Being Prepared

As I get older I am appreciating preparing ahead of time. Sadly my life as I have known hasn't required a whole lot of preparation, or maybe I was able to skate through. As a teacher I know the value of being prepared ahead of time. If you really want your students to learn you have to prepare in advance. Sure, you might be able to get by and most of the students will do alright, but you aren't really being effective. When teachers prepare ahead of time students learn, and a by product is that with good preparation good student behavior follows.

I know there are some things we can't prepare for in life, but the majority of life is able to be prepared for in advance. The emotional, physical, relational and spiritual components of our life all benefit from preparation. Yet I hardly ever prepare for the emotional, relational and spiritual situations in which I am involved and very seldom for the physical. Yet I am realizing that I need to prepare, that much of my life is about preparation.

I know there are certain relationships for which I need to prepare. Sometimes the effects of relationships can disturb our well being. There are also emotional situations that I need to be working towards or I will not react adequately when I am confronted with them. Our ability to live in community and interact with each other takes more preparation than we think. If there is someone who is good at what they do, it is because they are prepared. Yet how good are we at being husbands, fathers, friends, co-workers, sons, daughters, etc.? We can either prepare to be good, or even great, in these relationships or we can settle for being mediocre. Plus we might as well get used to preparing, because this life is about preparation for the next. Whether we are preparing to live with God or be absent from His presence, our lives and the decisions we make are preparing us.

Reflection on the election. (Yes, it rhymes. Yes, it was on purpose.)

My feelings about the election are mixed. In my opinion we have gone from making progress back to an illusion of security and prosperity. I think all of us who voted probably voted against something, instead of for policies that will ultimately secure the future of all Americans. I hope as we move forward that we can find middle ground without comprimising our values or the welfare of others. Every voter is part of society, a society which finds itself rapidly dividing. We need to stop lashing out against each other and work towards creating a better, more just society. Yet as I am writing this I sense that I am being overly idealistic. Due to the uncertainty of our economy and power as a nation we live in fear, whether it be realistic or not. That fear has been exploited by both sides. We need to stop listening to "fear" talk. The Republicans had so much success because they have convinced many of us that we have to "fear" the Democrats. Sadly most Republicans have nothing to fear, but have been manipulated by fear mongering. We need to focus on hope, not fear. Hope for all of society. I keep reflecting on Liberation Theology and the idea of solidarity. A concept where we try to identify with the poor, the needy and the oppressed. We join with them in search of justice and equality, of a better future. I think of Oscar Romero and his willingness to not be manipulated by politicians, institutions or the wealthy, but stood by in his conviction that we must foremost look after the poor and the suffering. I don't see much of this these days. I see a lot of self interest, a lot of decisions being made out of fear instead of conviction and values. The great thing about solidarity is that in turn the poor identify with us, identify with the pressures that we have, the struggle to let go of our security and in humility accept us with all of our faults, even though we may have been the cause of much of their suffering. It is idealistic, but it rings true. We have to start accepting each other, with all our faults and realize that ultimately what is good for my neighbor, for the least of these, is also good for me.

Fading Pickup Culture

As I was driving to Loyola yesterday (now a week and a half ago) I looked in my rear view mirror and noticed a Chevy pickup truck closing in on me with an urgency that suggested I better get out of the way or else... I calmly switched on the blinker in my Versa and pulled over allowing the charging rhinoceros of the auto world to barrel on by, thus avoiding miles of unending tailing. I then began to think about pickup trucks and how I am seeing less F-150s, Tundras and Silverados and more Focuses, Yarises and Aveos. Could it be true that just like the raging T-Rex found itself stumbling towards extinction so too the mighty pickup truck must fall?

In my mind the pickup truck is a status symbol and a cultural statement. By owning a pickup you prove to others that you are a "real" man and that you don't mess around (of course I am generalizing and stereotyping). It means instant acceptance to the world of the blue collar middle class. A pickup truck proves to others that you are a "can do" person and that you won't back down. It really does personify part of the North American cultural value system. We are hardworking, tough, and mean business. Sadly, at least in part, in a world ever increasingly technological there seems to be fewer and fewer places for the pickup trucks and the culture it represents.

While our parents were able to support a family as tradesmen and laborers, those days are quickly fading. To belong to the middle class we now require education and skills training. No longer are you able to arrive merely through hardwork and good values. As part of the middle class we are forced to constantly keep improving our skills and education to stay one step ahead of the person who is looking to take our place. While I am only partly fond of the pickup culture, I am sad to see it leaving. I appreciate those who work hard and have good values. They help society run effeciently and generally provide ethical grounding. I believe in equality and desire for anyone to be able to succeed, despite their level of education. I certainly hope that the determination and hard work exemplified by the pick up culture remain in the fabric of our society.

Yet, part of me is glad to see the pickup culture fade. With an increasingly smaller world and global immigration there is little room for a culture that primarily looks out for number one. The pick up culture believes that it is the best, the way the world should be. As we have seen with terrorism and oppresion in the past decades cultures that uphold a view that their way is the only way to be tend to be dangerous. There is much fear and hatred in a culture that views itself as the epitome of civilization, whether it be the elites, the middle class or the poor. The pick up culture has little room for tolerance, you either speed up or get out of the way. Soon the time will come when they will have to accept the Focuses and the Cobalts, then also the Versas and the Yarises. The line between the middle class and the poor is blurring. No longer are hard work and good values able to grant you a life of dignity and relevant prosperity. The passage to a middle class life is predicated on your education, your race and the status of your parents. The values personified by the pick up culture are no longer a guarantee for entrance into the middle class. In todays world those who understand other cultures and the global society, as well as those trained in technology have a better chance of fighting their way into the middle class.

So, good bye gas guzzling behemoths. We will see less and less of you, but we must evolve. The world no longer has the resources to support you, and your cultural characteristics, which helped propel you into the middle class, are becoming more and more outdated and irrelevent in an increasingly global and crowded world.

Scripture as experience

I have recently found myself enjoying reading scripture. Well, maybe enjoying is the incorrect adjective, perhaps I have been challenged, changed, or moved. I have not been reading large amounts of scripture, rather I have found myself reading portions, here and there which are now intertwining themselves into my psyche. There seems to me an unnatural power in the word of God.

There are three different levels on which scripture speaks to me. The first is purely descriptive and factual. Thou shalt not murder holds a pretty apparent message and speaks to my mind and perhaps even to my conscience (I am not claiming to have murdered, it is purely hypothetical). Sometimes we view the Bible, and I must admit this is my least favorite way of viewing the scripture, as a textbook. This is what you should do to be a christian, a follower of Christ, a participant in the kingdom of Heaven. With a textbook there is no room for misrepresentation. What you say is what you get. I do believe there are portions of scripture that fall under this category, but they tend to be my least favorite. They also tend to be the least effective in producing growth in my spiritual life.

The second way scripture speaks to me is on a metaphorical / allegorical level. The Bible is the story of God, of His kingdom. It is a description of the christian journey, of humanity's relationship with God. The Bible speaks in metaphor and allegory to draw our attention to the truth and speak to our emotions and our heart. Facts generally don't speak to the heart and very seldom are an agent of change. A story, allegory or metaphor, on the other hand, contains a changing power. Merely stating that a person died in the current Iranian revolution is not as effective as a story about how they died and even still less effective than a video or images of the person dying. Through the story we are able to understand something or someone outside of ourselves. God's story found in the Bible moves my emotions and spurs me on to action, changes the way I think, and opens my mind to the possibility that maybe I am not the central character in my own story, that there is something much bigger of which I am a part.

There is one more way scripture speaks to me. Over the past several weeks as I have been reading scripture, I feel (dangerous word, I know) as though I have been experiencing the word of God. Let me clarify. It's not that I have been reading about the fruits of the Spirit and then someone was kind to me, rather that as I sit in my chair, staring at the words etched in ink, and as my mind processes the symbols then puts together their meaning there is a change or movement that occurs in my soul. At the moment I am not even sure what is changing or moving, all I know is that my soul has been affected. I know of nothing else that has this affect on my soul, in fact most of the time I am highly unaware of my soul. Perhaps it would be akin to experiencing the death of a person in the unrest over the Iranian election rather than merely reading it as a fact or reading / viewing it as a story. There is much I don't understand, all I know is the word of God is alive and active. We cannot view the word of God as a textbook, or even a mere story. The word of God is a dynamic, living, and active entity ( I don't like using the word "entity," but am at a loss for a better one) which affects us on a level that most of the time we are unaware exists.

If , as we have been discussing in our church community, the christian life is more than salvation, but a transformation into active participants in the kingdom of heaven, then the word of God as a dynamic and interactive presence in our lives constitutes a means of changing the old to the new. I am fairly certain that I would find it hard to change my soul, that is change the essence of my being, but, here we go with this word again, I feel that God' s word has a chance, and a fairly good one at that.

Transitions II

I'm stuck on transitions. Deep down inside I wish for things to stay the same. I have been very slowly reading the self-help classic "The Road Less Traveled" by M. Scott Peck. Besides being a work of psychological art, it also offers insight into humanity and worldview. Recently I came across a passage that detailed the relationship between change, suffering, and mental illness, for which Scott gives a very general and I find very inclusive definition. He describes the ability of emotionally and psychologically healthy people to grow out of their world view, generally through suffering and depression, into a new and more appropriate world view that enables them to interact well with their community. Those who are unable to realize this change, to go through suffering, are those who suffer, at some level, from mental illness, and will never realize their potential as emotionally and psychologically healthy people. Sometimes I hate the truth.

I find myself very bothered by this description of health, probably because it eludes me. Change comes very slowly for me. I want things to remain static. My best technique for remaining unchanged is isolation. I very easily bury myself in my studies, hide behind walls of silence, and quench signs of emotional health with my fear rejection. I find it very easy, like I am sure most people do, to remain the same. To have the same fears as I had five years ago, to think the same way as I did in college, to interact relationally as though I were still single and not a husband or a father. While it is harmful to prescribe "appropriate" behavior, there are standards which we need to meet as we walk through life if we want to be healthy. If I am to successfully be relational at my job, my church, with my wife and with my children there has to be movement into and then out of world views.

So here I am. What do I desire more: health or familiarity? Or in my case what do I fear more: being unhealthy or having to change? The thing about staying the same is that you get left behind by friends, co-workers, family, spouse and eventually children. It is as unfair to them as it is to you. Put that way I can't give myself a choice, I refuse to let my family outgrow me and leave me behind. I want to be with them more than on a merely physical plane. So, here's to change, may God grant us courage.

Cultural adaptability

I grew up with a crutch of false information. I always thought I had a disadvantage because I grew up in two cultures. It has been called TCK, MK, and a variety of other labellings. The intention of the labeling, the seminars, the books, the retreats, and the college clubs is to create a place or an environment where these "multi" cultural beings would be able to feel at home with those who were "like" them. This perception of "otherness" proved detrimental to me. Perhaps its my innate pessimism and my introvert self, but I began to believe that I didn't fit in anywhere. I thought that my experiences were so drastically different from others experience that I would in some way always be different. You can imagine what effect this plays in the psyche of one who has always been naturally socially uncomfortable.

My tendency now is to withdraw completely. To pretend like I really am different from the rest of the world, that I don't fit in and that I don't have to because I am a TCK. This is one of the biggest lies I have to which I have fallen prey. I have an innate need to belong, but have learned to isolate. It isn't that others are so different from me. With a world quickly giving way to globalization, the variety of culture in any given area is incredibly diverse, forget mentioning the different cultures caused by socioeconomic and regional geography. All of us are now in some way or another multicultural, unless you are a complete isolationist. We will all experience a variety of cultures and belong to a variety of cultures through out our lifetime. Many people have been able to find stability amidst the changing and the shifting. They expected it and dealt with it. Not me. I believed that I was different, that somehow I would always stand out because of my background. I am beginning to realize that all people are innately the same and if we can teach our children that others are more similar to them than they are different, then we will provide them with a framework of stability and self-confidence.