Something Fantastic and Trivial

Did you know, that if you took those old root ends of green onions, put them in a cup of water, they would grow again?  They do.  The tallest one has been in there about a week and a half.

Here is why I think that is amazing.

We chopped it up, used the green onion to season rice, and plopped the root ends into water.  This plant took air, sunlight, and water and has transformed those three things back into an onion!  Anyone who farms or gardens is probably rolling their eyes at this point, wondering what the big deal is.  Here's the big deal: this thing is sitting there, calmly and fantastically recreating itself.  It knows it's an onion, and it knows that given the simple conditions of water, air, and sun, it can clone itself just so your rice can be seasoned again.

This thing sits in dirt, and it has done something that I couldn't imagine doing in all of history.  Imagine amputees sticking their severed limbs in a bucket of water, sitting in the sun, calmly growing their limbs back? 

I almost think that this is a more pure form of "renewable energy" that everyone clamors about.  Maybe if we payed more attention to the renewable energy source that has been sustaining us all these years, rather than finding a renewable energy source that can sustain our rapidly growing technological obsessions, we would find what we're looking for.  

Quixotic

One of my favorite words lately is the word "Quixotic" - a word which took on it's meaning from the fictional character Don Quixote, who attacked windmills thinking them to be giants (or were they actually giants, pretending to be windmills?).  The word has come to mean overly idealistic, unrealistic, and impractical, but I love it.

Comedian George Carlin said "Scratch any cynic and you will find a disappointed idealist."  I think that we all started out as idealist in the beginning - we wanted to believe and to trust, to go on a quest for something worth fighting for.  But over time, we grew up.  We found out that there are a great number of things which are not ideal, and to be ideal is to be foolish - childish.  This may be why so many people admire an idealist, but so few people want to be one.  We are inspired by movies like Braveheart, Lord of the Rings, or 300, because characters like that firmly believe that one person can change the world.  We admire their faith, but have seen too much of the world to believe that it's possible.

Maybe growing up is bad for us.  C. S. Lewis, author and theologian, said "When I became a man I put away childish things - including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."

Don Quixote may have been insane - but I will take one ounce of that kind of insanity over all the saneness I've ever seen in this world.  Can one person change the world?  As long as your answer is "no" I guarantee you'll be right.  I challenge you to be just a bit more quixotic - have a bit more faith that your actions can have a real impact on the world around you.  Throw your hope in the face of reason and see what happens.  If you fail, you might look foolish - but if you succeed, you might change the world.  I'd take that bet.

"To dream the impossible dream.
To fight the unbeatable foe.
To bear with unbearable sorrow.
To run where the brave dare not go.
To right the unrightable wrong.
To love pure and chaste from afar.
To try when your arms are too weary.
To reach the unreachable star.

This is my quest, to follow that star.
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far. 
To fight for the right, without question or pause.
To be willing to march into Hell, for a Heavenly cause.

And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest, 
That my heart will lie will lie peaceful and calm, 
when I'm laid to my rest.
And the world will be better for this: 
That one man, scorned and covered with scars, 
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage, 
To reach the unreachable star."

"Impossible Dream" - The Man of La Mancha

Insignificant People

I realized something today - I have never, in all my time living, met an insignificant person.

I was at a gathering tonight, and my dear friend David said, in a prayer, that God saw fit to have this exact person living at this exact time in history.

Think about this for a second.  If every person living were placed in this time in history - not two hundred years in the past - not two hundred years in the future - this exact generation and this exact person, then every person you've ever met has great significance!  God "saw fit" - thought it proper - to create this person, with their particular issues and voice and height and weight, and caused the infinitely complex universe to cross your paths.  This makes the seemingly causeless universe be injected with galaxies worth of purpose and planning.

Science, I dare you to find answers to every mystery this world contains - but you will never begin to fathom the depth of purpose and intentionality that any given person contains within their lives.  God saw fit to make it so - therefore no one is purposeless, and no one is insignificant.

The Problem with Job Hunting

It's not that there aren't jobs.  It's just that there are so many jobs for people with far different skills than you have who have been practicing those skills for far longer.

As I look over sites like Monster and Indeed, I see postings for people with no skills, and postings for people with a great deal of skills - but very few for people with the ability to acquire skills.  Perhaps this quality - and I call it a quality because I find that second only to "curiosity," it is an essential part of a great person - is difficult to prove.  One's aptitude to figure out new things quickly and to rise to the challenges of any job is not a quantitative skill, and so, on paper, it appears that your only worth lies in the skills you have already acquired.

What jobs did you work in college?  If you worked at all, you probably did not work in a field you want to see yourself in ten years down the road.  Personally, I made it through college by waiting tables at Olive Garden.  This is because, when I started college, I was not qualified to be a full-time writer, editor, teacher, or professional of any kind.  But now that I've finished school, it seems potential employers only care about the work I have already done - not the work I am now capable of doing.

But it seems that by working for car dealerships at just above minimum wage and waiting tables to pay for school has only qualified me to continue doing what I did to get qualified to do something else.

But I will keep hunting - and hunting is the right word, because the animal known as "dream job" is an elusive and shy creature.  

Relational Equity

To all of my readers (I think we're up to four now, if you count my parents) who noticed that I haven't been writing on this blog in about two months, rest assured, I am still here.  It hasn't exactly been a hiatus though - between preparing for and actually going to Indonesia this summer, the only thing I've had time to write is job applications.  Though if you are interested in our international travel, feel free to browse the blog I maintained while overseas.  

There is an idea that I've heard a few different ways that I'd like to write about today.  I think it originated from Stephen Covey's book Seven Habits for Highly Effective People.  It's the concept of relational equity, or the emotional bank account.  It goes something like this: every relationship you have is kind of like a bank account - sometimes you put things that give it a positive balance and build a strong account, sometimes you make withdrawals, which can leave it with a negative balance.  Understanding the relationships you are in, and how your "account" is with that person, is highly important - especially in a work environment or in any kind of counseling.  

The account, though, is meant to be used for something good - right?  Money does not exist simply to have it - we are meant to use money in a responsible way.  I've had a couple friendships at work that seemed like the account kept building and building, but I never "cashed in" on that balance or made a withdrawal.  

In Matthew 25, an example is given of business owner who goes away on a long trip.  "Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them.  To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey."  In the end, the man who was given five bags invested it and got more, and the man who was given two bags did the same.  But the man who was given one bag buried it in the ground and gave back the same amount when his boss returned.

We have things, even if those things are the invisible influence or relational equity with other people, for a reason: to invest it well.  If someone looks up to me, I have a responsibility to that person to leverage the relationship for some kind of good.

Look around you at who you have influence over.  What if you were given that influence so that you can speak truth into their lives that they wouldn't hear from anyone else?  Look around you at who you have a negative balance with - what can you do to build that account balance?

Mix. Don't Match.

You know what has always seemed like a funny idea to me?  That people are thought to thrive best when they are surrounded by their peers. 

Isn't this the idea behind grades in school and why youthgroups exist in churches and why we are encouraged to spend time with people our own age?  But the problem is really simple.  How can anybody learn anything of value from people who are in the same stage of life as they are?  What could a twelve-year-old possibly have of value to teach another twelve-year-old?  I certainly cannot imagine what that would be.

This seems obvious when it’s down on paper, but the acceptance of this notion is far-reaching and its consequences are not menial.  Entire generations are being emotionally stunted because they are looking around at the people next to them and the people next to them are doing the same.  This breeds “trend-setters” who are hailed for greatness because of their confidence rather than for their competence.  It is the appealing, not the good, that sets the bar for young people in this system.  This is dangerous for the simple reason that “the appealing” for a twelve-year-old is almost never good for them.  They’re twelve. 

Mix.  Don’t match.

The “one room schoolhouse” model of teaching might have more merit to it than we might have thought.  Kids who are put in a position where they are helping younger kids with the things they used to struggle with teaches responsibility, caring, patience, and a non-self-centered worldview.  In churches, kids should be learning from people who are older and more mature, not pandered to by a childish adult who is trying to relate to them.

Here is my personal view of how someone should learn to be an adult: find someone you want to be like and spend time figuring out how to do that.  Also, keep an eye for younger people you can teach a thing or two to.  Usually this will happen by you seeing someone else fail at the same thing you used to fail at.  Step up and share what you learned from your failure so they will spend less time than you did figuring out what’s wrong.

 

Understanding Rest

Thought on the Sabbath

On the drive back from Gainesville to Jacksonville, my wife and I started talking about Sundays.  It is fairly common knowledge that for Judaism and Christianity, there is one day out of the week that is set aside for worship and/or rest.  For Judaism this day is Saturday, since it is the last day of the week and during the creation of the world, God rested on the 7^th day.  For Christians, it used to be Saturday (since Christianity grew as an offshoot of Judaism) but it was changed to Sunday by Constantine in 321 AD.  There is a little bit of debate as to why he did this, but the common consensus is that he already worshiped his pagan gods on Sunday, and it was convenient to make those days the same.

So, knowing that, my wife and I were talking about if it would be somehow better for Christians to change their day of worship back to Saturday, since that is where we came from.

I tend to think that for every one philosophical question there is, there are at least three vital presuppositions that the question-asker is assuming that have already been answered.  Here’s what I mean.  Let’s say that you have the question “what is Truth?”  To ask that question, you are already assuming that Truth is something that CAN be found (that’s 1), you are assuming that Truth is something which OUGHT to be found (that’s 2), and you are assuming that once this Truth is found, it will be an important discovery (that’s 3).  Questions are always based off other questions. 

So what are the questions behind this question about Sunday? 

First, this question assumes that the world we live in, and the world God works in, is a 7 day week.  Bible believing Christians should think about Abraham – did he work by a 7 day week?  He would have no reason to, since nothing in nature works by 7 days.  It would be a 1/7 chance that this day we call the Sabbath is the same day that God rested on.  To change our day of worship by one day could have no mathematical rationale – it would be entirely cultural, since the Gregorian calendar (the one we use right now) was created in 1582 AD.

Second, this question assumes that the “last day of the week” is, in fact, a Saturday or Sunday.  Why?  Our work week is typically Monday-Friday, but many people do not use that same work week.  Many companies have different work weeks, which means that the “last day of the week” could mean different things for many different people. 

Third, since this question is entirely faith-based, it assumes that God cares about the days of the week and wants all to be on the same page.  If the main goal of the Sabbath is rest, why is it important for everyone to rest at the same time?  Is it fair to say that since rest is an individual activity, it isn't the main thing that everyone rests on the same day?

My personal view is based off of a small observation about the creation story.  God created the heavens and the earth, and on the sixth day, He created Man.  On the 7^th day He rested.  This means that after God did all the work, He rested.  This also means that the very first thing Man ever did was recognize that God did all the work, and rested in that completed work.  To me, this means that in my salvation, I must recognize that I did no work to gain what I have received.  I need to begin everything from the knowledge that God has first done all the work necessary, and I must begin from a place of rest.  All work I ever do must begin from a place of rest in what God has already completed.  So whether it’s on Sunday, or Saturday, or Wednesday morning, I should not strive to complete anything until I first rest in the knowledge that God has already done all the work. 

Worship and rest in that knowledge.