructure, education and energy independence. Ideally, this would come in the form of eliminating deductions and exemptions and lowering overall rates to move towards a simpler, flatter system while still increasing total tax revenues. Also, unlike 60% of Americans, I do not want the government to cut the less than 1% of the budget that goes to foreign aid. I would actually like to increase it to 1%. If you think you have it bad in this economy, try being among the billions of people who survive on less than $2 a day.
I would also like my social security age to be raised. Look, no one in my generation thinks Social Security is going to be around when we retire anyway, so go ahead and cut it so the numbers improve. Life expectancy has gone up since Social Security was created so the age in which benefits are received should also go up. If everyone on the right who claims to be against "big government" and for "individual responsibility" backs it up by supporting this, it can pass. No one is saying you can't still retire at a younger age, just that the government is not going to help you do it. Fair enough.
I think it would be worth a tax increase to reduce or eliminate the budget deficit, and improve areas like infrastructure, education and energy independence. Ideally, this would come in the form of eliminating deductions and exemptions and lowering overall rates to move towards a simpler, flatter system while still increasing total tax revenues. Also, unlike 60% of Americans, I do not want the government to cut the less than 1% of the budget that goes to foreign aid. I would actually like to increase it to 1%. If you think you have it bad in this economy, try being among the billions of people who survive on less than $2 a day.
I would also like my social security age to be raised. Look, no one in my generation thinks Social Security is going to be around when we retire anyway, so go ahead and cut it so the numbers improve. Life expectancy has gone up since Social Security was created so the age in which benefits are received should also go up. If everyone on the right who claims to be against "big government" and for "individual responsibility" backs it up by supporting this, it can pass. No one is saying you can't still retire at a younger age, just that the government is not going to help you do it. Fair enough.
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