Don't Be a Tourist

After doing a little bit of world traveling, I've started to wonder how someone can actually experience a city, town, or country.  If I went to a province in China, and I only stay in one part, how can I have really known the heart of China?

As I'm writing this, I am in Bogota, Colombia, and we have just returned from a flea market.  As we sat on the curb of the street, we talked about what it means to experience a city. Thanks to Camilia, Marcela, Caroline, Jay, and Liliana for helping me make this list.  Here are some of the things we talked about to really experience a city.

- Eat in Hole-in-the-Wall Places.  Whether these are street vendors or small cafes, eat the local food as much as possible.  It might give you heart burn sometimes, but you are already across the world, live adventurously.

- Find the Local Music, and dance your heart out.  Music reflects the heart of the city, so find what locals listen to, and join in the dancing.  You are already going to stand out in most of the world, so just go ahead and commit.

- Walk Alone.  Always having a translator or guide will dampen your ability to actually look at where you are.  Wander around a market and try out those four words you know.  The worst that can happen is that you will be robbed and murdered in broad daylight...but hasn't that always been the worst that could happen?  Stop thinking about the worst thing that can happen...it'll make you a crazy person who has no fun.

- Learn the Language.  Culture and language are inseparable.  Learn as much of the local language as you can before arriving, and then spend the entire trip absorbing as much as you can.  Insisting that other people learn your language and then making no effort to learn theirs is not an option. If you don't care about other people's languages, you probably don't care very much about other people - and I've found that life is much better when you care about other people.

- Avoid the Tourist Traps.  Sometimes you rely should go to them anyway, but remember that it is not really seeing the heart of the city.  You are seeing what everybody sees, not what the locals see.

- Travel the City/Country.  Broaden your view of  the City or Country by traveling the highlands, swamplands, coastlines, and skylines.

- Learn the Geography.  It helps your understanding of a city to know where you are and the different parts of the city.

- Go to a Market.  Wander and browse the places where the locals shop.  Avoid the malls and chain restaurants.

- Don't Only Stay in the Rich Part of Town.  A lot of people are poor or middle class.  If you stay where the money is, you will experience money culture, not local culture.  Money culture is the same world round.

- Learn the Local Politics.  You don't have to start rioting in the streets with locals over fair trade, but you should learn about what makes the government tick.

- Finally, travel with an open mind and go to learn and experience, not just to take pictures.  Pictures can often take the place of experiences and give the illusion of having had an experience.  Try not taking a picture, but instead, spend five minutes absorbing the image, rather than snapping a picture and moving on without being moved at all.

Discipleship is Gardening

Jesus said that Christians are supposed to "make disciples of all nations."  I've thought a lot about what this means, to make disciples, and I think it goes far beyond just sharing the gospel or sharing our testimony.

In Mathew 13 Jesus told a parable of someone throwing seeds around on the ground.  He said that some fell on a sidewalk and the birds pecked up the seeds.  He said some seeds fell on some rocks where some dirt had gathered, and the seeds took root right away, but because there was no real soil and the plants died as soon as the hot sun hit them.  He said some fell in side a patch of thorns and as soon as the plants grew, the thorns crowded around and choked them to death.  Finally, he said that some fell on good ground and that seed made a crop that gave back a massive amount of food.

The disciples, Jesus' disciples, didn't understand what he was talking about.  To be honest, even after hearing Jesus' explanation, I didn't understand what he was talking about.

He went on to explain it by saying that the person who hears the gospel and doesn't understand it is like the seed that fell on the sidewalk - Satan comes along and snatches it away before anything can really happen.  The seed that falls on the shallow soil on the rock is like the person who gets excited and all fired up when they hear the gospel, but because they have no depth to their understanding, fall away as soon as it gets hot out.  The seed that falls in the thorn patch is someone who hears the gospel and tries to grow, but because of the cares of the world and worries that they have, let the Truth be choked out.  Finally, the seed that has depth and good soil and no weeds or rocks are like someone who receives the gospel and produces fruit because of it.

For the longest time, I thought this meant "well, you win some and you lose some, but share the gospel with everyone.  It might not stick to everyone, but that's the way the seeds fall."  To some extent this might be true, but I think it was overemphasized with me because of my history in street evangelism and open air preaching.

Sharing the gospel is throwing the seed, but discipleship is gardening.  Gardening starts long before the seeds are planted.  Gardening loosens up the soil and gets those rocks out.  Gardening is guarding against birds that snatch seeds.  Gardening is pulling those thorns out.  All of this is so that when that seed is planted it lands in good soil.

Discipleship begins long before the seed of the gospel takes root, because discipleship is preparing the ground.  Don't ignore the important and messy part of the gospel that prepares people's hearts.

Guest Post - Jordan Powell

Do What You Want to Be

My mom saw the picture of Emma Stone on my computer background. “Who is it?” she asked.

            “Emma Stone,” I said.

            “That's just a name, but who is it?”

            “An actress.” I replied.  Satisfied with this answer, my mom went back to what she was doing.

            Have you ever wondered why literally everyone resorts to the question, “What do you do?” It is the most universal small talk question there is (right next to, “Are you a student?” But that really only goes for people of a certain age). It doesn't matter if it is a social gathering or a business networking event, everybody has asked someone what he or she does.

            There is a reason people resort to this question. You might think they do it because it is easy and they can't think of anything else to say. Well, they probably do, but I think there is another reason.

            Will Durant, in summarizing words from Aristotle, said, “We are what we repeatedly do.” If you consistently program web applications, day in and day out, then you are a programmer. Thus, when people ask you what you do, they aren't just being trite. They're trying to figure out who you are.

            You do exist apart from your actions, don't get me wrong. Each person has an inner life, a soul, thoughts and dreams and character that is so much more than merely an inner concomitant of exterior activity. What you do is not the final word on who you are ontologically.

            But your actions can and do sculpt your inner character. In many of today's modern church services, anything smacking of ritual is downplayed or tossed aside; but maybe there is something to rituals. Perhaps posture in worship affects the attitude more than we know. Perhaps kneeling during prayer can help to mold an inner reality. I like to think of everything God has given us as tools that can be used for good or ill. Ritual is a tool that may certainly be abused, but I'm not sure I'm ready to remove it from my toolbox just yet.

            Here is another way externals can be internalized: “Bad company corrupts good morals.” (1 Cor. 15:33)

            The people you surround yourself with influence the actions you take on a regular basis, and you are what you consistently do. You may have great character at first, but as friends and acquaintances exert peer pressure on you, external actions – whether actually yours or yours by proxy – bleed into your internal life.

            This is why the old strategy of “fake it until you make it” works. The inner life rises to the challenge spelled out by your actions, however empty those actions may feel at first.

            If you act like a writer, eventually you will think like a writer. The daily discipline of putting words on paper will begin to erode away your lack of confidence. The mental routine of wracking your brain for the best way to say what you want to say will begin to organize your mind around potential stories, blog posts, or scripts as you encounter life.

            Every now and then I play back a certain kind of situation in my mind like a movie, just to keep myself scared. Not really scared, just ready – ready for the day some hotshot bigwig says to me, “So, you're a writer.” Actually, the scenario is mostly just that: a hotshot bigwig being interested in my writing, in my computer programming, or whatever I happen to be concerned about at the moment. The hotshot bigwig asks me: “What have you written?” I feel like I should have a prepared response or some backlog of stupendous work to whip out proudly and show him – this is my mental movie and I make the calls, so I really should be able to pull out a showstopper – but that's not how the movie plays out. Instead of wowing the guy, I choke. I realize with a sudden panic that, despite billing myself as a writer, I don't have much to show someone who asks.

            That usually scares me enough to do a little writing.

            Who do you want to be? Are you taking the steps to become that person? If you walk the walk, the talk will take care of itself later. Keep a careful eye on the situations you put yourself into and the company you keep.

            You may need more education or specialized training to fully take on the mantle of who you want to be, but if I had to guess, I would say you probably have enough information to take the next step. You problem isn't lack of information. It's lack of consistent action.

            Go ahead and do what you want to be.

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Jordan Powell is not just found as a guest blogger here - you can access and enjoy his personal blog here.  His blend of casual an philosophical will make you think about the things you often do, but never question.  

Government

These are stand-alone ideas about government and society.  These may not be popular or even accurate.  If I am wrong, show me how.   

Capitalism can only be effective when there is adequate education in society – a well-informed public.  The model of capitalism is to arrange itself around whatever the people want through how the money is spent.  If people want cheaper things, then the model of how that society will be geared towards providing what the people want.  But if that cheapness compromises human rights – for example, in a sweat shop in China – then morally, the value should move from “cheapest” to “cheapest, without compromising human rights.”  The reason human rights are compromised is because people are either ignorant of the true cost of their cheap products, or they value their convenience over someone else’s life.  Ignorance is curable.  So is evil, but it’s a harder battle.

If the people want self-destructive things then capitalism must necessarily provide it.  But a society which values freedom – even when that freedom is poorly executed – will stand a better chance of survival than a society which values well-intentioned control.  When one person’s freedom to make poor decisions affects another person’s freedom to make good decisions, then control must be exercised by the government.

No government should engage in a practice that is unsustainable to the environment.  This is not sentiment or morality speaking – it is simple economics.  You take care of the cow that you get milk from. 

No government should mistreat their poor.  The French Revolution should teach us this.  Even the French found reason to riot in the streets.  Do not underestimate the power of the people – even, and especially when, those people are poor, uneducated, and have nothing to lose. 

Even though our country was founded on a principal of separation of church and state, it seems that at some point, there will be a value system which will pervade the government.  This value system might intersect with a religion or faith.  The point is to not restrict people from the freedom to practice the faith they choose, and to not force people to practice a faith they would not have otherwise chosen. 

For a government to thrive, power must not grow to be too central or controlled by too few – even if those few are elected by the people.  Those few will naturally, due to human nature, create an environment that protects their own interests.  If few must lead, let it be for a limited duration for limited times.  Career politicians will destroy us.  The people must be in power, but no one for too long.  The common person is not jaded and has the passion to evoke real change.  Some will say that common people are too inexperienced to affect change in our complex system of government – to this, I say, make your government simple enough for the common man to rule, or you have already signed your own government’s death sentence.

Those in power must be constantly filtered to avoid the stagnant, putrid portion of our society to become corrupt by the intoxicating taste of power.  These position must be seen as duty – not a career.  This will destroy the separation between “the people” and “the people who rule the people.” 

We have become everything we once rebelled against.  Our country is fat and slow – quick to anger and provocation – proud without cause.  

Poetry and Fiction Blogs

I've created separate blogs for my poetry and fiction, with links in the navigation bar above.  I felt that this main blog was a bit fractured in style, with too much spread.

I've uploaded 11 poems to start out, and I'll gauge the traffic to see if it should stay up.  The fiction is currently empty, but the link still works to the site.

Thanks to all my readers (both of you)!  This is an enjoyable past-time for me, but it means a lot when I hear how a particular piece helped to change the way you thought about something or how you're going to act.  At work today, a coworker came up to me and said that she read every single post on here, all the way back to 2007 or so - and really loved it all.  That made my day!

If there are questions you have that you'd like to see me write about, you are more than welcome to shoot me an email at sfreeman90@gmail.com.

KBO

Playing Well With Others

      Regardless of any job you find yourself in, or any means of unemployment for that matter, you will most likely find that you need to work with other people.  If you are one of those individuals who hates working with incompetent people and actually dies a little bit every time you are forced to cooperate with people who you think are morons, congratulations, you are just like everyone else in the entire world.  Thinking that you are the victim is the most defining thread between everyone in the American workforce.  Like it or not, it is very advantageous for you to play well with your coworkers, so I, as a kindness to you, have created this cheatsheet for everything you need to know for making money while cooperating with morons.  By the way, believing that everyone else is a moron makes you just like everyone else.  A moron.

Number one: Gossip.  I never, ever make absolute statements about anything or anyone, but this one time, I’ll make an exception.  Never, ever gossip.  Honestly, the moment those nasty thoughts are in your brain there starts a countdown on a bomb – you can either throw it out as nonsense, or let it spew out your mouth.  And when I say “spew,” I don’t want you to imagine a garden hose, or a pretty waterfall.  I want you to imagine a fire hydrant of diarrhea coming out of your mouth, because that is exactly how useful and beautiful gossip is.  As soon as those thoughts enter your mind, throw them out as nonsense or take your problems to the person it concerns in a rational, adult manner.  The bottom line is that gossip is childish.  And since child labor was outlawed in 1938, you are probably not a child.  So don’t act like one.

Number two: Enjoy the Good Times.  Have you ever noticed that when you have a canker sore it is the only thing you can think about, but when you don’t have one, you never think:

“Gee, I sure am grateful to the cosmos that I don’t have a canker sore right now…see…I can run my tongue all around the inside of my lip and it feels right as rain!”  

It seems that at work, no matter what is going on, there is always someone unhappy.  If it’s slow, people are complaining.  If it’s busy, people are complaining.  If it’s a normal, manageable amount of business, people are complaining.  To counteract this, make it a point to look for the moments you can enjoy.  When you are busy, think “I will probably make a lot of money today.”  When it’s slow, think “it’s so nice that I’m not rushed right now…who can I help?”   If you are unhappy in every single circumstance you find yourself in, you should realize that the common denominator is you.  So you should probably focus on fixing that instead of everything else.  So go ahead - run your tongue around the inside of your lip now and then, and be grateful you don't have a canker sore. 

Number three: Realize that just because you don’t like someone does not mean that you have to be enemies.  Everyone is forced to work with people they don’t like – and if you don’t know who that person is, it’s probably you.  But just because you wouldn't go get a beer with that person or invite them to meet your family, does not mean that you cannot work well with them in a professional environment.  It’s called “work” for a reason – you don’t have to like everyone, but you do have to work with them. 

Number four: Pray for the people who drive you nuts at work.  It may seem like an old-fashioned idea, but it seems to me that certain ideas stick around that long because they have some merit.  This doesn't have to be a faith-based activity, though if you want it to be, it can.  The point is to choose to control your thoughts and hope for the best for the people who drive you crazy the most.  If you are invested in someone’s good, it’s very hard to resent them for being jerks.  You suddenly see that they are probably jerks because they've been treated like crap their entire lives and genuinely do not see their own worth as a person.  Angry people are almost always hurt people.  Just remember that what you think about affects your emotions – and your emotions feed back into your thought life.  Control your thoughts and you control your emotions.  Think well of people and you've just poured water on the fire.  Think badly of people and you are trying to put out a fire with a box of matches. 

Number five: Assume that whatever offense your coworker committed against you that has now gripped your mind was not done as a malicious attempt to offend you.  Have you ever noticed when you’re driving and someone cuts you off, you immediately think that they are ignorant, unaware, self-absorbed jerks with no consideration for anyone else – but when that person is in your blind spot and you accidentally change lanes without seeing them, well that was an honest mistake and they can’t possibly expect you to be perfect all the time, and how dare they lay on their horn like that.  Why are they so important?   The long and short of it is that if you give others the same amount of grace and forgiveness you give yourself, you will start to see other people in a new, less blood-pressure-raising way. 

Here is a time-proven recipe for success: Avoid getting involved in the affairs of fools, for they are tricky and will hurt your brain.  Help them, care for them, of course, but avoid trying to reason with them – the mind is a labyrinth of illogical justifications of one's own inherent rightness.  Just, stay away from that Wonderland of Weirdness.

Loving Your Enemies

I feel like most people don't have enemies - we just know people who annoy us.  But the root of this annoyance is that we would rather view someone in terms of how they affect us, rather than how they are affected by us.  

Viewing someone as "the enemy" objectifies them.  It steals away their heart and their fears, their insecurities and their victories.  It only leaves whatever behavior you don't like about them.  It takes the humanness away from people and leaves them, in your mind, less than human.  They become the sum total of their actions towards you.  

It's easier to hate (dislike, not prefer, avoid, be bothered by - pick your minced word of choice) someone than it is to understand them.  Loving your enemies restores their humanity.  It says that given similar circumstances, I might be just like them.  

Here's the hard truth: everybody is hurt.

Angry people have been tremendously hurt, and protect themselves from being hurt again by bristling up to keep people at bay.  Angry people are hurt people.  Selfish people are hurt people.  Sad people are hurt people.  Lonely people are hurt people.  Spiteful people are hurt people.

Hurt people do not need more hurt - they don't need to be destroyed - they don't need to be avoided.  They need to be loved.  When someone "pushes your buttons" and gets under your skin, that should be the bright flashing light in your head that says "this person needs love SO badly."

Mathew 5: 43-46

"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.  If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?"