As many of you know, yesterday was Thanksgiving, a holiday we celebrate only in the USA, unless of course there are expats who celebrate in other countries, which I assure you there are because I've talked to some of them. When I looked at plane tickets, I found some cheap ones but didn't buy them. The next day when I looked again to buy them they had already jacked up the price so I chose not to purchase them at that time. Instead, I went to my pastor's house for a great Thanksgiving meal that was enjoyed by many. Many of my friends from church were there, and we all had a great time. Plus my parents are coming down here next weekend anyhow, so I didn't really miss much by not going home, except the extended family which I plan on seeing at Christmastime.
If you ask me, gratefulness is one of the most attractive traits that a person can have. To be clear, I'm not talking about romantic attraction but rather just attractive traits that others possess. Similarly, ungratefulness is one of the least attractive traits a person can have. Recently, I read that one of the key steps to happiness is to be grateful. Lately, I have not been very grateful. Seems like I've been in a bit of a rut here lately with my spiritual life. Haven't been reading the Bible or praying that much. Of course, those are not the only parts of a person's spiritual life but they do help put the rest of one's life in proper perspective. Here's a list of things that I'm grateful for and need to remember more often when I get down in the dumps.
Family
Friends
Car
Passport
Opportunities to travel
A good job that I enjoy
My kindergarteners
My church
Opportunities for mission trips
Freedom
Democracy
Parents that brought me up in the faith as well as taught me how to handle money wisely
Being debt-free
The ability to live on much less than I make
Get-togethers with friends
My friends' kids
Freedom to worship freely
Friends who challenge me intellectually and spiritually
Good health
Stability, mental and with physical necessities
Jesus' sacrifice
God's love
There's some I'm sure I'm missing, but I think I got the majority of it. I went to the fair trade store today to buy my parents some presents for Christmas so I look forward to being able to give them those presents when they're here next weekend. Also, I picked up a cookbook for me, now if I could just have the discipline to actually use it. In my defense and as many of you know I'm sure, cooking for one person is really tough, unless you like a lot of leftovers for days on end. First world problem, as people have been saying on twitter and facebook lately. I don't have a twitter account but people have told me it's more popular on there than on facebook.
Well, I need to go write some thank-you notes to my supporters who allow me to work for the church and make an income by doing so. May you be grateful not just on Thanksgiving but also on every day of the year.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Thursday, November 24, 2011
missions and local economies of scale
Well, lately it has been rather interesting/discouraging. I can't get enough people interested in the Mexico trip, I've got about 5 on the fence and 3 or 4 who are in but haven't paid the first $100 deposit. Plus I just read that there's a travel warning to Mexico. So at this point that trip looks like it's just not going to happen and I have to go back to the drawing board with getting our people involved in serving somehow. For some reason, I'm met with a lot of apathy when it comes to serving in our church. The last time we helped out Habitat for Humanity, there were 11 of us, and 8 of those have now left the church. Awesome. Part of it is the make-up of our church; we have a ton of young families with little ones whose weekends are pretty much full already. And as far as the mission trip idea goes, a lot of people simply have jobs and don't want to use 1 week of their 2 weeks of vacation to serve somebody. They'd rather take it for, ya know, vacation. It has struck me yet again how weird I must seem to people around me. I love going overseas and serving, but that seems to be the exception to the norm I'm finding. I think I read somewhere that only 20% of Americans even have a passport. Meanwhile, that is by far my most cherished possession.
Today, I spent some time reading the book 'Deep Economy' by Bill McKibben. He has some interesting thoughts about the need to go more local in everything, from energy distribution to food to transportation and just about everything in between. He makes some good arguments and provides plenty of examples of places that are already doing some of the things he advocates for in the book, I just don't think his ideas will catch on. The reason is that he basically suggests a new economic model that's based on locality rather than endless growth, which is what our current system operates on. Of course, he may be right in that we may need to go more towards a localized model as we start to exhaust our planet's resources. He really likes the idea of farmers' markets and how they've grown exponentially over the past few years. He does admit though, that going local will initially cost more. That is why I don't think his ideas will catch on. In our society and economy, whoever can get to the lowest cost possible wins. That's why Wal-Mart is so successful. At the same time, Wal-Mart drives a lot of small businesses out of business when they come into a town. You would think people would be more concerned about helping their fellow man put food on the table but unfortunately they're more concerned with the bottom line. We live in a world where we're very disconnected from one another. We don't realize that big box stores usually do more damage than the benefit that they provide. I am part of the problem, I usually eat out at chains rather than local places, and so I need to change my eating habits. Just this week I signed up to pick up a bag of veggies and fruit once a month that is organically grown and local. I decided to start with once a month because I just want to try it out and it's a little bit expensive. We Americans like our food fast and cheap, and I'm just as guilty as the next guy.
As we sit around various dinner tables today, since it's Thanksgiving, maybe we'll realize that all this fast and cheap food has really served to take away from more community building relationships. Of course, you can eat out with friends and most people do, but who are you aiding with your food dollars? Some corporate office halfway across the country or someone in your community who will then use those dollars to buy from another local business?
Personally, for Thanksgiving, I'm going to my pastor's house so I'm looking forward to that immensely. I was going to go home for the holiday break but they jacked up the plane prices when I looked at them again. But really, what are friends but the family you choose for yourself? With that, I am thankful for a break from work and some time to just spend with others in community.
Today, I spent some time reading the book 'Deep Economy' by Bill McKibben. He has some interesting thoughts about the need to go more local in everything, from energy distribution to food to transportation and just about everything in between. He makes some good arguments and provides plenty of examples of places that are already doing some of the things he advocates for in the book, I just don't think his ideas will catch on. The reason is that he basically suggests a new economic model that's based on locality rather than endless growth, which is what our current system operates on. Of course, he may be right in that we may need to go more towards a localized model as we start to exhaust our planet's resources. He really likes the idea of farmers' markets and how they've grown exponentially over the past few years. He does admit though, that going local will initially cost more. That is why I don't think his ideas will catch on. In our society and economy, whoever can get to the lowest cost possible wins. That's why Wal-Mart is so successful. At the same time, Wal-Mart drives a lot of small businesses out of business when they come into a town. You would think people would be more concerned about helping their fellow man put food on the table but unfortunately they're more concerned with the bottom line. We live in a world where we're very disconnected from one another. We don't realize that big box stores usually do more damage than the benefit that they provide. I am part of the problem, I usually eat out at chains rather than local places, and so I need to change my eating habits. Just this week I signed up to pick up a bag of veggies and fruit once a month that is organically grown and local. I decided to start with once a month because I just want to try it out and it's a little bit expensive. We Americans like our food fast and cheap, and I'm just as guilty as the next guy.
As we sit around various dinner tables today, since it's Thanksgiving, maybe we'll realize that all this fast and cheap food has really served to take away from more community building relationships. Of course, you can eat out with friends and most people do, but who are you aiding with your food dollars? Some corporate office halfway across the country or someone in your community who will then use those dollars to buy from another local business?
Personally, for Thanksgiving, I'm going to my pastor's house so I'm looking forward to that immensely. I was going to go home for the holiday break but they jacked up the plane prices when I looked at them again. But really, what are friends but the family you choose for yourself? With that, I am thankful for a break from work and some time to just spend with others in community.
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