What I learned on my summer vacation (halfway edition)

I'm at about the halfway point for my internship experience (OK, so a little past, but I uh, might have been at the beach when the halfway point hit...yeah), so I figured it was time for some reflections. I can't really say that I had any expectations coming in, so it's tough to find a standard for comparison. As such, I think I'll talk more about lessons I've learned than about things I've done. The most striking experience I've had was a Bible study I lead last week. The text I used was the passage from Mark about Jesus and the rich young man, and I knew going in it'd be a challenging text for me. I wasn't prepared, however, for how radically I thought about it. For quite awhile now (I suppose partially because of the whole econ major thing), I've thought about how absolutely twisted our idea of necessity is in the US. We "need" a new iPhone or 3-D TV or Macbook. Technology is a status symbol in our society, as it has been in so many before ours. We are not unique in this capacity, but we are obsessed and we have so much more with which to be obsessed. I really, honestly believe that this attitude runs counter to an actually Christian life, but any of us would be hard-pressed to break it. We're so heavily socialized into being "plugged into" our culture, not realizing the cost of doing so. We're numbed from that which is important by the sheer omniscience of what is not. This is certainly not a new thought; it's been around for generations, but not much has changed, in that regard. I've felt it more distinctly recently, though, and I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't do something about it, in my own life if nothing else, but I'm not sure how to cope living outside of this culture. What else is there to do? What does life consist of when the basic necessities come to so many of us so easily? I think that's the issue we've run into with our society, that we've got what we need and are having trouble figuring out what else to do with ourselves. Until the past century, or probably even more recently, existence was a struggle for the majority. I recognize that for many, it still is, and until the attitudes of those for whom it is not undergo a drastic change, that fact will remain.

In the "musings about the future" category...

What do I want? What does God want for me? What does God want? These are the questions, in ascending order of importance. I'm thinking it's best, now, to start working backwards from the order in which I've written them. What does God want? Well, as succinctly as possible, and in what is possibly a massive generalization, to be revealed in truth to creation and to seek relationship and be sought. It would follow, then, that God wants me to seek God out; to study, to learn, to pray, and primarily, to do. It is in action that we incite others to do the same. What good is belief if it is not transformative? What good is orthodoxy--or, to avoid the connotations, right-thinking--if it does not lead to right action? Of course, what good is right action if it is not built on a foundation of right thinking? The former is easier to answer then the latter.

The question, then, is: what is right action for me? My gifts, my blessings, and my journey mean that what is right action for me is not necessarily the same for someone else and vice versa. What we do have before us, though, is the example of Jesus' life--he was counter-cultural, but he was counter-cultural for a reason, and that reason is the love of God and the love of God's creation.

We are called by the love of God to a love of God's creation. Random acts of kindness are great; purposeful acts of kindness are better.

But what is better--to change one person, one heart, one mind, or to change the system that inevitably produces the hearts, minds, and character most prevalent in society today? Is there a better system? Can we really lift people to the station that human dignity demands simply by changing the system? I am of the belief that there is a better way, but I also think changing minds first requires changing hearts and changing perspectives. How do we go about such a grand mission?

How can we change a culture that pervades our entire lives, that claims the entirety of our reality and our consciousness? How can we convince people that we are, all of us, subject and not object? That the things we take as our objectives are simply object, to be used, enjoyed even, but not idolized? How do we convince people that these things are not a necessary part of the abundant life, and indeed can even detract from that life? It's said so often it's cliche, but yet it is still true and is still not followed. It's believed, even, but few truly adhere to it. We're just as capable of double-think as Orwell prophesied. How do we counteract that--how do I counteract that in myself? Here, I think, right-thinking comes back into play--praying, studying, reading, thinking, experiencing, reflecting--all done intentionally, with purpose. So with that in mind, what does it look like to live a Christian life today? How do we start--well, no, how do we re-start a revolution...?

And a second

One from this week. I've been on a Job kick lately (mainly because that's just where I'm at in my reading at the moment). It's so wonderfully written, it's a shame that gets overlooked sometimes:

Job 7:17-18—What are human beings, that you make so much of them, that you set your mind on them, visit them every morning, test them every moment?

The book of Job is one of my favorite books of the Bible. It is truly representative of a “thin place”—a place where the divide between human and divine seems not so large. In his despair, Job unwittingly finds God nearer than ever, available for conversation, even, though it is probably not the conversation Job would most want to have. Here, Job asks the question many of us find ourselves pondering, in both good times and bad—who are we to be children of God? What is so special about our species that we find it possible to commune with the Almighty? The question in answer to our question, though, is who is God, that God should deign to seek relationship with us? The answer to that, of course, is greater than we can ever know. God is love, and God is loving. God is patient, God is compassionate, and God is faithful. In Jesus, God is revealed, also, to be a God of suffering love. God is not abstract, not content to sit far-removed and watch creation play itself out. No, God suffers with us. Our suffering is God’s suffering, because God has created us and called us good. We are called to find joy in our suffering not because we are to be masochistic or just because our trials make us stronger, but because we have a faithful companion in our suffering, an empathetic God. Remember that, in your times of trial and tribulation—God is with us, has been with us for all time, and will be with us until the end of time and beyond. Recognize in suffering the opportunity to find those thin places, and cling to God ever more strongly as God carries you through to the other side. This is the source of our greatest blessing, and with it we should rejoice at all times!