rights and responsibilities

reading "The Last Lecture," and just about done...

so many good chapters on a variety of topics. one of the shorter and very poignant chapters is called, "Be a Commutitarian." it's the idea of rights vs. responsibilities. we have great rights in this county, and we spend plenty of time touting our 'rights.' but we forget that every right is accompanied by a responsibility (at least one). to young people, this is literally a foreign concept... all they know is that they have all these 'rights,' but don't understand that if they don't take on the responsibilities that accompany them, these rights might not last forever (myself included)... they have to be maintained.

a couple good snippets:

"We all believe we have the right to a jury trial. And yet many people go to great lengths to get out of jury duty."

"Everyone has to contribute to the common good. To not do so can be described in one word: selfish."

'tis the season

to be blogging... terrible.

december was a busy one:

lyndsey had a neck problem that put her through a couple of rough weeks, and took us to a couple of doctors. it seems to be getting better, though...

i finally began the next step in my educational career and signed up for grad school. starting this spring, i'll be working towards a masters in CMIS (Computer Management Information Systems) at SIUE. i hope to sort of specialize in software/application development, but we'll see...

we went to borders last night, and i read 57 pages in one sitting of Randy Pausch's, "The Last Lecture." I enjoyed it so much that I asked for it for Christmas... it's the type of book that needs to be re-read once in a while to put things back in perspective...

we are looking forward to getting home and seeing the family(s)! to anyone reading this, have a safe, relaxing, giving, memory-filled christmas!

unChristian excerpt

i'm finally taking up reading again... thus continuing where i left off in unChristian. this is a research project trying to get to the root of the negative perceptions of the Christian faith. they interviewed and gathered data from thousands of people.

here's an interesting excerpt about the young people of today:

"Young adults enjoy challenging the rules. They are extremely - you might say innately - skeptical. Today's young people are the target of more advertising, media, and marketing than any generation before. And their mindset is both incredibly savvy and unusually jaded.
...Yet I would caution you not to underestimate the widening gap between young people and their predecessors. Those who think that in due time Mosaics and Busters [terms used to describe the younger generations, much like 'baby boomers'.] will "grow up" and look like everyone else should prepare to have unfulfilled expectations.
...Rather than looking for an end to the generation gap, it is important to recognize its existence."

as a teacher, i can totally see this... these kids want answers. they have a feeling of entitlement, because the world revolves around them right now... like the author says, pop culture/advertising/etc. targets them in everything they do, because they are probably the most influential group of people there is when it comes to setting trends and norms.

something to consider for those of us working with these young people, no matter the context.

done

finally done with "Everything Must Change." maybe i'll post some more on it when i finish digesting it (a daunting task)... a must-read. next, i'm moving on to "unChristian," by Gabe Lyons & David Kinnaman. it's a book of extensive research on why so many people have negative perceptions of the Christian faith... and therefore refuse to consider the way of Jesus.

reading: Everything Must Change

I'm still reading "Everything Must Change," by Brian McLaren. I just got through a great chapter, though. The book touches on the global crises in the world today, and how we as a human race (Christians needing to be the catalysts) should respond. To understand that, he goes back and examines the crises back in the time of Jesus, and how Jesus reacted to them and ultimately changed humanity.

In this particular chapter, he describes the Roman Empire of the day, and how it was supposed to provide this "prosperous life" for everyone, but in fact only provided that for an elite few... and how everyone had "freedom of speech, religion, and thought" - as long as your speech, religion and thought agreed with the imperial policy. The chapter ends with:

"...if their religion came into conflict with the patriotic ethos of the empire - perhaps by doubting the supreme, divine authority given to the emperor - they'd better keep quiet about it, or they may experience the dark side of the empire: the cross." (read: crucifiction) "How ironic that the cross - the icon of the dominating Roman framing story - became the icon for the liberating framing story of Jesus..."

Another part of the chapter that stood out to me was how women were treated in the empire. "A woman's primary job was to bear as many sons as possible to be soldiers to protect the empire." There were high death rates in childbirth, as well. "The average girl in the Roman Empire had to marry by the age of fourteen and begin bearing children immediately. Simply to maintain the population, the empire depended on her to raise five children to adulthood, on average."

In the footnotes, he adds to the discussion. "This reproductive pressure helps explain the great appeal of celibacy in the early Christian movement. Celibacy wasn't simply a privation; instead, it represented liberation from an oppressive Roman system that valued a woman for her ovaries and little more. In contrast, a celibate woman in the Christian community was valued for her virtue, her piety, even her mind and work."

This reminds me: I used to think of the Old Testament laws as sort of an 'instruction manual'; that they were written in the beginning, like guidelines made for humans before they even existed.

But over time I have seen that this isn't correct; that these laws were written by people, and were borne out of the time and culture that these people lived in; they were responses and reactions to policies/lifestyles/philosophies/etc. that they knew weren't consistent with God's idea of life. With guidance from their creator, they formed these laws in order to try and become a people living the life God created them to live... not to oppress themselves, but to liberate themselves.

Naked Economics by Charles Wheelan

I recently finished "Naked Economics," by Charles Wheelan, and I dug it. Economics and its theories don't usually bring to mind words like "excitement" or "fun", so this guy tries to explain some of its theories through events in human history. Very interesting... For example, he would start out by describing a time or people in history and something interesting that happened over time; then would explain exactly what happened from the point of view of the economist...

Economics are at the heart and soul of human existence. As societies develop and evolve, there is a science that dictates how fast they can grow/develop in a healthy and non-destructive way (i.e. market regulations, etc.). I will definitely follow this one up with "Freakonomics" and "Undercover Economist."

Books

I had lofty ambitions for my book-reading this year... I had two books done when January ended and things were looking up and up. But I just finished my third..... "Naked Economics," by Charles Wheelan. Good book! I'll post something on it shortly...

Meanwhile I'm starting my next, "Everything Must Change," by Brian McLaren. Time to buckle up and get challenged...

Shane Claiborne

I am 80% of the way through Shane Claiborne's, "The Irresistible Revolution." It's rocking my world. When I finish it, I'll post a summary and what stuck out to me... for now I'll just say that this guy worked with Mother Teresa in Calcutta, spent much time in Iraq while it was under complete attack (just being with innocent people who were being bombed), and now lives in a community he helped found called "The Simple Way," in an area that is known as the slums of Philly.

He has been arrested numerous times for standing up against unjust laws that oppress people, and there is a file on him at Homeland Security (they think he's a terrorist, because he travels so much and his reason of 'loving and helping the world' is just too radical for them). All in all, he's just trying to live a life that would look like Jesus in this day and age... it's very interesting.

be the pack leader!

I'm a big fan of The Dog Whisperer... Cesar does a great job of showing humans that once they start being balanced, their dogs will start being balanced... that our dogs are just mirrors of ourselves. His therapy is usually geared more towards the dog's owners than the dog itself.

I just finished his book, "Be the Pack Leader"... it sounds like a cliche motivational book, but it is full of profound, simple statements and strategies for not only taking control of your dog, but your life (let's all sing around the fire now... haha).

His philosophies about life in general intrigue me. He is all about combining research with our own observations. In the animal kingdom, everything is communicated non-verbally; body language, etc. It is just the same for us humans. The energy that we project speaks volumes more than the words we are speaking (this goes beyond the standard '90% of communication is non-verbal' statement... it is about an overall state of mind and self perspective). He really just wants us all to have fulfilling, balanced lives. Hmmm...sounds familiar...

Cesar Millan is doing what we are all created to do, in my opinion: rehabilitating, restoring, and rejuvenating people; putting pieces back together and creating beauty from what is often a terrible situation. He simply does it in his own unique, gifted way: by rehabilitating dogs and helping people realize that they have value on this earth.

We all play a part in this bigger story. We all have gifts, abilities, experiences and resources that give us a specific role. He is doing his part... are you and I doing ours?