i've moved to davidleong.info

my blog has MOVED...

2006-07-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

well, it's been a good run, and at least i maintained my #1 page rank on google (for 'david leong') for a while, but i guess i'm done playing games with the google collective for now. i've decided to move over to davidleong.info for a number of reasons, and will be posting there from now on. just letting you know. peace.

the rainier vista whirligigs...

2006-07-20T16:44:00.000-07:00

even though mayor nickels had to cancel his appearance at the last minute, today's rainier vista community park dedication was a refreshing reminder of why i chose to live in this neighborhood. in addition to great organizations like city year and neighborhood house, there were a lot of neighborhood residents in attendance as we celebrated the hard work of a lot of volunteers who made this central community park possible. i'm really looking forward to walking out my front door and around the block to enjoy the beautiful green space and the ample play areas for the many children and families who live nearby.

i also learned that right in front of my home will be an interesting international art project called the whirligigs of rainier vista. according to the brochure i picked up, the whirligigs are 'whimsical expressions of important myths, legends, and stories of people from all over the world who make up seattle's columbia city neighborhood.' i'm excited to see these kinetic wind-powered sculptures in action as they 'celebrate and inspire the cultural diversity of southeast seattle.'

more and more i'm realizing that the pursuit of diversity is just one thread in the moral fabric of justice that requires so much more than just some nice ideas and a colorfully staged photo op. people who claim to care about issues of global justice must care about local justice as well. i can protest the wto, rally support for indonesian earthquake victims, or raise awareness for humanitarian crises in africa until i'm hoarse from screaming, but if i'm living in consumeristic bliss and numbed by the greed-induced commodification of comfortable middle class life, then i am just another hypocrite with a cause- an annoying pharisaic evangelist with benevolence on the surface and a capitalist gospel at the core.

i'm fearful that i may wake up one day and realize that i've become what i just described. breathing the polluted american culture for the past 27 years has its way of slowly transforming your perspective into a world of mirrors. everything i see just reflects my own self-absorption. more than anything, i long to see beyond those mirrors, but everytime i think i smash one, a new one shows up in its place.

hopefully my colorful neighborhood will be at least a temporarily adequate distraction from wondering how the world will continue to revolve around me.

the illusion of due diligence...

2006-07-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

i finally got around to watching syriana, a movie that i found to be surprisingly engaging after several people described it as painfully slow. i guess contemporary geopolitical conflicts are not for everyone, but i thought the film was great, if not a little too close to home. i have no doubt whatsoever that the situations 'dramatized' in this 'fictional' story resemble the reality of our current context in the middle east pretty accurately. our national addiction to oil has already been acknowledged by the white house, so i'm not sure why it seems like such a stretch for some people who think we have merely benevolent intentions in countries that just happen to have loads of black gold.

one memorable conversation in the movie occurs between two lawyers, one who is providing 'the illusion of due diligence' on behalf of a government investigation, and the other who is essentially defending the moral ambiguity that often occurs under tables, behind closed doors, or in strategically chosen nations with sympathetic views towards questionable behavior (extraordinary rendition, anyone?). the lawyer defending the cause of the US says, 'corruption is our protection. corruption keeps us safe and warm. corruption is why you and i are prancing around in here instead of fighting over scraps of meat out in the streets. corruption is why we win.'

while it's probably true that the relative level of corruption in our government compared to that in many other nations (particularly in the developing world) is fairly low, the difference with american corruption is the far reaching effect our policies have on the rest of the world. the impact of our 'need' for resources has a ridiculously disproportionate impact on the planet in every way- the US economic and military machine dictate global trends every day. so when three CIA guys in suits have their finger on a button that can easily shift energy commodities in their favor with one small laser-guided cruise missle, why should we be surprised when they push it? it's the american way.

and we'll continue to operate this way until we can't afford to pay it off with arms, or until the budget deficit causes our economy to collapse, or until the entire two thirds world is recruited into islamic fundamentalist training camps for radical militant extremism because they have no independent national or economic viability as a result of our sanctions that target oppressive regimes but really just punish the children and families. it's horribly shortsighted, but hey- who's got time to think about the next generation when we've got bombs to drop, resources to steal, collateral damage to create, nations to exploit, and an earth to rape? uncle sam has a lot on his to do list.

the color of fear...

2006-07-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

last night's faith & race class went well, but certainly not because of my disjointed, over-reaching theological confusion. apologies to those who were subjected to my rambling blue squiggley chart- it was an attempt to present an idea that seemed relevant in my head, but once i got into it, i realized how little time there was to provide an adequate explanation. oh well.

at least the film, the color of fear, was thought provoking and engaging. the insightful dialogue between the different men revealed the painful reality that many white people are simply oblivious to the privileges afforded to them because of their race. in a sense, it is difficult to fault their ignorance because we live in a society that is dominated by the power and privilege of white people- in government, industry, the media, and so on. and yet, i'm also hopeful for the growing awareness of those in dominant culture who recognize that it is the responsibility of those in power to hear the voice and experience of the other and allow it to shape their own worldview.

far too often the sentiment from the white establishment has been, "why don't you want to come over to where we are?", not recognizing the obstacles that prevent minorities from sharing the common ground that is so easily overlooked by those with majority privileges. every time my chinese face reminds some white person of 'some other oriental,' or i'm complimented on my english (this happens quite often), or i'm confused for ichiro because of my 'slanty eyes' (yes, this happened, too)- whenever i am confronted with these ridiculous situations, i am slapped in the face with the blatant racism in our society that undergirds our social structures and upholds the status quo of keeping the power in the hands of those with white privilege.

what color is god's skin?

2006-07-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

during my first year at regent, i met a couple from texas in my small group who had adopted a little girl from haiti named claire. in addition to being absolutely adorable, her inquisitve stage was full of good questions. i was told that one morning, after noticing with childlike innocence and curiosity that her skin was much darker in color than that of her parents, she asked them, "what color is god's skin?" children ask the best questions.

next tuesday at quest, we're starting our third annual depth class on faith & race, a huge topic with vast implications for the church and the culture of which we're a part. i've been given the intimidating task of starting off the series with a theological exploration of race, and i have almost no idea of where to begin... there's so much to cover, and so little time to dig into the real meat of the issue. i am trying to focus at least partly on a biblical metanarrative ethic of race, but it is sooo tempting to talk about contemporary middle eastern geopolitics. if the israel-palestine conflict is any indication, faith and race are such integral factors in shaping our worldview.

then there is the whole faith-based civil rights movement and the modern north american phenomenon of race as racialization in which terminiology arises out of a systemic power inequity and all the definitions for ethnicity, nationality, and racism take on a specific contextual meaning... but beyond all the esoteric theologizing, this conversation is important because it plays itself out everyday right in front of us, whether or not we recognize and acknowledge its reality. register by email and get ready for some engaging dialogue...

the fruit of my labor...

2006-07-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

finally, i can blog again. the past who knows how many hours have been spent building, sanding, patching, painting, cleaning, and bleeding for my house. last night at around 4:30am, while building a console table, i stepped on a nail and gave myself a pretty nice puncture wound. but it was worth it.

as of this evening, 4512 south dawson st, my home for the last 11 months and 9 days, is up for sale. yes, i noticed that we haven't lived here that long- even my mailman made a comment today- "selling already? you just moved in!"

so why are we selling? it's a long story, but the short version is that we moved to this neighborhood about a year ago hoping to live in rainier vista, a revitalization project of the seattle housing authority- but the development was slightly behind schedule at the time, and so we decided to buy nearby while staying open to the possibility of moving again after a year. well, that year has passed, and rainier vista is coming right along- we fell in love with the planned community there, the diverse income levels and ethnicities, the neighborhood house on site, and the prime location right on MLK way. our new place there won't be ready until september, but chris and i are already really excited to move in.

until then, enjoy the photos of my strategically staged house, courtesy of leo chen. open house this weekend!

what you own really owns you...

2006-06-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

so i've spent almost every free moment during the last week pretty much slaving away on various home improvement projects, and on friday, my trusty 12 ounce hammer finally called it quits. i bought the hammer during my sophomore year at UW at a local hardware store in the u-district, and given its low price of $4.97, i'm surprised that it lasted as long as it did.

as i was pounding on a prybar during the demolition for my new garage door installation, the head of the hammer just flew off and i was left holding the wooden handle, which is now essentially useless. it made me think for a minute that none of this would have happened in the first place if i had just left my garage alone, but no... i had to 'fix' it.

now that it's done, is it an improvement? sure. but was it worth it? i'm not so sure. this house and all its little projects have certainly added up, and all the time and money i've spent has been significant. but as i've reflected on my investment, i'm not sure if i actually own the house or if it really owns me. so often the stuff we think is necessary just accumulates and our lives just revolve around those things- and i'm fairly certain that we could go without a number of the standard life accessories we commonly view as 'essentials.'

it's a reminder to me of the importance of simplicity. life frequently gets cluttered up with unnecessary stuff- some of which we pursue because sadly, we have nothing better to do. i wonder what it would look like if we were able to articulate a compelling alternative narrative to the everyday pursuit of material comfort and accessible pleasure. i think we'd be deeper people... and more human.

the goma film project...

2006-06-21T20:49:00.000-07:00

last night chris and i had the privilege of hearing from a couple of missionary - activist - community developers who work with heal africa in congo. they are actually the parents of friends in our community group, and we were blessed to learn about their work and their hearts for holisitic healing and development in an area that is home to what has been called the deadliest war in the world with four million casualties since 1998. the goma film project is an effort to raise support and awareness for this growing crisis that has caught very little media attention.

again and again as i am presented with these incomprehensible atrocities, i am stuck wondering a couple of things: (1) how is it possible in this day and age, with all the ways we've 'progressed' in knowledge and understanding, that people can treat other human beings with such blatant disregard for their basic humanity? and (2) what in the world provides the steadfast perseverance and hope held by people working for justice in the face of such rampant depravity and darkness?

the tragedy reminds me how close we are to treating each other with savage brutality- there is such a thin line between our modern civilities and our primal proclivity for violence. but thankfully, people like the andersons remind me that in the midst of what would be overwhelmingly insurmountable to many, there is somehow an underlying hope for peace and compassion that flows through faith in christ.

John 1: The Word Became Flesh

¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all people. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. ⁸ He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

⁹ The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.

¹⁴ The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

friends in the real world...

2006-06-14T14:28:00.000-07:00

there is something whimsically appealing about the underlying premise behind the phenomenally successful tv show 'friends.' though we're all (hopefully) aware that it is fantasy, and not reality, i think a lot of people are drawn into the absurd relational laws of tv land and hopeful that somehow those principles will spill out into the real world. in the universe of friends, all of life can be spun as comedy, we're all young and beautiful with a few quirky personality traits, casual sex in a close knit group of people has no real consequences, we can all afford to live in enormous urban lofts in central park in NYC without steady jobs, and all conflict essentially resolves itself in about 22 minutes plus commercial time. sounds fantastic, doesn't it?

i wonder if our obsession with sitcom portrayals of community has anything to do with how often our own experiences with community have fallen short of our expectations. in the real world, community is messy, people get hurt, and we're a whole lot better at appearances and niceties than authenticity and vulnerability. friends are often a pain as much as they are a comfort. there is something about our fallen nature that breaks the relational shalom that god intended for people- and in our brokenness, we push intimacy away for fear of shame, or we hold onto pride instead of facing our weaknesses and need.

this weekend i'll be speaking at a retreat on the characteristics of christian community, and i'm hopeful that we'll be able to explore the distinctives of christian community that challenge us to come together in spite of our depravity and work through the messiness to embrace the goodness of God. christians have a lot to learn when it comes to treating one another in a way that causes the world outside of the church to wonder why we care so deeply for one another... and when it comes to treating the world with equal concern, sadly, we have so much further to go...

farewell, cornish...

2006-06-09T11:08:00.000-07:00

all good things must come to an end. today is my last day of work here at cornish, and i have to say that the past 639 days have been quite the experience. i came to cornish not quite sure what to expect- partially hoping to culturally detox from corporate IT and at the same time, seeking to culturally engage the quirky, liberal artistically-inclined crowd i've come to love here. cornish didn't disappoint. on both counts, i'd say mission accomplished.

most of what i've valued here has not been necessarily the little technical knowledge i've acquired- technology skills come and go. but what i'll retain for the long haul will likely be the conversations, the perspectives, and the moments of connection in between the mundane- the opportunities to share in a brief season of life with such a diverse group of people has been priceless. i say that not to sound cheesy or dramatic, but for someone headed on my vocational path (something i've probably poorly articulated as along the lines of 'religious studies'), the ethos of cornish will honestly continue to shape my worldview as 'the voice of the other'- a presence from the margins.

and for that gift, i'm thankful. as i head into doctoral studies exploring the unique secularity of seattle's current cultural context, cornish will undoubtedly come to mind. so for those of you who have contributed to the long and ongoing conversations i've had here- thank you. i will be sure to change your names when i recount my experiences in my first autobiographical publication that will likely hit the shelves in 2010. just kidding. but seriously, i'll be back to visit. so until then...

an inconvenient truth...

2006-06-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

who knew that al gore could be so engaging? in this persuasive and informative documentary about our climate crisis, al builds more social and intellectual capital than (seemingly) in his entire political career. but politics and aside, this film is definitely a must-see. it's not a liberal/conservative issue, or even an environmentalist issue- it's a moral issue. and for christians, this must absolutely be an issue of holistic stewardship and creation care.

in my first semester at regent, i was reading a book entitled for the beauty of the earth for a systematic theology course. given my conservative background, i was almost ready to dismiss the book as liberal propaganda since it was going on and on about the intersection of theology and ecology, theology of place, and how christians ought to care for the earth because of the spotted owl and so on. i wondered how recycling would help 'save souls' (since that is all evangelicals care about), and though i didn't quite understand it at the time, the idea was thought provoking at the very least.

but looking back now, i'm thankful for the central message of the book because it took me about two years to learn its importance. the bottom line is that god loves his creation- there is nothing in scripture that god so repeatedly declares as 'good'- and he has provided us with the earth as a gift to steward and enjoy, not a resource to dominate and exploit. there is so much bad apocalyptic theology out there endorsing the idea that the earth is going to burn and that we must therefore rape the earth for all its worth and ask questions later. but if christians really understood that heaven is not some etheral existence in the clouds, but instead is a new earth with creation fully restored as it was intended, then i think our perspective on a crisis as imminent as global warming would shift.

see the film. it will shock you... and hopefully, move you to action.

bush: beyond pathetic...

2006-06-06T09:45:00.000-07:00

although i try not to make a habit of kicking people while they're down, when it's dubya, i just have to get a few shots in. so what do you do when you're a horribly failed politician with approval ratings in the toilet (not just the gutter) and dissatisfied conservative support eroding faster than a mudslide during a tsunami because of your terrible foreign policy and idiotic domestic legislation that's even worse? you rally the base! and according to the karl rove playbook, the best way to do that is to reach out to the evangelical nutjobs that elected you in the first place. thankfully, this whole constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage has more potential on the senate floor as a circus act than an actual reform, but it's still endlessly frustrating to see conservative christians buying into the charade by backing bushie's pathetic efforts to retain a shred of support in the face of difficult issues that require real efforts, not political diversions.

as with almost every 'moral issue' on the ballot, agreeing with a certain ideology (say, the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman) doesn't necessarily mean that any government reform advocating that position is a good one. this is terri schiavo all over again. marriage is an issue to be legislated by the states- it always has been, and should continue to be. the move for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is a misuse of the document and a waste of our tax dollars. worst of all, it's a political ploy to draw attention away from the real issues we should be discussing: the war in iraq, the immigration debate, energy and the economy, the global 'war on terror,' and the list goes on.

but if we're going to talk about threats to the institution of marriage, let's talk about the soaring divorce rate. let's talk about the rampant promiscuity of heterosexual ethics in our culture. and for god's sake (literally), let's look in the damn mirror to see what sort of marriages we're 'defending' so fervently. maybe after an honest look at ourselves and a long conversation about the broader brokenness of our human sexuality- just maybe then we might be able to carefully enter into the conversation about homosexuality with some sensitivity and concern. and in the meantime, i firmly believe that christians must be affirming of their equal rights to fair housing, employment, medical care, and all the civil liberties that heterosexuals enjoy so easily and often take for granted.

in summary, please don't be a tool of karl rove and the white house. use your head and break free from the political manipulation... buck the trend and help prove that evangelicals can actually think for themselves!

cohousing with christ...

2006-06-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

the stranger probably epitomizes a fairly large segment of seattle's young-hip-and-liberal culture, a crowd that is inclined towards the arts, freedom of expression, and certainly plenty of 'free love' as well. for anyone who reads the stranger regularly, it's no secret that they have an editorial bent against religion, particularly the conservative christian type. for the most part, this has never really bothered me, probably because i often find myself agreeing with their satirical perspective on the ridiculous things that are carried out 'in the name of jesus.'

but that's why i was disappointed to see this latest feature's lack of content as it mockingly critiques the bartimaeus cohousing community, an idea that at the very least has some real substance to it, for better or worse. you may or may not agree with the principles behind cohousing for the purpose of intentional community, but regardless, the cultural critique of suburban sprawl, social isolation, and rugged individualism is deserving of some genuine consideration. but instead of addressing the real issues at hand, the stranger just dances around the idea, taking some cheap shots at 'christian ideals' and misrepresenting the standards of the community. it's a shame that such careless editorial reporting can be pawned off as 'writing' these days, especially in a market as well-educated as seattle's. what ever happened to journalistic integrity?

in the end, it's a reminder to me that it's easy to mock people and ideas that we don't understand, or to set up rows of straw men and then knock them down triumphantly as we sidestep the real argument. but to truly engage in a substantive conversation about life, faith, belief, politics, social policies, and whatever else needs to be talked about- that is much more difficult than just dismissing those we disagree with as uninformed or bigoted. can we have a real dialogue for a change?

are you beating the bunny?

2006-05-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

when i first noticed this promotional dvd in my office inbox, i wondered what i was being sold this time. the ultimate church office labeling technology? discounted communion bread? more acronymed bracelets? but the title did catch my eye, and even though i'm not sure if it's a clever euphemism or just a coincidence, the website has some pretty sobering statistics on the growing problem of pornography:

Porn is a $12 billion per year industry, more than NFL, NBA, and MLB revenues combined.

Illegal child porn makes an additional $3 billion per year in the US. That amouts to about 3 cents per $100 spent in the United States landing in a child pornographer's pocket.

Approximately 4.3 million porn websites exist.

The majority of Internet porn users are age 12-17.

The average age of first exposure to porn is 11.

90% of kids 8 - 16 with access to the Internet have viewed porn. If you have kids, this percentage includes yours.

30% of children visiting chatrooms have been solicited for a sexual encounter.

1 in 200 minors (17 and under) in the US are commercially sexploited at any one time (prostitution, child porn, etc.).

9AM - 5PM, business hours, is primetime for porn.

1 in 3 porn Internet porn users are women.

(statistics sourced from familysafemedia.com, xxxchurch.com, Alexa, MSNBC, NRC, and independent research)

for all of the energy that goes into the ridiculous antics behind the evangelical crusade to abolish homosexuality, it amazes me how little is said about porn. some research has indicated that 30-37% of pastors have struggled with porn, a statistic that should be alarming for us all. if even the smallest fraction of time spent harping on gay marriage went towards something constructive, like practical teaching on sexual integrity and the justice issues of pornography, i think we'd have much healthier churches and marriages.

and christians wonder why the world calls us hypocrites.

picket fences and homeless shelters...

2006-05-25T15:16:00.000-07:00

i grew up in pristinely manicured suburbs where most of the 'neighborhood issues' had to do with someone letting their grass grow too long or displaying tacky lawn ornaments. at the time, i didn't immediately recognize that most middle class folks live in middle class neighborhoods where the unsightly inconveniences of homelessness, addiction, and poverty are curiously absent. it never struck me as odd that people of similar socioeconomic status clustered together in pockets of wealth because no one ever told me that things should be any different. poverty, i was told, was a 'choice'- either because people were lazy, or didn't study hard enough in school, or maybe because they just couldn't muster enough discipline to get it together.

the greatest tragedy is that this status quo of homogeneous classism was only reinforced in the church. on any given sunday, as i looked around, i saw people just like me (well, except they were white)- they were educated or on their way to be, came from families sustained by good professional jobs, and were upwardly mobile. no one ever told me that the gospel should challenge this enclave of safe middle class security- if anything, those who were more upwardly mobile were upheld and revered as models to be emulated. they were the heroes of the middle class. heck, i must have spent twenty years going to church before anyone made the slightest suggestion that maybe this system was not the greatest, most christlike, arrangement.

years later, i am now intentionally living in one of the most ethnically and economically diverse neighborhoods in seattle, a community on the verge of transition (or 'revitalization' or 'redevelopment' or 'gentrification'- take your pick)- and i'm living here with other like-minded people wanting to be good neighbors here, and yet i still find myself predictably uncomfortable with the DESC's rainier project, a transitional housing facility slated to be built just a few blocks from my front door. i hate that it bothers me, but i feel stuck between competing loyalties to my neighbors who feel that the community is a dumping ground (and it is) too fragile to sustain another social service, and those who want to welcome and include these people in need (and we should).

either way, i'm continually bothered by the fear and ignorance that leads to the systemic perpetuation of poverty and homelessness. and the fact that most churches in america have nothing to say to the blatant class divisions in our cities only further ingrains the idea that the gospel has no social implications for where and how we live. we can drive our luxury SUVs twenty miles across the city sipping our starbucks lattes and talking on our bluetooth cell phones, push our gap baby strollers through pottery barn kids, spend a hundred bucks on some sort of lifestyle accessory at university village, attend a megahipster church service, and not question for a second whether or not we are entitled to the luxuries we enjoy that continue to hold down the marginalized as we trample on their privileges in order to maintain our delusional status as wannabe celebrities who need regular facials, an entertainment allowance, and of course, lots of psychotherapy.

let the research begin...

2006-05-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

with only 8.5 days of work at cornish remaining, my mind is quickly shifting gears back into school mode. last week, i ordered my first textbook for my first course at fuller coming up in a couple of months which is basically a two-week intensive research methodology tutorial. the price was a new record: only $0.90 used on amazon! even after a few bucks for shipping, this is far and away the cheapest textbook i've ever bought, which at least makes me feel a little bit better about having to fly down to pasadena for the class. even though three hundred pages of instructional material on how to best craft a doctoral dissertation doesn't really sound all that enthralling, i'm sure it will be worth the read.

as i think about re-entering academia, i'm reminded of the scary realization that school doesn't necessarily make you a smarter, or perhaps more importantly, a wiser person. no amount of schooling can give you a complete education, or to put it another way, even a whole lot of school is no guarantee that you're not an idiot. i'm pretty sure that there are still plenty of morons out there with three degrees.

i first realized how stupid i was when i went to regent under the partial assumption that a masters degree in theology was essentially the same across the board at various north american 'evangelical' institutions of graduate education. years later, i see what a ridiculous and naive assumption that was. as with nearly every academic discipline, in the face of large amounts of conflicting, credible research, often times we are just stuck between well informed opinions, making educated guesses in a somewhat murky puddle of choices.

but i'm thankful that in that murkiness we are allowed to enter into the glorious, ongoing process of deconstruction and reconstruction- intellectual, theological, spiritual, emotional... and as we recognize how little we really know for certain, there is a beautiful opportunity to embrace a radical, liberating dependence on a transcendent God. and i suppose that is the root of faith- an acknowledgment of the simple truth that often times, the more we think we know, the less we realize we actually know. most of all, i'm thankful that knowledge is not limited to some sort of intellectual ascent to propositional truths- knowledge of god is personal, existential, and mysterious... and it reminds me, as uncomfortable as this acknowledgment is, that i am not the one in control.

look mom, it's a goat!

2006-05-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

mother's day came and went, but i did manage to make my first purchase at living generously, something i hope will become a more regular habit with all the gift buying occasions approaching soon. considering the numerous weddings, birthdays, and other such consumer driven activities on the horizon, i may have a whole flock of livestock before the summer is over!

i bought my mom a goat for a ugandan village, a gift that i'm told will keep on giving for years to come before it ends up in a stew. it will produce milk, fertilizer, and other goats for bartering... or more stew. yesterday i received the gift card and informational brochure from living generously, and i was impressed with the simple, but well articulated vision of this organization:

'hurricanes hit america. earthquakes shake asia. aids orphans africa. we feel helpless. we give what we can. but as soon as the image fades from our tv screens, we return to our daily lifestyles. what would happen if we chose to change; to make generosity a daily principle instead of a reaction to crisis? living generously aims to challenge, inspire, and empower you to make a difference in the world by making small changes to the way you and your friends live your lives. in europe alone, $355 billion is spent on christmas presents each year- why not create a gift list with a difference? instead of accumulating more stuff, you will know you have given something that matters to someone somewhere who really needed it. by giving up on getting, you get to give so much more.'

in a culture where we are so often esteemed by the frivolous accessories we've accumulated in life, it's my prayer that living generously would be one among many ways to help us remember the importance of simplifying our lives, caring for those in need, and embodying compassion and justice. imagine if just one church for one year chose to buy gifts for those who really need them the most... what a powerful witness that would be to a world in need.

'we make a living by what we get... we make a life by what we give.'

theology matters...

2006-05-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

...especially bad theology. granted, this ridiculous cartoon entitled 'any day now' comes from a ridiculous source- hal lindsey's 'oracle'- a pathetic excuse for a website supposedly offering political commentary, but really just spouting a particularly frightening brand of paranoid fundamentalist american christian zionism that belongs in an insane asylum, not on evangelical bookshelves. but the one thing i'm thankful for as i read these horrific interpretations of the bible is the reminder that no matter how freaky your cult leader is, people will always be stupid enough to embrace sensational hysteria as ridiculous as the drivel lindsey pawns off as legitimate thinking.

i wish i could say that the platform for this imperialist theocratic propaganda is shrinking, and that the public credibility of morons like lindsey, falwell, and robertson is floundering, but sadly, it's just not the case. the neocon bush regime seems to have reinvigorated this evangelical agenda, and more people than we think are envisioning jesus in the clouds firing missles at the non-israeli pagan infidels in the middle east.

some people seem to think that graduate theological education is just a bunch of unnecessary details that stuffy academics debate in ivory towers, but the fact that heretical doctrines like christian zionism are actually upheld and defended in many american seminaries is a reminder that bad theology has a significant impact on global politics. to quote yoginger sikand, christian zionism is essentially 'terror in jesus' name.' this is what happens when you pursue teaching like dispensationalism's premillenial rapture theology to its logical extremes. i didn't write a masters thesis about it because i thought it would be good content for an academic debate- i voice these concerns because i believe that theology matters.

my mind is blank today...

2006-05-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

my mind is blank today

i really have nothing to say

verbal reaction
can be a distraction
when words just get in the way

i'd rather be in the sun
attempting to have some fun
i'll waste my time
and share a quick rhyme
before the day is done

cultural crusading...

2006-05-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

maybe it's my own personal baggage, but whenever i hear the classic evangelical terminology of 'winning converts' or 'saving souls' or 'leading the lost to christ,' i just cringe inside. i mean, really- who are we winning, saving, and leading? the last time i checked (about 3 seconds ago), secular culture was dominating the church and the evangelical scoreboard was showing a pretty embarrassing rout. i really believe it's critical that we learn to change the nature and tone of our language if the church is ever going to have a real voice in western society again.

while i'm glad that some people are approaching the upcoming movie the da vinci code as a good catalyst for genuine dialogue, i'm also cringing at the mega marketing movements to seize the evangelical opportunity to 'win converts' through some intellectual, theological, historical, apologetic defeat of the movie's ridiculous claims. the church will never learn to build a relationship with culture until we learn to stop policing, condemning, and correcting the ideas and stories we fear. we must be ready to engage conversation as a process of walking and learning together instead of obsessing over the authority of propositional truths and theological dogmatism.

i realized the other night while talking to chris that i am increasingly seeking to distance myself from the often misconstrued label 'evangelical' as i gravitate towards a more ecumenical posture in my personal convictions. evangelicalism and ecumenism can peacefully coexist in my mind, though extremist proponents of either ideology may not see how that's possible. i'm reminded of a bumper sticker that one of my coworkers recently pointed out to me: 'evangelicals: america's taliban.' it wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't so true.

punctiliar conversion...

2006-05-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

this painting is titled 'the conversion of saul' and depicts his encounter with god on the road to damascus in acts chapter 9. after making some off hand comment about conversion during my sermon at quest on sunday, someone asked me what i meant when i said that conversion is as much a journey as it is a decision. the first time i had heard this argument articulated at length was, of course, at regent during a systematic theology course taught by gordon smith.

after the initial debate over whether or not 'punctiliar' was a real word or something invented by gordon's creative vocabulary, we moved on to the heart of the issue- is there such a thing as a truly 'instantaneous' spiritual conversion to christ? certainly the evangelical tradition would say so. pray the prayer, raise your hand, accept christ, come to the altar- take your pick and you're pretty much good to go in a lot of churches. i grew up in this tradition, and while i've seen some good elements in this method of conversion theology, i've also seen it embraced in spite of its ineffectiveness at long lasting impact or even abused as a tool of emotional manipulation.

if we are not, as paul admonishes us, continuing to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, then we are either flash in the pan hand-raisers or self-congratulatory high-fivers hanging out on the starting line of our faith's long journey. but the most compelling (and sobering) words in saul's conversion narrative come in verse 16 of acts 9, where the Lord says about paul, 'i will show him how much he must suffer for my name.' conversion calls us to suffering as much as it does to fulfillment, and the apostle paul understood this well.

why then is the talk or experience of suffering so lacking in our churches? perhaps something is lacking in our conversion.

vocational missionality...

2006-05-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

i've been working at cornish college of the arts for almost two years, but the time has flown by. people who are familiar with cornish (most often artists of some sort) usually ask if i teach art, produce art, or work with art, but sadly, the 'art' i'm most accustomed to viewing is the streaming neon green alphanumeric code of my matrix screensaver. my desk in the information technology department is in the corner of a windowless room in the basement of a sterile gray concrete building, and sometimes i do wonder if i'm living a digital existence in a fantasy world gone awry where machines have taken over our lives and the real world is dark and cold.

but there are also enough bright spots to keep the days interesting. students here are colorful, their work is expressive, and the bfa show is engaging every year. yet i'm reminded that i didn't take this job for artistic perks or because i adore databases- what cornish has provided is a missional context for me to live out my faith- something i've found to be challenging almost every day. it is much easier for me to remain on the surface of conversations, functionally withdrawn from people, but to engage in substantive dialogue has been both difficult and fruitful- difficult because it requires intentionality, but fruitful because it's good relational exercise.

a coworker asked me yesterday why christians are so hell-bent on converting everyone, and i agreed that historically the church has been over zealous on numerous occasions (though perhaps no more guilty than the imperialistic|colonial norms of the day). evangelical zeal to 'reach' the workplace (for better or worse) still makes me cringe because i envision tracts in the break room and cubicle crusaders raiding the 'pagan' floors of my building. but hopefully my faith has been slightly less scary and slightly more relational than the inquisition. if i've convinced just one person that not all christians are mindless republican fundamentalist nutjobs, then my work here has been worth it.

words to ponder...

2006-05-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

"The tragedy of life is not death; it is destined for us all. The tragedy of life is to die with convictions undeclared and service unfulfilled."
-Dr. Ernest L. Boyer, Sr. 1928-1995

i've been on the road quite a bit over the past few days, from a denominational conference in salem, OR to regent's commencement in vancouver, BC. both trips were time well spent, and the open road provides plenty of time to contemplate meaningful words that were shared. i was particularly struck by the words of the president of the ecc, glenn palmberg (quoting the influential educator ernest boyer), who shared that he was haunted by the idea that his life might not exhibit his deepest commitments. glenn said that his greatest fear was to die with gospel convictions undeclared, and the service of the gospel unfulfilled.

i resonate with that fear and often wonder as well if my life reflects the heart of the gospel, or if, rather pathetically, i am merely regurgitating religious ideologies while pretending to be an authentic follower of christ. if my words are mere rhetoric and the core of my life is not thoroughly transformed, then i am simply a farce- a veneer of theology around a hollow self-obsessed consumer driven zombie among the masses.

sure, i can attend a community group or march with some immigrants, but am i really emobdying the justice, compassion, hope, and reconciliation of christ in my life? i am easily able to intellectually acknowledge and articulate my theological commitments- there is perhaps nothing simpler for me personally. but to incarnate these ideals is so difficult to do without compromise. and that is my fear- to compromise and justify and rationalize my way back into the comfortable christianity i see all around me. it's so appealing- the idea that i can have it all: everything plus jesus as the ultimate life accessory.

but unfortunately, jesus is not an accessory and the cross is not a call to comfort. jesus smashes my sandcastle worldview and rebuilds it (slowly) on the kingdom of god. and yet, so often i feel like i am just looking around and trying to pick up all the pieces.

snow's white privilege...

2006-04-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

there's nothing quite like having an old, rich white man tell me that racism is 'no big deal' in america anymore, and that the 'systemic' nature of racism is really some sort of 'excuse.' gee thanks, mr. wasp- how convenient it is for you to be oblivious to the people you've trampled on to enjoy your many privileges. of course there's no racism if you're a rich, white, elitist bastard.

while i've enjoyed the new white house press secretary tony snow's criticism of bush, particularly his comments about how 'the english language has become a minefield for the man' and describing him as 'something of an embarrassment,' i'm also alarmed by his 'provocative' comments about racism. if nothing else, it's a reminder to me that in spite of the significant educational progress we've made in ethnic studies and other related disciplines, there is still such a long way to go. the color of the hands who hold the power in washington illustrates this all too well.

i'm also reminded of quest's annual faith and race forum, an event that hasn't yet been laid out for this year. as with many of today's pressing social issues, people of faith have to be a loud voice for reform, even if (or perhaps especially beacause) it means we're a vocal minority. for far too long, the church has retreated from the issue of race, our silence indicating our apathy and ignorance while reinforcing our avoidance of responsibility. can't we all just read whiteprivilege.com and march for immigrants on may 1st? probably not.

your living room is the factory and the product is you...

2006-04-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

it's that time of the year again: time to silence the idiot box- adbusters' tv turnoff week has arrived. and what better week than this one to get off the couch and do something productive? the weather in seattle has been absolutely gorgeous after a particularly long, dreary, and wet winter... the cold has burned off and the sun has been glorious. we all know that tv rots your brain anyway, so turn off that boob tube and make some plans to be a contributing member of society. need help with how to do that? if so, here are some simple suggestions on how to best utilize that extra four hours a day (on average, if you are the typical american) now that you're not zombied out in front of the devil machine:

1. take a walk with a neighbor and have a good conversation.
2. call a friend and do something active- rediscover the outdoors!
3. find a nice park and read a book (help bring our literacy rate out of the gutter).
4. go out to dinner at a local restaurant with a group of friends and leave a big tip.
5. get together with people and talk about market media biases and over-consumption.
6. sell your tv and donate the money to charity.
7. don't go shopping.

it's been nearly two years since chris and i got rid of our tv and i can definitely say that it's been a good, healthy thing. though there have been a few inconvenient moments, overall it's allowed us to detox a bit from tv culture- a voice that we rarely question as anything but normative. but as we remove certain damaging influences in our lives, we typically find that space is created for more constructive voices to be heard- something that is more and more valuable amidst the incessant noise in our corporate media-innundated culture. turn off your tv for a while and hopefully you'll discover that you have so much more life to live.

invisible children...

2006-04-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

tonight at the qcafe we're hosting a screening of invisible children, a documentary on the thousands of ugandan children who commute by foot every night from the villages into the cities to avoid abduction by the LRA. i've posted about this previously, and for the most part, my feelings on the issue remain the same- with all of the time and resources we squander on accessorizing our lives, raising some awareness on global issues is certainly a productive way to spend a couple of hours.

and yet i'm also becoming more aware of how easy it is to neglect the local relevance of these issues in favor of embracing a solely global justice. international perspective is beneficial because it (hopefully) shakes up our comfortable worldview and confronts us with situations that challenge our insular existence, but if we are only advocates for 'the other' in a far away place, then we're hypocritically unwilling to care for our own. i would submit that for a lot of us, it's simply easier to rally behind children in africa because it doesn't necessarily cost us very much- we can remain fairly uninvolved and still intellectually support the concept of benevolence or charity.

but if we're truly desiring to engage the issue, then we must be local advocates as well- global justice cannot be separated from the social responsibility we have to be agents of change in our immediate communities. here in the city of seattle, there are countless opportunities to get involved in local issues- immigration rights, educational reform, affordable housing, and so on. properly understood, global justice must serve as a catalyst to deepen our commitment to our neighbor- both abroad and on our doorstep.

the downward spiral...

2006-04-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

with the joy and peace of easter weekend concluding holy week, this new yorker article is a slap in the face 'welcome back' to reality. deep down, i had hoped that my fears were overly paranoid and dramatic, but various reporting of bush's 'clandestine' activities is not at all confirming the possibility that i have been brainwashed by liberal news media and reactionary propaganda. on the contrary, it seems that the more bush is challenged, the more he is willing- and proud, even- to pursue regime change through military intervention in iran. scary stuff.

and so today more than ever, martin luther king, jr.'s call to denounce the 'axis of evil' resonates with me- but mlk's axis of evil was militarism, materialism (economic exploitation), and racism, not some arbitrary bad list of nations|regimes that america dislikes. it saddens me to see that with all of our so-called progress in knowledge and technology, our capacity for violence and destruction has only increased with our ability to produce weapons of mass destruction- an end product that some would argue is the inevitable result of our lust for domination and a base desire for what nietzsche would call our 'will to power.'

at times i'm puzzled by those who would insist that the essential nature of humanity is good at the core because a simple cursory review of history seems (at least to me) to indicate otherwise. i'm convinced that all people, left to their own devices, would allow self-obsession to lead to the ultimate collapse of society if certain social structures and divine intervention were not at work in the world. short of death, the depth of human depravity has no bottom.

today is good friday...

2006-04-14T09:21:00.000-07:00

^{Psalm 22
1} My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?² My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

³ Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
⁴ In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.⁵ They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

as jesus cried out to the father on the cross, it was not only a cry of despair and pain- his words came from psalm 22, a passage filled with desolation, but also hope. jesus recognized that even in his moment of greatest suffering, god was trustworthy and true. within this acknowledgment, the psalmist shows that there is still significant space for lament and loss, demonstrating that despair and hope can coexist when a deep trust in god's sovereignty is present.

it is hard for us to believe that god is present in our suffering because our theology is often so thin and one-dimensional. if life is good, then god is good- and when life is bad, god is either bad, distant, or 'punishing' us. but the cross reminds us that the way of following christ requires a great deal of pain and loss- without these hardships there can be no discipleship.

on this holy day of holy week, may we remember the great suffering of christ, but the greater sovereignty of god. as we cry out to god in despair, he is present- and he can be trusted.

come out to our good friday service as we remember the cross.

the unipolar double standard...

2006-04-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

did you know that while condoleezza vehemently declares that 'it's time for action' against iran, we are simultaneously 'modernizing' our nuclear arsenal to produce 125 new nuclear weapons every year within the next 16 years? can you say 'cold war arms race'? hmm, i could have sworn that the second pillar of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (that we've signed of course) was disarmament, but i guess that part doesn't apply to us. we like to tell other nations that they can't have weapons, but we can- after all, how else can we continue to dominate them? our justification is our superpower status- well of course we can have all the bombs- that's what makes us powerful! you don't need a phd in international diplomacy to figure that one out.

i am seriously frightened by the current state of our foreign policy. given this administration's track record, nothing would surprise me at this point. on one hand, the whole iraq disaster makes me want to think we've learned our lesson, but at the same time, i wouldn't be shocked if bush suddenly decided to disregard the international community and invade iran. and just for good measure, north korea as well. and maybe just to top ourselves and pull a 9/11-iraq move, we'll invade a random nation with resources we'd like to acquire- perhaps venezuela- and then blame them for hurricane katrina. that may sound absurd, but i'm sure the american public could be convinced of it with a karl rovian vnr or two.

in today's globalized society, we are all connected- which can be both a good thing and a scary thing. i think most of us operate under the assumption that our daily activities have little impact on the world at large- and for many people on the planet, that is somewhat true... at least compared to the influence of america on the world. but for those of us that call the US home, we often underestimate the far-reaching ripple effects of our domestic and foreign policies. and what's pathetic about the american public is our insistent apathy and ignorance towards issues we have the privilege of changing because of the beauty of the democratic process. but naturally, because we are fat, medicated, and watching tv, we'd rather eat and shop than do something extreme like "vote."

with iran facing rising international pressure, i am hopeful that the diplomatic process will prevail. but if america decides to go vigilante cowboy this time, i will seriously organize a protest, chain myself to the white house, and throw rotten eggplants at bush and his buddies...

the holy land experience?

2006-04-11T13:51:00.000-07:00

tired of roller coasters, cotton candy, and all those annoying pagan crowds? why not try a goliath burger in the jerusalem street market at the holy land experience- a biblical times theme park with all your christian entertainment needs! i would have initially expected such an attraction to be located in the heart of the bible belt- perhaps the deep south dominated by the cultural ethos of the southern baptist convention. but i guess i shouldn't be surprised that orlando was the choice of locale- being the theme park mecca that it is, why not try to tap into the amusement market currently dominated by disney world? the park map and layout eerily reminded me of epcot center...

i realize that the heart behind the park seems to be in the right place and i can certainly think of worse things for people to be doing, but there's something that just bothers me about the whole thing. the entire endeavor just fits so neatly into the predictably 'christian' response to all of dominant culture: sanitize, immitate, and replicate. i can't imagine that many people outside of conservative evangelicalism (or even those within it, for that matter) would be that interested in seeing dramatized tabernacle rites or replicas of ancient biblical manuscripts.

the problem with 'christian entertainment' of this kind is that it encourages the church to turn inward towards itself- like circling the wagons on the frontier, christians huddle for survival and grow ever fearful of the great dreaded evils of our day- secularism, immorality, and debauchery- oh my! and so we withdraw. disengaged and disinterested, the church becomes irrelevant and impotent- little more than a private religious fantasy land where we can speak our own language, make our own rules, and most importantly- control who comes in and determine who ought to leave. ironically, it's not unlike a gated religious amusement park... and in that sense, maybe the holy land experience is just a reflection of today's evangelical subculture- a disturbing reminder of the christian retreat from the world.

defeated and uninspired, we are incapable of creating culture- we just mimic the mainstream. and perhaps even more indicting- as the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

film, faith & justice forum...

2006-04-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

'Film, Faith and Justice is a landmark event in Seattle that looks at current issues of social justice and faith through film and dialogue. As host to the internationally respected Human Rights Watch Traveling Film Festival, the weekend will engage in substantive conversations regarding the role of faith in contemporary issues of injustice. Hosted by the online theology and arts journal, The Other Journal, this forum will include award-winning documentaries, nationally known theologians and local leaders giving lectures and participating in discussion panels. On the weekend of April 7, 8, and 9th, people of faith, activists, students, and community leaders will attend Film, Faith, and Justice at Seattle Pacific University.'

plain and simple, this is an awesome opportunity to be a part of a great event and a great cause- i can't think of a better way to spend the weekend. don't miss out! afterthoughts to follow...
-------------
*edit|update: the forum was interesting- the discussion panels could have been better prepped/moderated, but the films were excellent. i particularly enjoyed mardis gras: made in china, a documentary in which drunken americans on the streets of new orleans are introduced to factory footage of their infamous beads' origins. what's more astounding than the ability of teenage chinese girls to work for 20 hours a day in silence (while the factory owner insists 'they enjoy their work') is the sheer absurdity of americans' profound excitement for useless plastic beads. the mass idiocy is both amusing and disturbing.

the theocratic state...

2006-04-06T09:43:00.000-07:00

it amazes me how quickly many christians accept the notion that our faith convictions ought to endorse political privilege for theocratic means. but then again, maybe it shouldn't be so surprising that we'd rather exercise our power than give it up (as in, say- the model of the cross). as is so often the case, religious convictions don't truly shape our worldview- instead, they are adapted to fit the most comfortable cultural perspectives we're interested in maintaining. if i'm rich and powerful, then of course i think my religion calls me to those things- they are sustaining my comfort and privilege. why would i allow something like the cross to question my comfort or overturn my worldview? it's just a piece of jewelry i wear- an empty symbol or a religious accessory at best. to allow God to actually ask me to change- even just my lifestyle- well that's just way too hard.

but the hard, honest truth about authentic christianity is that it's far more than a change in lifestyle- it is an entire shift in worldview- a holistic transformation of every facet of our lives. the core symbol of christ- the cross- is a clarion call to death. but somehow our culture of abundance has misconstrued the nature of sacrifice and adopted consumer gluttony instead.

today's theocratic trend in conservative american politics is the perfect example of why the establishment clause is so critical: separation of church and state does protect the state, but more importantly, it protects the church. the bush regime has manipulated evangelicals into backing the privileged and corrupt by appealing to our desire for power, comfort, and control. carefully calculated public relations campaigns have pitched 'moral issues' with one simple agenda- to mobilize a base so that those with power can attain more of it. and the church, complicit in this cultural debacle, is now screwed both ways- not only are we partly responsible for the ongoing american political oppression and exploitation around the world, but we are also seen by the broader culture as hypocrites for proclaiming morality one second, and bombing children the next.

and the saddest part of it all is that even though these circumstances directly influence our everyday lives, we're too busy and distracted, too insulated and comfortable, too fat and lazy, too careless and ignorant, too egocentric, uninformed, and irresponsible to even care.

and so it goes...

2006-04-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

ever feel like you're so fixated on particular facets in life that you're actually missing the things you're supposed to be paying attention to? life is such an information and experience overload- and between being overwhelmed with complexities and lost in the details, sometimes it seems like everything is moving so fast. we're all shuffling about, running here or there, busy 'accomplishing things' and getting by.

at times i wonder if i'm so addicted to thinking of the future that i can't focus on the present. i don't want to miss the conversations and contemplations that make the present worth savoring... nor do i want to overlook the goodness of 'now' in perpetual hopes of the next 'exciting' thing. but time keeps going and the plans keep moving.

enough of my blithering existential angst- we've all got better things to do...

living generously...

2006-03-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

every once in a while, i will come across a website that's just too good to keep to myself (thanks to rain city pastor for the link). there's nothing particularly spectacular or original about the design or the idea, but i really resonate with the heart behind the message- that we ought to learn what it means to live more generously in word and deed. living generously is not simply about charity or benevolence- it's not meant to be obligatory guilt-motivated giving because we want to feel better about ourselves. instead, this website takes a relatively simple idea and provides a tangible, accessible means to exercise looking beyond ourselves- a practice that we must engage regularly if we are to resist the compulsive consumer mentality that plagues our culture.

the pervasive nature of consumerism is inarguably the greatest idolatrous loyalty of the west- it feeds our egos, props up our economy, and keeps us comfortably insulated from the world's many social ills. aside from numbing our collective consciences, it is also useful for one of our favorite consumer activities- gift buying. i would be the first to admit that i am a terrible gift-giver... there's just something about the whole process of searching for completely unnecessary consumer products that bothers me. malls make me angry and at times, shopping feels like fingernails down a chalkboard. for years, i have been giving people books because those are the only gifts i can rationally justify.

but now i have a great alternative! i'm genuinely looking forward to giving third world health care or a bed for a guatemalan street child to my friends and family for birthdays, christmas, and whatever other gift-giving occasions arise. my hope is that this type of outward looking exercise would become a regular rhythm in my stewardship- a reminder that my pocketbook can sometimes be the truest reflection of my real priorities in life.

immigration complication...

2006-03-28T09:17:00.000-08:00

in a political climate that is so often frustrating and endlessly bureaucratic, it is good to see the democratic process in action to reform immigration so that the voice of a larger-than-we-realize workforce can be recognized. but the immigrant constituency has the potential to be a significant political base, and because of this potential, the political maneuvering is that much more complicated.

politics aside (somewhat), immigration is a touchy issue for a lot of people because of the personal implications- and no, i'm not referring to the burning question of who will wash our restaurant dishes or pick our fruit if migrant laborers are outlawed. it's personal because we are all immigrants- some have merely been here a few generations longer than others and have forgotten their history. my grandparents came here (some legal, some not) with hopes of providing a better life for their children, my parents. and here i am today, the recipient of the benefits they sacrificed.

sadly, we are so quick to forget our roots, and even quicker to clamor for privilege at the expense of others we deem undeserving of the rights afforded at one time to us. naturally, there is something scary about the 'other'- differentiation is what drives us to group, exlcude, and oppress. but diversity- when it is embraced in community- has the power to disarm prejudice through education and relationship. advocacy for immigrant rights is just one thread in the social fabric of justice and peace- a seamless garment of life that connects us all.

context is everything...

2006-03-23T10:23:00.000-08:00

this week our community group was discussing a passage in jeremiah that was essentially arguing that to know god is to do justice. but we wrestled with the fact that justice is such a peripheral issue for our culture because comfort is so accessible, at least for the middle class. other priorities compete for our attention- education, career, and all the accessories of the upwardly mobile western life.

we are not on trial for our faith or facing possible death as christian peacemakers (who were thankfully rescued)- instead we are wondering what kind of worship songs we like and trying to domesticate the gospel as an add-on to our gluttonous, hedonistic existence. western faith is a fashionable accessory for social connections, or worse- a manipulative means to attain prosperity from the cosmic vending machine whose divine blessing is only a formulaic prayer away. we are the kings of religious consumption, and faith here is little more than an afterthought as we accumulate our way through life.

context is everything. in much of the world, lacking the material comforts we so readily overlook, the christian faith can be a life or death decision every day. the sad thing is that in essence, the western faith is no less consequential- we have merely masked its significance with consumerism and muted its impact with mediocrity. and so the vast majority of the church ambles along in apathy, distracted by the shiny accessories of upward mobility, all the while wondering why the world doesn't want to join our religious club so that they can be as comfortable as us.

home wrecker...

2006-03-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

well, it's finally begun... the long awaited kitchen remodel has gotten the green light and demolition will commence this afternoon. sawzall? check. sledge hammer? check. pry bar? check. theological reflections and pictures to follow... does god love me less if my work triangle is slightly miscalculated?

*edit: mission accomplished. thanks to andy for encouraging me to 'release some anger' on the cabinets.

the trinitarian shamrock...

2006-03-17T09:39:00.000-08:00

like most holidays, st. patrick's day has lost its 'holy-day' meaning and been converted into a raging consumerfest of green beer, a parade or two, and perhaps some four-leaf clover stickers. so tonight as you down the irish brew at your local pub, remember st. patrick's famous quote: 'Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me'- it's an easy meditative liturgy that i've really enjoyed.

i found a decent article on st. patrick that straightens out the myth from the reality, and even though he didn't really drive the snakes of ireland into the sea or illustrate the trinity with the three leaves of a shamrock, st. patrick was a genuinely influential missionary, theologian, and bishop of his day. the confession of st. patrick is a classic read as he remembers his humble beginnings, his enslavement, and his passion for the christocentric life.

some have argued that the irish saved civilization as we know it because of the large monastic community established through st. patrick's ministry that preserved written records of scripture and other literature that would later be disseminated throughout europe after its own season of instability. so perhaps we owe st. patrick more than we realize... patrick- the patron saint of beer and literary preservation.

i'm on my way...

2006-03-15T14:02:00.000-08:00

today was the big day (fuller's notification deadline), and having still not heard back from the program coordinator as of about noon, i was beginning to get a little worried. i called down to pasadena with the expectation of getting some disappointing news since i had not received the acceptance phone call/email, and i was just about ready to hear her explain that my rejection letter was in the mail... but then to my surprise, i was told that they were merely behind schedule, and then she casually mentioned that i was accepted.

"what was that?" i said.
"you've been accepted into the program," she replied.
"i got in?" i asked sheepishly.
"yes, you did," she affirmed.
"well that's good news!" (*pumping fist*)

whew, what a relief! i've been trying not to think about it for the past couple of months, so it's nice to finally be able to move forward with some plans (future planning is just about my favorite thing). i'll start my Ph.D. program with a seminar on research methodology at the end of july and then hopefully begin full time studies in september of this year.

the big question in the meantime is finances. i'm applying for all sorts of aid, finishing my taxes so i can complete my FAFSA, and hoping for some private scholarships. at $508+/credit, i'll be looking at ~$12k/year in tuition fees, which is really not that bad if you think about it. if i'm able to maintain full time student status, i hope to finish the degree by summer '09. woohoo!

since i'm not moving down to LA, i have a feeling that i'll be spending a lot of time in two particular places: UW libraries and the airport. i'm excited about being on campus at UW again (and actually studying this time!), but i'm not too thrilled with the thought of racking up all those frequent flyer miles. oh, the sacrifices for education... i can't wait to get started!

church on steroids...

2006-03-14T09:42:00.000-08:00

the latest seattle magazine highlights an interesting trend in church growth- particularly for the pacific northwest, a traditionally 'unchurched' region- it is the burgeoning megachurch market, a veritable conservative christian experience for the whole family!

i have been to two of the three churches they profile (the city church and mars hill) and had 'interesting' times at both. i was first introduced to the city church during my college years, and i was struck by the distinctive neocharismatic subculture- often a heavily personality-driven experience complete with its own vocabulary. though i wasn't much of a pentecostal, they still seemed to acknowledge that i was a christian, too- and that if i could learn to be as expressive as they were, i could also 'experience the blessing!' though i would disagree with a few emphases, there really were some good things going on at the city church back then, and that's why i was so disappointed to see them embrace the health & wealth prosperity gospel in recent years. i don't want to bash their faith, but i believe that there is real danger in the basis of this name it & claim it 'theology' that now overshadows nearly everything that they do.

as for mars hill, our neighbor church across the ballard bridge, i'm still a bit puzzled by their mega-conservative theology dressed up in hipster glasses and tattoos. it's not the appearances that are confusing- it's the strict gender roles, biblicism, and narrow epistemology that seem a bit disingenuous to me. but with that said, i also think they are doing some great stuff. no church is perfect- especially not quest.

mostly i'm just wondering about the mega-mentality, and frightened by the pervasive nature of the inadvertent megachurch pressure to be... well, mega. are megachurches helping seattle, or are they merely reshuffling the deck as they cannibalize neighborhood churches? mega-jesus just doesn't look right to me- there's something a little bit off. he seems to be just a little too polished- so corporately branded for efficient reproduction and distribution. do i love him or buy him? or both?

burma is my neighbor...

2006-03-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

this sunday is the global day of prayer for burma and quest is hosting a gathering at the qcafe on saturday night from 7-9pm to gather, educate ourselves, and pray. as i'm preparing to share a bit on god's heart for justice in the world, i have to admit that at times, burma seems like just another nation of oppressed people on a looong list of humanitarian crises in the world. but i'm thankful that people from within our immediate faith community are able to lessen the anonymity through their stories and connections to real people and places- not just statistics or ideas floating around somewhere out there.

thanks to friends like rich and teresa norman who are directly involved with giving aid and building relationships there, i am not praying for some faceless mass of victims- instead, i am advocating for young men disfigured by landmines, women struggling to stay alive, and children without proper medical resources.

our government has long been aware of these issues, and it really is critical that the church come together to care about something meaningful for a change. i don't want to minimize the importance of the 'traditional christian' issues- certainly our faith has something to say about abortion and homosexuality- but we've forgotten that while we were perfecting the art of mass hypocrisy by majoring on the minors, the rest of the culture moved on and we're still beating the same drum... but no one is listening anymore. we talk at people, not to them- and thus all they hear is the medium. the message is lost in our irrelevance and unwillingness to build relational bridges to a culture we lost touch with decades ago.

if we're going to embrace our christian vocation to engage and incarnate our society, we must find common ground, and social/global justice is one of the best ways. it's something we can all agree on, and it's the heart of god as well. to a secular society that is convinced of christianity's hypocrisy, it is disarming to discover that we're not so different after all.

beyond the four walls...

2006-03-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

this past saturday i had the privilege to attend a breakfast gathering called 'the training table' at new holly, an innovative community of the seattle housing authority near my home. at around 9am, john perkins got up to speak and i was curious to hear him in person having only read about his amazing story and his heart for racial reconciliation and community development.

his clarity and passion was incredible. maybe i'm just a sucker for prophetic critiques of apathy and ignorance, but i would basically consider him a modern day martin luther king. despite the blatant and often violent prejudice and oppression he has endured, perkins embodies hope for all that the kingdom of god can be when the church is effectively mobilized. he covered so much ground- from challenging the african american community to lower their rhetoric towards homosexuality to speaking out against our foreign policy in latin america, he even spent some time talking about how we can engage hamas with constructive diplomacy. amazingly, he didn't even need the mic in a room of over 140 people.

he challenged the diverse group of men who had gathered there to understand that mission is the burning heart of god- and to recognize that this mission must go beyond the four walls of the church. he also highlighted seattle as one the best cities in the country to do christian community development because of its unique political position that supports diversity and advocacy in many social issues. chris and i are hopeful that her work as a real estate agent will give her the opportunity to help people in our community become home owners- check out her new website!

day of ashes...

2006-03-02T18:15:00.000-08:00

in a monumental blogging oversight, i had neglected to mention the beginning of lent as of yesterday. what kind of liturgical christian am i? (the kind who grew up in the fundamentalist south, i guess.) anyhow, last night i was privileged to be able to mark the foreheads of my brothers and sisters at quest with ashes as we remembered that we are dust, and to dust we shall return. there is such depth and richness in the rhythm of the christian calendar, and i hope we can recover the sacredness of these holy days in the midst of this frantic and fragmented lemming-like insanity we call western culture. i'm hoping to fast from all beverages except water and milk for the next 40 days... we'll see if i can make it...

/ / dangerous peace :

2006-03-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

apparently peace can be very dangerous- as university of washington professor david barash now knows. thanks to some teaching on peace studies, barash was blacklisted as one of the 'most dangerous academics in america' by conservative commentator david horowitz.

in horowitz's defense, rarely are these issues one sided, and he has posted a rebuttal to the seattle times article at dangerous professors- a site surely designed to enlarge his platform... and maybe sell a few books.

regardless of who has more academic and political clout combined, it is both amusing and annoying to see those who would police education for its partisan leanings while practicing the same biases in their own editorial diatribes. sure, barash may have a political slant, but he has no wider audience to indoctrinate than horowitz does- they just happen to be on opposite sides of the fence. education is invariably indoctrination to a degree- like all of the information overload in our culture, there is always a biased perspective being fed to you in one way or another.

this is why i believe so strongly in the value of diversity and dialogue within higher education- we must teach people to think critically instead of being critical of thinking. with all the power games, financial contingencies, and conspiracy theories within the institutionalized establishment- who knows what to believe? or perhaps more theologically, how can we hear the voice of truth in this culture of plurality and relativity? my hope is that unlike horowitz, we'll learn to listen before we condemn, and discuss before we are quick to judge.

/ / world on fire :

2006-02-28T09:15:00.000-08:00

while it's certainly good to hear the voice of moderate imams in the midst of growing violence in iraq, it's too bad that these voices are often stateside within the safety of peace and religious protection. i wonder how dangerous a grassroots movement to overcome sectarian violence would be in baghdad. the voice of reason can be unpopular when a power struggle is unfolding on the brink of civil war.

speaking of civil war, sudan is back in the headlines (or did it ever leave?) for the growing refugee crisis that is crossing the border into chad- a place that is already war torn and harboring hundreds of thousands of sudanese.

Sudanese refugees who have arrived in recent weeks recount grim tales of slaughter, rape and plunder. Ibrahim Suleiman Mahamat, a herder from the Masalit tribe who lived along the border, said janjaweed had stolen his livestock: 40 cows, 20 goats and sheep, 2 camels and 2 horses. Penniless and terrified, he had little choice but to cross into Chad with his two wives and six children. Dozens of relatives left behind plan to join him, he said. Even in the relative safety of the Gaga Refugee Camp, far west of the border, he said, he does not feel safe.

"We are in a very dangerous situation," Mr. Mahamat said. "What happens if there is a war in the country you are from and the country you have fled to? We are nowhere. There is nowhere for us to go."

suddenly my problems seem so insignificant- and what's more astounding than the depth of human depravity in its proclivity for violence is the amazing ability of people of privilege to simply embrace apathy.

/ / voicefulness matters :

2006-02-23T09:07:00.000-08:00

last night while driving home and listening to kuow's speakers forum, i was rapt with attention as cornel west addressed a wsu audience in honor of black history month (which he notes is the coldest and shortest month of the year). prior to this, i had only read a bit of his work, and never heard him speak, but after hearing about three minutes of his passionate and prophetic voice, i was sold- he's got to be one of the most compelling speakers i have ever heard... his dynamic delivery was so good that i took notes. a few highlights:

schooling is not education. true education is when you learn to die- it is recognizing that your worldview rests on pudding- it's intellectual vertigo.

young people today have such thin armor(eph. 6)- families are weak, communities are feeble, mass media disproportionately shapes our worldview. it's all about titillation, not empowerment- we are bombarded with orgiastic emptiness- how did what it means to be human become synonymous with what it means to be a consumer? how can we create prophetic possibility in this culture? in our market driven culture, we lack the courage to ask the hard, critical, socratic questions, and we forget that the unexamined life is not worth living... from the womb to the tomb, what does it mean to be human?

democracy is a verb, not a noun- it is ordinary people taking back power in the face of elite abusive power. blacks had only their voices and bodies- and they offered their voicefulness to choose a life of dignity. but we have gone from 'let freedom ring' to 'bling bling.' materialistic and hedonistic and narcissistic- obsessed with success, but spiritually vacuous. remember that peacocks strut because they can't fly- don't confuse prosperity with magnanimity.

there once was a time when we could turn to our churches- when love and justice were at the center. but now they are the chamber of commerce for religions- it's merely market spirituality. christians more and more find themselves aligned with the elite and the power brokers of empire even though the cross was the sign of a political prisoner put to death. we are so easily well adjusted to the status quo of injustice. you megachurch pastors with jets, mansions, 13 cars- you are 'highly successful', but for what? success must be a means to a deeper end- no society can survive if we are committed only to ourselves- we must have a common commitment bigger than ourselves.

as a professor, scholar, and author of philosophy, religion, and sociology, west is somehow able to weave together the traditions of the social activist, the academic reformer, the liberation theologian, and the african american baptist preacher all into one seamless flow of prophetic truth. incredibly profound and uncomfortable stuff- i love it.

/ / the waiting game :

2006-02-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

so i called fuller yesterday morning in an attempt to get a status update from the SIS program on their progress in selecting the fall '06 PhD candidates... i really had no justifiable reason for calling since i know that they are still in process, but i just wanted to talk to someone, drop my name, and make a personal connection in the hopes that they might feel bad when it comes time to send out those rejection letters in a few weeks.

the program coordinator informed me that it does indeed take the faculty the entire two months to process all the applications, and that they are just now prepping all the files to be taken before the admissions board. with that timeframe, i have basically 22 days left until the notification deadline of march 15th. did i mention that i hate waiting?

i usually consider myself a fairly patient person, but for some reason, i've been feeling particularly antsy about this application. it's probably because i'm typically confident going into these situations, but for the first time in a while, i feel like i have very little control in the outcome. i'm sure this is a good thing, but it's also pretty annoying. control is a tricky thing- it undermines faith, contributes to arrogance, leads to self-reliance, and makes theology about power, not transcendence. but control is addicting... and ultimately, like many addictions- it is also an illusion.

so instead of searching for my control fix, i'll keep trying to just wait... and trust.

/ / power and privilege :

2006-02-16T11:18:00.000-08:00

this sunday at quest, i'll be preaching on the book of exodus as we continue our series in the pentateuch. honestly, it's a pretty intimidating task to kickoff our journey into exodus considering that it is basically the most important book in the entire old testament. on top of that, i'll be focusing on chapter 1 and exploring the themes of power and privilege.

in many ways, i feel so far removed from this ancient hebrew text and i find myself wishing that i was jewish so that i could better understand just how critical the exodus is to the christian worldview. if anything, the exodus reminds us that god hears the cries of the oppressed, initiates our salvation, delivers us from our oppressors, and calls us out to claim and walk into his redemptive story.

but one of the biggest problems with reading exodus as an educated middle class american is that i'm a whole lot more like egypt than i am like israel! so what does it mean for me to identify more with the oppressor than the oppressed? i think it means that to follow yahweh requires me to relinquish my privileges in an attempt to advocate for the powerless. in a culture obsessed with power, upward mobility, and entitlement, the exodus calls me into the mud to make bricks with the hebrew slaves.

/ / digital valentine :

2006-02-14T11:14:00.000-08:00

with young kenyans going online for love, kenya's first dating website- lovepot.com- is gaining nearly 200 new members every day. breaking with the centuries-old tradition of arranged marriages has alarmed some traditionalists, but it has also brought exciting prospects for others.

Paul Mbatia, head of sociology at Nairobi University, said: "In the traditional sense, marriages were negotiated by families - not by individuals. We are increasingly making this issue an individual affair, rather than a community affair.

while i'm certainly thankful that i was able to choose my own wife, i can't help but wonder how long it will take for the side effects of western individualism to play out in kenyan society's marriages. though arranged marriages are not necessarily a safeguard against infidelity, at least the numbers indicate a much lower divorce rate among cultures that still commonly practice getting the family involved. true, this may be the result of restricted freedoms (particularly for women), but i can't say i'm that thrilled with the results of our unrestricted freedoms either- liberated love lives have gotten us into a pretty messed up situation as well.

divorce rates are through the roof, and absolutely horrendous services like ashley madison cater to 'attached individuals' looking for something on the side. with nearly a million members basically accepting that marital infidelity is just a part of our 'relational privileges,' it's no wonder that divorce is more common than staying together. cheating becomes just part of my freedom to exploit the rights i've been given.

so i guess the question is- how can we encourage education, gender equality, marital freedoms, and all the while support the societal sanctity of faithfulness? frankly, it might just be easier to go back to letting the parents do the choosing.

/ / freedom of religious intolerance :

2006-02-10T09:42:00.000-08:00

it's been slightly surprising (though perhaps it shouldn't be) to see the violent and inflammatory controversy over the now infamous muhammad cartoons being published and/or censored around the world. i find myself a bit stuck between opinions because i partially recognize the insensitivity involved in publishing images that much of the world's muslims would consider blasphemous, and yet at the same time, i'm convinced that if islam is going to survive today's various cultural-political wars, then it must either grow thicker skin, internally reform its fundamentalism, or retreat into its own safe religious enclave.

in favor of 'editorial discretion,' i somewhat agree with kofi annan who scolded the media for 'pouring oil on the fire' in the name of free speech instead of 'exercising responsibility and judgment.' free speech and press are absolutely critical in any democratic society, but clearly there must be careful discernment in particular contexts- it would certainly seem inappropriate to give media coverage to the kkk on martin luther king day. the media must steward freedom of expression with wisdom because it is a privilege as much as it is a right.

but at the same time, i can't help but feel like the broadly hostile response to the cartoons is indicative of a larger problem within islam. fundamentalist muslims must come to the realization that the non-muslim world does not live under sharia and thus cannot be expected to ascribe to its tenets. if i see an editorial, a commerical, a billboard, a film, or a magazine expressing something i consider to be blasphemous about jesus, moses, mary, or god, then i am certainly entitled to be upset, but i cannot reasonably hold the publication responsible for not sharing my belief system or worldview. moderate, progressive, and even nominal muslims need to speak out against an extremist fundamentalist islamic ethos in the same way that christians ought to vocally condemn the idiocy of morons like pat robertson and jerry falwell.

perhaps most importantly, religious reform must take place internally among the leadership- it's a family issue. muslim scholars, clerics, and imams must assert their influence to stifle the fundamentalist voice before all of islam is associated with the dangerous and divisive rhetoric of religious extremism. in the same way, it is critical that christianity reform its own fundamentalism from within- it would surely be hypocritical to point out islam's issues without acknowledging our own.

/ / keep the dream alive :

2006-02-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

with the passing of coretta scott king, we have lost a great leader in the ongoing battle for civil rights. three presidents and many other prominent community leaders paid tribute to this powerful woman who kept his dream alive.

those who mistakenly believe that the era of civil rights activism is over should have been present in columbia city last night at the rainier vally cultural center. our community group went to a meeting on immigration reform hosted by washington's hate free zone, a local organization that aims to be a catalyst for systemic change through political advocacy, direct support, community mobilization, and education.

i was pleased to see a strong presence of the faith community with several faith-based coalitions represented as well as a female taiwanese-american pastor with the united church of christ. it was no surprise to hear numerous stories of prejudice and injustice- from the abuse of day laborers to racist legislation in the name of 'national security.' most notably, an esteemed somali imam from a local seattle mosque is being detained indefinitely on charges of 'immigration violation' which is actually an excuse to investigate him on 'suspected terrorist activity.' this civil rights violation is exactly the kind of injustice that coretta scott king would speak out against.

as chris and i are preparing our taxes soon, it is endlessly frustrating to see our tax dollars at work in this joke of a legal system. as they chanted last night at the meeting- 'no immigrants, no america- no justice, no peace!'

/ / prophetic imagination :

2006-02-07T09:07:00.000-08:00

it's long, but well worth the read- transcript courtesy of sojourners.

Bono's best sermon yet: Remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast

If you're wondering what I'm doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It's certainly not because I'm a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I'm here because I've got a messianic complex.

Yes, it's true. And for anyone who knows me, it's hardly a revelation.

Well, I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural...something unseemly...about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the south of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert...but this is really weird, isn't it?

You know, one of the things I love about this country is its separation of church and state. Although I have to say: in inviting me here, both church and state have been separated from something else completely: their mind.

Mr. President, are you sure about this?

It's very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned - I'm Irish.

I'd like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I'd like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws...but of course, they don't always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you're here.

I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here - Muslims, Jews, Christians - all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God.

I know I am. Searching, I mean. And that, I suppose, is what led me here, too.

Yes, it's odd, having a rock star here - but maybe it's odder for me than for you. You see, I avoided religious people most of my life. Maybe it had something to do with having a father who was Protestant and a mother who was Catholic in a country where the line between the two was, quite literally, a battle line. Where the line between church and state was...well, a little blurry, and hard to see.

I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays... and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.

For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land...and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash...in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment...

I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV.

Even though I was a believer.

Perhaps because I was a believer.

I was cynical...not about God, but about God's politics. (There you are, Jim.)

Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick - my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the world's poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord's call - and were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholic's point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty.

'Jubilee' - why 'Jubilee'?

What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lord's favor?

I'd always read the scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35)...

'If your brother becomes poor,' the scriptures say, 'and cannot maintain himself...you shall maintain him.... You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit.'

It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he's met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, he's a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasn't done much...yet. He hasn't spoken in public before...

When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,' he says, 'because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.' And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favour, the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18).

What he was really talking about was an era of grace - and we're still in it.

So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate - in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn't a bless-me club... it wasn't a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions...making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people.

But then my cynicism got another helping hand.

It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children...even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.

Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself judgmentalism is back!

But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.

Love was on the move.

Mercy was on the move.

God was on the move.

Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet...conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS...soccer moms and quarterbacks...hip-hop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!

Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!

Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!

Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.

It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.

When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened - and acted. When churches starting organising, petitioning, and even - that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying...on AIDS and global health, governments listened - and acted.

I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.

Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.

Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.

I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. "If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places."

It's not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.) 'As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor.

Here's some good news for the president. After 9/11 we were told America would have no time for the world's poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it's true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors.

In fact, you have doubled aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund - you and Congress - have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria.

Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud.

But here's the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There is much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.

And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice.

Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice.

And that's too bad.

Because you're good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it.

But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.

Sixty-five hundred Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about justice and equality.

Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the tsunami. 150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature." In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.

It's annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren't they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain.

You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, "Equal?" A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal? And they say, "Yeah, 'equal,' that's what it says here in this book. We're all made in the image of God."

And eventually the Pharaoh says, "OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews - but not the blacks."

"Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man."

So on we go with our journey of equality.

On we go in the pursuit of justice.

We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than 2 million Americans...Left and Right together... united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.

We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King - mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started. These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas.

Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market...that's a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents...that's a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents...that's a justice issue.

And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

That's why I say there's the law of the land¿. And then there is a higher standard. There's the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it's OK to protect our agriculture but it's not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?

As the laws of man are written, that's what they say.

God will not accept that.

Mine won't, at least. Will yours?

[pause]

I close this morning on...very...thin...ice.

This is a dangerous idea I've put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God...vs. no God. It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity.

And this is a town - Washington - that knows something of division.

But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the scriptures call the least of these.

This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea. Nor it is unique to any one faith.

'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Luke 6:30). Jesus says that.

'Righteousness is this: that one should...give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.' The Koran says that (2.177).

Thus sayeth the Lord: 'Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.' The Jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.

That is a powerful incentive: 'The Lord will watch your back.' Sounds like a good deal to me, right now.

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it. I have a family, please look after them. I have this crazy idea...

And this wise man said: stop.

He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.

Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed.

Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.

And that is what he's calling us to do.

I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to 10% of the family budget. Well, how does that compare with the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family? How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world? Less than 1%.

Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America:

I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing.... Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional 1% of the federal budget tithed to the poor.

What is 1%?

1% is not merely a number on a balance sheet.

1% is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you. 1% is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you. 1% is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business thanks to you. 1% is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole. This 1% is digging waterholes to provide clean water.

1% is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism toward Africa, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants of every description.

America gives less than 1% now. We're asking for an extra 1% to change the world. to transform millions of lives - but not just that and I say this to the military men now - to transform the way that they see us.

1% is national security, enlightened economic self-interest, and a better, safer world rolled into one. Sounds to me that in this town of deals and compromises, 1% is the best bargain around.

These goals - clean water for all; school for every child; medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty - these are not just any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which this country supports. And they are more than that. They are the Beatitudes for a globalised world.

Now, I'm very lucky. I don't have to sit on any budget committees. And I certainly don't have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don't have to make the tough choices.

But I can tell you this:

To give 1% more is right. It's smart. And it's blessed.

There is a continent - Africa - being consumed by flames.

I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did - or did not to - to put the fire out in Africa.

History, like God, is watching what we do.

Thank you. Thank you, America, and God bless you all.

/ / heading home :

2006-02-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

the conference is over and i'm now at the chicago o'hare airport waiting at the gate for our return flight back home to seattle. thanks to the delay, i get to blog aimlessly as we burn some time in this last stretch of the trip.

as i met people from all over the country this past week, i was struck by how much i consider seattle home. it was cool to see some sites (however briefly) in chicago, but without hesitation i can say that seattle has got to be one of the best places to live in the nation. i love the good asian food and the abundant lush greenery. i love my diverse neighborhood and the proximity to water, mountains, and city life. i love my beautiful wife, my faith community, and sometimes- even my rat-infested house.

we modern mobile middle-classers have such a thin and hollow theology of place. we'll move from one place to another in an instant just to get more square footage per dollar or more dollars per hour or more upscale shopping or better street parking. we don't think about place in a relational or spiritual dimension because we often consider geography morally neutral. but it isn't. every day as we drive down certain streets, patronize certain businesses, and occupy certain locales- even the very place where we lay our heads to sleep- these places have theological implications that ripple-effect through our communities.

i can never forget that i am intimately connected to my neighbors, and that as i make decisions on a daily basis, big or small, i do not make them merely as an individual, but as a husband, a friend, a consumer, a citizen, a voter, an employee, and a steward. what a lonely and empty home i would have if i embraced the illusion of isolated individualism.

/ / ragamuffin gospel :

2006-01-31T09:25:00.000-08:00

though a ragamuffin sounds a bit like a breakfast food to me, i'm actually in chicago this week at the annual midwinter conference listening to the wisdom of author and speaker brennan manning.

manning shared this morning about the reckless and (according to GK Chesterton) furious love made known in the person of jesus that shocks the religious establishment and shatters our own perceptions of self in a world that demands we earn our love. interestingly, he pointed out that so many people who misunderstand god's feelings toward them do so because they project their own self-perception onto god.

i'm off to ponder.

/ / who is andy shaver? :

2006-01-27T10:04:00.000-08:00

andy shaver is in sudan (thanks to dr. mike for the link) working with samaritan's purse to provide relief and development amidst a brutal (some say genocidal) conflict. i don't know andy personally, but i think we were probably studying at regent at the same time. beyond the mere regent connection, there is something that i'm drawn to as i read accounts of people who have chosen to intentionally commit themselves to a place and a cause, whatever it may be.

i'm also reminded of the commitment chris and i have made to live and work abroad somewhere in a developing nation for at least two years, something that will happen hopefully within the next few years. we long to be shaped by the voices and lives of the two-thirds world- and personally, i'm prayerful that the experience would make my repentance of gluttonous 'pig'-itis (to use a eugene-ism) a more natural, less painful detox.

the tragedy of western culture is that it has taught us to see the world as individuals, and naturally, we grow fat and self-obsessed in this context. we are not connected, interdependent communities- we are islands. and in that world, the mantra is 'to each his own' and therefore self is king. but what if we were created in the image of community? and what if the core of being human meant (in the words of miroslav volf) embracing the other? the world would be different.

/ / how to make a terrorist :

2006-01-26T09:24:00.000-08:00

here's a recipe for global instability: one part cultural imperialism, one part social oppression, two parts random killings of civilians. mix ingredients with missle strikes. add slaughtered women and children to taste. more specifically, here's the american version of this hegemonic formula:

1. gather flawed intelligence. if possible, use fear-inducing language like 'wmd' and 'terror' to justify random aggression.
2. choose weak (ideally helpless) target nation, bonus for developing infrastructure.
3. execute military incursion without diplomatic approval. who needs to contact the sovereign government when you can just shoot first and ask questions later?
4. when the mission has failed, pretend like nothing happened. completely ignore collateral damage.

sound ridiculous? or maybe all too familiar? it's not just pakistan and iraq- heck, it's our whole foreign policy: the neocon way. sure, we gave pakistan some earthquake aid- and we followed up our benevolent goodwill by firing rogue missles at civilians. dead women and children? oops! talk about a mixed message.

i wonder if perhaps, in this pakistani village, there is a boy who lost his entire family. they were sleeping peacefully when the missles exploded, destroying not only the village, but also his loved ones. he wakes to the bloody carnage of what used to be his mother, his sister, and if he is old enough, maybe his fiancee. in overwhelming grief and rage, he seeks the culprit of this senseless violence. what might he grow up to be? a friend of america, or something else entirely? but don't worry, we won't claim any responsibility. we'll blame islam, oil, and extremism. god bless the usa!

/ / leah's road to uganda :

2006-01-24T10:11:00.000-08:00

as some of you may know, leah has been in uganda for over a week now working with catholic relief services to research peace building in a nation struggling with one of africa's longest running conflicts.

most notably, the warring in northern uganda with the lord's resistance army has been an active armed conflict since 1987. as a result, there have been literally millions of internally displaced people and international refugees, and perhaps most tragically, the abduction of thousands of children who are forced to become soldiers or sex slaves (that is, only if they manage to avoid being brutally mutilated or slaughtered as an example to the other kids). you and i have no concept of the reality they face in international human rights violations, let alone the personal, emotional, psychological, and spiritual implications for generations of ugandans who are forced to live with these atrocities everyday.

why, you may wonder, after nearly two decades of conflict, are we not seeing headlines all over the news? the answer, sad but true, is that we just don't care. as the closing scene of the constant gardener reminds us, lives in africa are cheap, and we westerners apparently have better things to concern ourselves with, like celebrity idolatry and trips to pottery barn. a few trendy americans have slapped on a one bracelet because bono and brad have one, and that's about it. but thankfully, some christians are coming around. check out invisible children, and watch the dvd (feel free to borrow mine). educate yourself. do something.

'The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.'
-Albert Einstein

/ / pious peashooter :

2006-01-19T10:03:00.000-08:00

enjoy some editorial quality from seattle times columnist nicole brodeur.

i've always been puzzled by antioch bible church's motto: 'black and white in a gray world.' certainly a black and white worldview is more appealing in its simplicity, but unfortunately, i think it is also a reductionist retreat into a denial of reality. the real world is complicated, nuanced, and often times, different shades of gray. in the same manner, scripture carries with it a lot of the same complications. many who mistakenly claim its 'inerrancy' and 'infallibility' fall into the trap of painting black and white over a lot of gaps and questions that the bible simply leaves open.

the 'black and white' concept goes along with some other ideologies that i would call intellectual training wheels- intended for good for a season, but meant to come off when you learn to ride on your own. training wheels are needed when you can't stay balanced, but if you keep them on forever, they will cripple your ability to think.

/ / same crap, different day :

2006-01-18T10:33:00.000-08:00

i am so tired of these headlines. in a classic move of their predictable culture police hypocrisy, conservative christian groups are all up in arms over the 'homosexual agenda' of hollywood. i haven't yet had the opportunity to see brokeback mountain, capote, or transamerica, but i hear that they are all good films.

heck, while they were at it, even syriana made it onto the bad list (because we all know that corruption in the oil industry is just unheard of!). i'm ashamed to be even loosely affiliated with the ridiculous finger pointing of today's pharisaic movement, a.k.a. fundamentalism. one day i just might lose it and go nuts in a christian bookstore or something. the fake-o, sanitized, 'christian' subculture drives me up the wall like fingernails on a chalkboard.

theologizing about sexuality cannot occur in a vacuum- it absolutely requires a relational context. condemn it as 'liberal hermeneutics' if you want, but to do so is merely avoiding the issue (most people who use the terminology don't even understand it). and we wonder why they call us hypocrites.

/ / rat update :

2006-01-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

the crawl space cleanout crew came on monday and i was reminded of why i payed them thousands of dollars to do this incredibly nasty job. near the top of my list of worst jobs, this has got to be one of them. the strangely amusing part was being in the house as they worked beneath us because we could hear their expletives and groanings at what they discovered under my house.

of the three of them, only one was really vocal- initially i was concerned at his screaming, but soon found that this was merely his work style. some of my favorite phrases of the day were:

"my life sucks!"
"what have i done to deserve this?"
"did you see the wwf battle royale last night?"
"oh my god, that stinks!"
"this is absolutely disgusting!"
"calgone, take me away!"

chris felt pretty bad, so she made them some coffee as they had a smoke break in my back yard. unbelievably, the snowball effect continues. they were able to pull out all the contaminated materials, but before they can reinstall the new insulation and vapor barrier, we now have to fix four ventilation openings that aren't sealed properly. yipee.

they only found about half a dozen dead rats, one of which i am calling "the queen." apparently, they found one with an 11" body... so gross. though it may not quite qualify as a rodent of unusual size, i'm glad i called the professionals because i don't think my bb gun would have taken out the queen.

/ / i have a dream :

2006-01-16T11:32:00.000-08:00

"a nation that continues year after year to spend more on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." -MLK

though sound bites won't do him justice, today is meant to recognize a man who embodied social transformation and justice in an era that would have likely defeated you and i. but the hostilities of racism and poverty did not stop the rev. dr. martin luther king, jr.- in fact, they seemed to merely deepen his urgency and conviction. today, his ideals continue to shape a generation of activists still longing for the equality he sought.

here in seattle, one of the largest MLK celebrations in the nation takes place today not far from my neighborhood as we remember that just this past april, king county was officially renamed to honor MLK's commitment toward racial equality and economic justice for all people, his commitment to nonviolence, and his stand against war and militarism. additionally, the seattle times has a great archived collection of MLK info. anyway, i should quit my jabbering and let king do the talking.

from his final book in 1967, entitled Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?:

The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.

preach it, king. you are missed.

/ / radio silence :

2006-01-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

in hopes to maintain my own sanity, i am considering a blog break for the week with my qualifying exam for fuller's sis program quickly approaching this friday. yes, the rodent (and now plumbing) issues have been that time consuming. yes, i planned this poorly (or perhaps procrastinated slightly). and yes, i need every free minute i can get in the next three days to prepare. cramming is equal parts pressure, joy, and stress.

ever since mike (my co-applicant) told me that only about sixteen out of over fifty applicants get in, i have been feeling this lingering weight in my stomach about anticipating rejection. i can think of lots of worse things (like perhaps rat infestations), but still, rejection sucks.

/ / you have an infestation :

2006-01-06T12:46:00.000-08:00

it sounds so sinister, but that's what jack bentley of terminix called it. jack is a pest inspector for the greater seattle area and he was a veritable fount of information on rodentia. rats are actually fascinating creatures, though perhaps more interesting on paper than under your house. if anything, they are survivors, much smarter and more robust than your average house mice.

jack went on to share about king county's growing rodent problem, with estimates of the local rat population being in the millions. according to the latest census data, that's at least one rat for every person living in king county. he also said that based on his inspection schedule all over the city, he estimates that 1 in 8 homes in most residential areas have rats, from medina to white center.

contrary to public opinion, there should be no socioeconomic stigma if you have rats- they do not necessarily discriminate when it comes to where they choose to nest. they apparently leave pheremones wherever they forage, and whether you live in the projects or madison park, you're just as at risk. of course, if you do happen to leave piles of decomposing food waste on your front porch, then you're inviting an infestation. anyway, enough rat info. for all you other homeowners out there, you might want to check your garage/crawl space just for kicks. the 1 in 8 could be you...

/ / you dirty rat :

2006-01-04T11:55:00.000-08:00

i think there are rats under my house. in some bizarro universe of rodent karma, i suppose this situation is justified. okay, so i might have been a bit too enthusiastic with the training regimen for my college hamster, hamu. i swear, she really seemed to enjoy those games. and bathtime in the sink? well, she needed a bath. really, it was all done only with the best of intentions.

either way, based on the descriptions, it looks like i have the common brown, or norway rat, which happens to be (of course) one of the largest in the rat family. wonderful. i had initially hoped they were just mice, but i think i'm going to need some bigger traps. the first traps i set with peanut butter were licked completely clean within 12 hours, and they also seem to be uninterested in the poison.

it's been over a year since my last rat incident, and this time they're chewing on my house instead of my car. if anyone would like to lend me their cat for a day or so, i'd be very appreciative. does god love rats, too? i'm not so sure...

/ / so long two thousand five :

2005-12-31T20:04:00.000-08:00

three hundred sixty five days, come and gone once again. there seem to be a million 'best of' lists out there, but none more comprehensive than (of course) the wiki-year of 2005. at the bottom of a very long list of significant events, i found a bit of wiki-trivia that reminds me of why wikipedia is the most badass open source encyclopeida online: 'In Transformers: The Movie, Decepticons rule the planet Cybertron during 2005. The Great War between Autobots and Decepticons rages on Earth, on Cybertron, and in space.

this movie rocked my eight year old world in 1986, and i can still recall the robotic carnage and the mysterious power of the matrix (long before the wachowski brothers allegedly stole the story from sci-fi author sophia stewart). anyway, not a whole lot has changed in the last nineteen years- there are still forces of good and evil battling in the world, and rich white guys are still taking advantage of hard working minorities.

i digress. this has been a great year. and i'm hopeful that transitions in '06 will help me to lead a simpler, deeper, more holistic life in the face of a fragmented culture that pulls my time, attention, and heart every which way. i long for a focused faith more connected and genuine. may god be gracious to you- may he turn his face toward you and give you peace, now and forever. amen.

/ / mall madness :

2005-12-26T16:43:00.000-08:00

someone please stop the insanity. in a moment of weakness (or perhaps more appropriately, in the name of marriage), i agreed to accompany chris to one of the most congested consumer-filled locations in the area on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. what was i thinking? at this very moment, i am literally being swarmed by turbo shoppers of all ages, shapes, and sizes. i'm lucky that i found this bench outside of the mac store (hence the free and unsecured wifi) because i was almost trampled by two large women carrying several pottery barn bags and a caravan of strollers laden with enough baby gear to smother many children i'm sure.

i think those junior highers over there are moshing for ipod nanos and it's hilarious watching the overcrowded masses because these 30 ft wide walkways were clearly not designed for this many people. several poor souls inching by look jealously at my prime bench real estate and even though i am crammed into this corner with five other people, i'd much rather be here than awash in the raging rapids of rabid buyers barrelling by just inches from my keyboard. some of them, more cattle-like, are grazing and wandering, perhaps aimless or hypnotized by the sale signs like the carpet and lights in vegas casinos that keep you lost because you can't find a clock or an exit. others (of the turbo variety) are frighteningly fierce, crawling all over each other for the best bargains with a shopping intensity that makes me think they must have been training for this day for months.

this must be a little bit of what hell is like. sure, call it washington square, but that's a thinly veiled disguise for what's really happening here. swarms of people- clueless, obsessed with over-consumption, credit-carding their lives away for chasing after the wind, and beautifying a hollow tomb whose whitewashed exterior has little more than decay and barrenness inside. i'm wrapped up in this, too- stuck in this downward spiral of destruction where incessant upgrades are required to satisfy my insatiable appetite for comfort. i'm a louis vuitton hamster wearing uggs, running feverishly on a platinum wheel and of course, going nowhere.

consumer culture took over our lives long ago and it clearly dwarfs the christian worldview in a society absolutely dominated by the almighty dollar and the ravenous customer. if only our voracious obsession with wealth and affluence were rivaled by our convictions to live out justice, peace, and righteousness. this mall where i'm sitting would be a really different place.

/ / peace on earth :

2005-12-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

blessings to you and yours. have a merry christmas!

/ / why i am a religious extremist :

2005-12-21T09:19:00.000-08:00

maybe i'm not- i just feel that way sometimes, though i try not to be extremely religious. it's not that i identify greatly with fundamentalist martyrs, long to strap bombs to my belt, or am seeking to form my own cult of the 'true' church (though i can certainly see the appeal of hoards of obedient followers- koolaid, anyone?).

but the obsession i can't seem to shake is trying desperately to see how my faith is connected to the world around me. if the gospel is truly the lens through which i see my surroundings, then truly, everything looks different. culture, society, church- none of it escapes the revealing light of the cross. the very essence of being human shifts its meaning. and the problem is now disconnect. it doesn't all fit together nicely anymore- as darrell would always say, 'things are not as they seem,' and furthermore, things are not how they are supposed to be. everything is obscured by biases, religion, and the infamous tension between the already and the not yet. the gospel compels me to constantly re-evaluate my priorities, and it painfully reminds me of my depravity. it goes against the grain of everything that is comfortable and easy.

at times, i wish i could embrace complacency and stop asking these impossible questions of contextualization. it would seem less laborious to just mindlessly go about my business, stuck in the matrix and allowing The Man to dictate my next steps. he would tell me to buy more stuff and that i'm a good person inside with my upwardly mobile trajectory and fluency in religious rhetoric. but in the end i'd find that it's an empty lie, a hollow promise with fleeting returns. and so i'm stuck with my obsession instead... but at least i'm not crazy. or am i?

/ / good samaritans :

2005-12-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

time magazine is quoting jesus' parables? perhaps i've underestimated america's evangelical literacy. regardless, as this article confirms, there seems to be a growing respect for those in positions of great authority and wealth who are able to use their influence for philanthropy instead of merely self gain. especially amidst the growing awareness of certain inequities in our stratified world, humanitarian causes are not only all the rage in hollywood, but they are also a helpful tool in both the media and public sector to provide broad based education that promotes advocacy for the least of these.

it is both refreshing and alarming to see predominantly secular personas leading the way for modeling unconventional uses of power- refreshing because it's about time we self-obsessed westerners applaud generosity and benevolence, but alarming because i worry that the church has already lost its opportunity to step into the role she was born to play. jesus himself pioneered the upside-down power structure with the love of god and neighbor as his rules of law. death to self fulfilled in the cross demonstrated his absolute commitment to overturning the cultural standards of his day. only the most provocative revolutionary could act in a way that puzzled even his closest followers until the very end.

today, the church is letting this opportunity to embody justice slip through her fingers yet again, like every other cultural facet we have left to the world because we were too busy debating systematic theology or condemning bono's alleged ambiguous spirituality. left to our own devices, we cut ourselves off from the world, functionally impotent to impact any real change in society. i'm thankful for bono and the dynamic gates duo, but why isn't the church showing them a thing or two? dream with me about a missional ecclesiology that shows the world some christians who are more than just religious lip service hypocrites.

/ / in the mail :

2005-12-15T14:38:00.000-08:00

so the last components of my SIS application went out by UPS today. it should arrive at fuller in three days, which is about how long it felt like i was waiting for the 'shipment transaction specialist's' three tries to correctly print out 'fuller theological seminary' on the mailing label. her first attempt was 'fuller technological seminary' and her second was 'fueler theological seminary.' though it probably would have arrived either way, you can never be too careful. but then again, maybe there is a fueler technological seminary where fuel technicians are trained for vocational ministry.

coincidentally, while the growing crowd was waiting through her repeated label printing efforts, a woman in line who overheard me spelling the address said that she had taken some courses at the northwest extension campus near spu. small world, but maybe not surprising since fuller is one of the largest institutions of graduate theological education in north america.

but downtown seattle is probably one of the most unlikely places in america to run into an evangelical seminarian- especially since we are widely known as (according to two british university students i recently met) the 'none state'- washington leads the nation in the percentage of adults who self-identify their religion as 'none.' coupled with our highest average level of education in the country's major cities, we have an excellent formula for dominant secularism.

taking these thoughts into consideration, i titled my dissertation proposal accordingly: 'cultural contextualization on the final frontier of faith: missional ecclesiology and justice in the spiritually unreligious city of seattle.' if things go well, i'll get to partner with my alma mater, the university of washington, to do my research with the sociology and religion departments... good times.

/ / making trade unfair :

2005-12-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

as thousands march against the WTO in hong kong, i'm reminded of seattle's own run-in with the WTO back in '99 which is affectionately known as 'N30' or the 'battle of seattle' for its november 30th riots which rallied more than 40,000 protesters, the largest anti-globalization protest to date. it's too bad that a small number of idiotic hippie anarchists from eugene (of all places) started going buck wild on public corporate properties and led the demonstration into chaos.

check out this quote from the article: about 4,500 demonstrators from Malaysia to Mexico to Mongolia stayed along a route designated by police and protested peacefully against free-trade accords they say benefit the rich and powerful at the expense of the poor. Beating drums, waving colorful banners and carrying mock coffins, they chanted, "Down, down, WTO!" and "U.S. imperialists, No. 1 terrorists!"

wow- 'US imperialists, #1 terrorists!'- that's pretty catchy. for an interesting overview on what people are so upset about, check out maketradefair.com and their free trade myth, a very brief explanation to the ruckus. in all fairness, though- here's a rebuttal from the center for trade policy studies, which is, of course, in favor of free trade and open markets at seemingly all costs. i wonder how the south korean farmers who are prostesting in hong kong would feel about freetrade.org using them as their top success story. oh, who to believe!?

/ / beside myself :

2005-12-09T09:47:00.000-08:00

ever wish you could step out of your own skin to see things differently? of the many gifts lesslie newbigin left to the church, his ability to look at culture with both piercing clarity and honest limitation is one of the hallmark themes throughout his writing. this excerpt from the gospel in a pluralist society is a reminder to me of why this work is such a classic. in this brief snippet, newbigin attacks the purely rational defense of faith:

what is striking about the books which were written, especially during the eighteenth century, to defend christianity against these attacks, is the degree to which they accept the assumptions of their assailants. christianity is defended as being reasonable. it can be accomodated within these assumptions, which all reasonable people hold. there is little suggestion that the assumptions themselves are to be challenged. the defense is, in fact, a tactical retreat. but, as later history has shown, these tactical retreats can- if repeated often enough- begin to look more like a rout.

perhaps the experience of a foreign missionary may usefully illuminate the point i wish to make. when i was a young missionary i used to spend one evening each week in the monastery of the ramakrishna mission in the town where i lived, sitting on the floor with the monks and stuyding with them the upanishads and the gospels. in the great hall of the monastery, as in all the premises of the ramakrishna mission, there is a gallery of portraits of the great religious teachers of humankind. among them, of course, is a portrait of jesus. each year on christmas day worship was offered before this picture. jesus was honored, worshipped, as one of the many manifestations of deity in the course of human history. to me, as a foreign missionary, it was obvious that this was not a step toward the conversion of india. it was the co-option of jesus into the hindu worldview. jesus had become just one figure in the endless cycle of karma and samsara, the wheel of being in which we are all caught up. he had been domesticated into the hindu worldview. that view remained unchallenged. it was only slowly, through many experiences, that i began to see that something of this domestication had taken place in my own christianity, that i too had been more ready to seek a "reasonable christianity," a christianity that could be defended on the terms of my whole intellectual formation as a twentieth-century englishman, rather than something which placed my whole intellectual formation under a new and critical light. i, too, had been guilty of domesticating the gospel.

i can read newbigin over and over again and i am constantly challenged to wrestle with the contextualization of my faith. as much as have come to know and believe over the years, i have this lingering feeling that i keep getting it wrong, that i am stumbling and rebuilding, then picking it apart and pasting it together again.

/ / be very afraid :

2005-12-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

it strikes me as a bit odd that it is 2005 and we are just now getting around to making official policy statements about treating people humanely. only under international pressure is this administration finally throwing up their hands and saying, "okay! you got us! we'll say we won't torture" (but what we actually do is another matter entirely). forget international law like the geneva conventions- geneva-shmeneva! who needs to obey laws when you can walk all over the UN whenever you please?

the illegal abduction and torturing of detainees is nothing new. this type of policy is how we have 'led the world' for many years past. it's disturbing to know that we lead by example- we have made the exploitation and abuse of power the way of the world.

/ / christian cool :

2005-12-02T16:44:00.000-08:00

with a terrible name like relevant, i was encouraged to read this article entitled a new kind of hipster, which partly pokes fun at the attempts to create 'cool' christian sub-culture. it's always a good idea not to take yourself too seriously, or more importantly, to be able to evaluate your own identity critically in a perpetually shifting context.

christians have long been trailing popular culture, always a few steps behind the trends with what ends up being just sanitized imitations mimicking the mainstream. it's sad, really. the church has been on the retreat basically since the intellectual development of the enlightenment posited reason against the faith claims of the religious establishment. we have been slowly rebelling against the fortress of rationality constructed in modernity, but we have a long way to go.

the worst part about 'christian cool' is that its mirroring of secular culture is a functional submission to the dominant worldview of the many -isms so prevalent in our society. it's what newbigin would call a tactical retreat through its domestication within the humanist plausibility structure- it fails to question the underlying assumptions present in our self-centered existence. basically, if the gospel merely produces bad imitations of a worldly culture, what more is it than a poorly articulated option amidst a plurality of choices, value systems, and worldviews?

herein lies the great challenge of authentic christianity: not establishing theocratic rule, not postulating propositional truths, not producing converts, not withdrawing to a safe religious enclave, but instead to incarnationally transform communities through a narrative of hope and a hermeneutic of love.

/ / world aids day :

2005-12-01T09:28:00.000-08:00

today is world aids day, so i woke up a little earlier than usual (6:30!) to head off to a pastors breakfast sponsored by world vision. they are hosting a free exhibit at pier 66 from december 1-3 called 'the aids experience: can you survive the journey of a child?' unfortunately, i had to leave early to go to work (bleh), so i missed the actual exhibit, but what i did catch was well worth the sleep i lost- world vision's president, rich stearns, gave quite the compelling message about acting on aids.

i appreciated his candid demeanor and more importantly, his urgent call for the church to get off their comfy rich posteriors to do something. the stats are both overwhelming and sobering at the same time- numbers of orphans, deaths, and projected infections that are simply incomprehensible, especially in our narcissistic western culture. but the most indicting statistic came from some survey research world vision had commissioned through barna research, one of the leading christian information groups in north america.

in this survey, evangelicals were asked if they would be willing to contribute monetarily to a reputable relief and development organization for the causes of the hiv/aids pandemic and other preventable diseases responsible for over 15,000 deaths a day globally. the answer? in 2001, only 7% said yes. today, the numbers have improved slightly to 15%. that's pretty sad, but the most pathetic part of the research is that, as usual, the secular surveys returned a higher percentage of people willing to contribute in both instances. where the hell is the church? and people wonder why they call us hypocrites.

i dream of the day when christians are known around the world for their charity, their humility, their generosity, and their service to the poorest of the poor and the sickest of the sick. until we stop bickering about the peripherals, hoarding our wealth, and pointing the finger at everyone else (the gays, the liberals, the terrorists, the secular culture)- until then, we will continue on- merely taking up space as the powerless, apathetic, self-absorbed church of jesus christ. hopefully that sounds wrong to you.

it has been called the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation, and perhaps in world history. how will history write about us? will they say that the church sat idly by without conviction as millions perished needlessly because of our unwillingness to help- too busy with our suvs, soccer games, and home renovations? the reality is that this sort of situation would never be allowed to carry on in the first world, and the painful truth it reveals is that deep down, we simply believe that american lives are 'more equal' than lives in africa, india, eastern europe, and whatever additional far away places we don't care about where hiv/aids is rapidly spreading. and the irony is that we won't recognize our dependency on the web of global interconnectedness until it's too late.

or as bono would say- we're holding water in our hands, and watching the world burn.

/ / seven deadly sins :

2005-11-30T10:24:00.000-08:00

while the seven deadly sins have had a long and colorful history in the christian tradition, i came across this more compelling version of the bad list according to gandhi.

mahatma gandhi was an incredible leader who apparently listed seven deadly social sins that he considered to be the most spiritually damaging to humanity:

1. politics without principle.
2. wealth without work.
3. commerce without morality.
4. pleasure without conscience.
5. education without character.
6. science without humanity.
7. worship without sacrifice.

it has been said that this list is more relevant today than when he wrote it more than a half century ago.

/ / seven strikes :

2005-11-29T11:12:00.000-08:00

i had always wondered why car theft was such a problem in seattle... part of the answer comes from today's seattle times:

The seasonal increase in car thefts here is compounded by the fact that Washington has one of the highest car-theft rates in the nation. The state ranked seventh for the number of cars stolen in 2004, with 44,596, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Local police say lenient sentencing guidelines for car theft are part of the reason it has become such a problem in the Northwest. According to data released this summer by the King County Prosecutor's Office, a car thief in Washington has about a 1-in-16 chance of being arrested for each car stolen. And under state sentencing guidelines, a car thief will spend a year or more behind bars only after the seventh offense.

a couple of sundays ago at quest, someone's car was broken into during the service in broad daylight while parked just off 15th avenue, which has consistently heavy traffic. now while i'm all for mercy and turning the proverbial cheek, car theft is just one of those sore spots for me... i think we ought to quit torturing 'terrorism' detainees and try some of those interrogation techniques on car theives instead. let's see how the auto theft rate responds when we begin flying auto criminals to libya so we can go medieval on their asses... now that's what i call *extraordinary rendition!

*please note sarcasm.

/ / his love endures forever :

2005-11-25T00:27:00.000-08:00

Psalm 105

1 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
4 Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.
5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
6 O descendants of Abraham his servant,
O children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
7 He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,
9 the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
10 He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant.

be thankful. and of course, don't forget- with thanksgiving behind us, it's now buy nothing day. consume less, live more.

/ / turkey time :

2005-11-22T17:26:00.000-08:00

about to hit the road for the annual thanksgiving trip to portland... given our comfortable lifestyles, it's a shame that we only spend one day a year reflecting on how thankful we ought to be for the everyday luxuries we carelessly consume. worse yet, we decide to celebrate our gratitude by stuffing ourselves silly, a gluttonous feast of self-indulgence followed by food coma and a long nap. we're thankful simply because it's easy to be.

i'm reminded of a time at church back in the day when my youth pastor surprised our students by preparing an unexpected breakfast feast to break a 40 hour fast that the youth ministry had participated in together. rather than the usual spread of pancakes, eggs, hash browns, bacon, and so on, he cooked up a big pot of plain oatmeal instead. the students, expecting to be rewarded for their 40 hours of 'suffering' without food, were intially disappointed with the glop of cooked oats in their bowl.

but i can only hope that they got the point that he was trying to make: the material 'hardships' we deal with in the western first world are really quite petty in comparison to where and how most of the world will spend this thanksgiving. even in our own cities, for many, the holidays are painful reminders of how little they have, and how few they have to celebrate with.

i'm hopeful that my insatiable appetite for comfort and satisfaction will learn to be thankful for life's bowls of oatmeal- it's the little things that often get overlooked that seem to be the most important.

/ / afternoon haiku :

2005-11-21T15:34:00.000-08:00

tick tick says the clock
time gone by does not return
how did i forget?

/ / hitting the books :

2005-11-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

after a lot of phone calls, emails, and long conversations with various schools over the past month or so, i've decided on a program- at least one that i'm willing to submit an application to. in the end, the winner was fuller theological seminary's school of intercultural studies. i'll be applying to their sis doctoral program by the end of the year, and if i get in, i'd hope to start this coming fall. the clincher (other than not having to move to LA) was the well-established scholarship of fuller's program, whose 40 years of heritage have significantly shaped the missiological field and provided a depth of faculty with broad resources and connections.

for the next six weeks or so, i'll be preparing for the entrance exam, which is basically a three hour written test covering a comprehensive reading list of over 100 titles in 12 sub-disciplines. thankfully, i am only required to have a working knowledge of 25 books in five categories, as opposed to trying to cram the whole list, which would probably be near impossible given the timeframe i have. i'm excited to hit the books again as i've gotten mentally sloppy in these past nine months without any heavy academic reading. i love the pressure.

i'm toying with a few different ideas as far as what specific area i'd like to research, and i'm not sure how to pitch my idea without having someone like charles ringma to brainstorm with- he was so helpful in the shaping and development of my masters thesis. i want to explore the urban and multiethnic contextualization of emerging missional eccelesiology with a focus on the tension between cultural engagement and the counter-cultural nature of 'kingdom of god' language in the gospels (and a sub-focus on social/global justice as a tool to bridge the gap between gospel values and a postevangelical society), but i need some dialogue partners to help pare down the scope.

my primary dialogue partner, lesslie newbigin, has been dead for about seven years, so he's not coming up with much additional material these days. but man, he is still mind-blowing. so, any living volunteers? i'd appreciate the help.

/ / around the world :

2005-11-16T11:37:00.000-08:00

so much to read, so little time:

from sojourners:

who would jesus torture?
While I served in the Global War on Terror, the actions and statements of my leadership led me to believe that United States policy did not require application of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan or Iraq.... Despite my efforts, I have been unable to get clear, consistent answers from my leadership about what constitutes lawful and humane treatment of detainees. I am certain that this confusion contributed to a wide range of abuses including death threats, beatings, broken bones, murder, exposure to elements, extreme forced physical exertion, hostage-taking, stripping, sleep deprivation, and degrading treatment. I and troops under my command witnessed some of these abuses in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

- Captain Ian Fishback of the 82nd Airborne Division in a letter to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), as printed in The Washington Post.

from adbusters:
- chavez' reform in venezuela
- creeping fascism

from aljazeera:
- the destabilising effect of darfur
- the corrosive division in france

from bread for the world:

The Power of One: Faith and Global Justice Seminar
Free Event--No Registration Required
Saturday, November 19
8:30 am-12:30 pm
Seattle University
Campion Tower, 914 E. Jefferson
Seattle, WA

/ / go plant a tree :

2005-11-15T09:24:00.000-08:00

this past saturday, thanks to the community development skills of our neighbors helen & andy, combined with the grunt labor of our south seattle c-group, we managed to plant 11 trees along south hudson st, just off of martin luther king way. our mastermind behind the project was helen, who got a grant from the city to help improve the appearance of the street. just behind the locally famous jones bbq, hudson has no curbs or sidewalks, perhaps because it was annexed as residential later than other parts of the neighborhood. what used to be a dominant gray of gravel and chain link fences is now supplemented quite nicely by newly planted trees with planter boxes in front of most of the houses on the block.

the best part of the experience was seeing all of the neighbors working together- the diversity of coulmbia city in action. most of the people on the block had moved to the area within the past year or so, and many were involved in some form of home or street renovation. not everyone spoke perfect english, but it was enough to be able to dig some holes and shovel dirt together. the highlight for me was being able to operate a bobcat auger- man, that thing was fun. if any of you need a giant hole drilled in your yard, let me know.

several of the neighbors i met asked me if i knew andy and helen, and mentioned what great neighbors they were and how exciting it was to see the community coming together. in jesus' parable of the good samaritan, a jewish teacher of the law asks jesus, "and who is my neighbor?" in his narrative reply, jesus defines 'neighbor' not by geographical proximity, not by status or similarity, but by mercy through relationship. being a neighbor is not simply occupying space in the general vicinity of others... so i'm faced with the same questions: who is my neighbor, and who am i being a neighbor to?

/ / blood on our hands :

2005-11-10T09:26:00.000-08:00

it's business as usual in jordan and iraq. after yesterday's suicide bombings in amman and today's in baghdad, we are left with yet even more carnage and senseless violence. no, this is not a hollywood production on the glamor of war- that is real blood in the streets of iraq- spilled from the bodies of real people that had families, jobs, and apparently, a favorite restaurant.

our easiest response to such grotesque murder is fear. and our knee-jerk reaction is most often retaliation. 'brutal psychopaths!' the white house will exclaim. 'terrorist killers!' the media will say. 'blow them away in the name of the Lord!' says bush's buddy jerry falwell. don't ask why- that's weakness! i am deeply saddened by the ongoing and destructive cycle of america's global war on terror. as we sprial downward in hypocrisy, the enemy we have created grows more motivated, more brutal, and more determined.

it is a well documented fact that suicide bombings in iraq were virtually nonexistent before we invaded in 2003. the context of that figure is of course complex, but what is crystal clear is that we have created perhaps the biggest mess of our generation by illegally invading a sovereign country, killing thousands of their civilians, stealing their assets and resources, botching their reconstruction, and now turning their own people against themselves. what the hell did we expect would happen!? operation iraqi freedom my ass.

i digress. do yourself a favor and take a few minutes to listen to veteran war correspondent chris hedges who spoke in seattle a couple of months ago. the man is brilliant. with the blood of iraqis on our hands, the least we can do is hear the guy out.

/ / like vapor :

2005-11-08T11:58:00.000-08:00

Ecclesiastes 1 (The Message)
The Quester

1 These are the words of the Quester, David's son and king in Jerusalem:
2 Smoke, nothing but smoke.
There's nothing to anything--it's all smoke.
3 What's there to show for a lifetime of work,
a lifetime of working your fingers to the bone?
4 One generation goes its way, the next one arrives,
but nothing changes--it's business as usual for old
planet earth.
5 The sun comes up and the sun goes down,
then does it again, and again--the same old round.
6 The wind blows south, the wind blows north.
Around and around and around it blows,
blowing this way, then that--the whirling, erratic wind.
7 All the rivers flow into the sea,
but the sea never fills up.
The rivers keep flowing to the same old place,
and then start all over and do it again.
8 Everything's boring, utterly boring--
no one can find any meaning in it.
Boring to the eye,
boring to the ear.
9 What was will be again,
what happened will happen again.
There's nothing new on this earth.
Year after year it's the same old thing.
10 Does someone call out, "Hey, this is new"?
Don't get excited--it's the same old story.
11 Nobody remembers what happened yesterday.
And the things that will happen tomorrow?
Nobody'll remember them either.
Don't count on being remembered.

frequently translated as 'meaningless' or 'vanity,' the hebrew word 'hebel' translated more literally means 'vapor.' what is the best translation? probably all of them. eugene peterson chooses 'smoke' for probably a couple of reasons. 'meaningless' has a hopeless connotation to it, while 'smoke' communicates the temporary, transient nature of vapor.

life is frighteningly fragile. one moment we are here, and the next we are gone. often times, it is only when we are confronted with the mortality of others that we are prompted to consider our own brief existence. what truly matters in the face of death? probably not most of the things that we are preoccupied with on a daily basis.

yesterday, ivan shimabukuro was called home to be with the Lord after a sudden and tragic stroke, leaving behind a grieving family and many questions. but he is remembered for his faithfulness by those he loved. may he rest in peace in the presence of god- and may the spirit of christ bring comfort to those who must now bear his loss.

/ / fuera bush :

2005-11-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

perhaps convinced that public opinion of his policies could not sink any lower domestically, bush is now abroad spreading his particularly imperialist brand of diplomacy (or "freedom" as he likes to call it) in south america. but as thousands of protestors mass to confront bush, i wonder if he must tire of being the most hated man on the planet.

at the center of the debate is FTAA, a trade agreement that many argue exploits developing nations and forces millions into poverty. coupled with international outrage at the iraq war, american foreign policy is as unpopular as ever. i am convinced that it will take decades to repair the damage bush has done to our reputation abroad- and having soiled the presidency with lies and manipulation, certain stains of mistrust may remain indefinitely- or worse, never come out at all.

with these realities in mind, it is all the more disconcerting that so much of the american evangelical church is in bed with bush. how did the church slip so easily into the pocket of karl rove? sadly, evangelicals were bought with some cheap gop talking points and never looked back or asked why. until we learn to ask the hard questions and think for ourselves, the church will always be a pawn of the political process and the religious right will speak for american christianity. and those who are silent will be responsible for their apathy.

/ / house of cards :

2005-11-02T10:28:00.000-08:00

ever wonder how much corruption lies beneath the surface of our highest levels of government? though i'm hopeful that the truth will make its way to the top, i'm also skeptical of our ability to effectively prosecute those in positions of influence.

here's a great link for a video stream of 60 minutes' report on the valerie plame exposure.

sometimes i am ashamed to be an american.

/ / happy hallow's day :

2005-11-01T11:56:00.000-08:00

never one to disappoint, wikipedia has a good articles on halloween and all saints day (today) and many of the religious and/or secular traditions and origins for both. i grew up in the bible belt in north carolina where our conservative christian alternative to halloween was called a 'harvest festival.' i do remember trick-or-treating as a kid, but once i was 'old enough' to understand, i was told about the 'truly evil' nature of this holiday-gone-wrong.

i'm sure that amidst the ongoing research about halloween's connections to occult practices, there are conservative christians making educational videos about the pagan dangers of dressing up kids in clown suits and tigger onesies. maybe a jack-o-lantern looks like the embodiment of satan to some, but all i saw last night were big groups of kids from the neighborhood roaming around together and collecting candy while parents made small talk and safely herded them from house to house.

chris and i met several princesses, a few jedi knights, an angel or two, tigger and pooh, and some other random costumes i didn't recognize. we talked to a lot of parents who lived nearby and it was great to see all the different kids representing the diversity of our community. even on a cold and rainy night, everyone was out and walking together. nobody even egged our house or tp'd our trees. i was almost disappointed.

/ / lost in translation :

2005-10-28T09:58:00.000-07:00

i rarely listen to seattle's local christian radio station, and last night i was reminded of why. spirit 105.3 aired a special segment condemning the 'controversial' translation of the bible, the tniv, or today's new international version. hosted by focus on the family, the infamous james dobson interviewed biblical scholar wayne grudem on the alleged gender-neutrality of the tniv. after listening for about thirty minutes, not considering that my opinion of dobson could sink any lower, i was surprised to find that he has now sunk to new depths on my conservative christian bad-list.

freely admitting that he is no biblical scholar, dobson somehow still felt compelled to spew his propagandized, fear-mongering rhetoric about liberalism, feminism, and yes, those politically correct bible translators. i realize that he has power to abuse and airwaves to corrupt, but can't he at least pick a topic that he's remotely qualified to comment on? at the heart of the issue is the method of biblical interpretation, which is as much art as it is science. as an academic discipline, it pulls from a variety of fields, from technical linguistics to philosophy of history and culture. needless to say, the meaning of language perpetually shifts with culture, and the challenge set before translators is to effectively communicate the timeless truths of scripture in the midst of a changing context.

this is why translators must aim for dynamic equivalence, not pure literalism. as anyone who is bilingual will tell you, so much meaning can be lost in literal translation. formal equivalence has its place in study, but berating the tniv translators (as grudem shamefully did) has no other purpose aside from pushing a personal agenda or holding on irrationally to an academic grudge.

lastly, there are about a million other battles far more worthy of fighting today. exemplifying fundamentalism's fatal flaw, dobson is majoring on the minors yet again. i'm so tired of his pandering to the religious right as their pharisaic, indignant spokesperson. hey james, how about you go public with your accounting records to show the financial connections between focus on the family and the gop? oh, i forgot- you're too bloated with wealth to care about the corruption of promoting a partisan agenda, and too drunk with power to remember jesus wasn't a republican. or a democrat. mostly, you're so scared of a shifting culture that your fear and faithlessness are spilling over onto millions of other christians. in your weakness, you are promoting the lie that the gospel is powerless to defend itself.

/ / scratching :

2005-10-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

sometimes it feels good to scratch an itch, and other times the itch becomes more irritated. anyway, enough with the skin analogies. after an informative appointment yesterday with the regional denominational representatives, ordination looks like a long shot, at least for now. the process takes at least three years and costs almost $5k, not including airfare for the denominational orientation classes, etc. that's a lot of time and money i could put towards further education, and for now that is far more appealing.

i also got an email back from the soc dept at UW and it's looking fairly unlikely at this point as well, mostly because the pre-req's alone would set me back quite a bit and wouldn't necessarily guarantee my admission to the doctoral program. students with a BA or a non-UW soc MA are considered on equal footing. fair enough- i wouldn't expect any less from a top 20 nat'l grad program, but at least the coordinator mentioned that she was familiar with regent and liked their degree programs. oh well. academic prestige and a career of research and tenure don't sound that appealing anyway.

so that leaves the d.min and the d.miss- the d.min would involve more int'l travel (good), but is more of a practitioners degree than a teaching degree. as for the d.miss, i feel more comfortable with fuller's accreditation, but the it's a new program that is geared towards a distance learning format & flexibility (not so good). maybe i should just quit my day job and roam the earth like caine in kung fu- solving problems, helping the little guy. or like jules in pulp fiction.

why is there such a disconnect between theological education, the real world, and vocational ministry? we are way too categorized. or maybe i'm just weird because they all seem to be connected to me.

/ / the itch :

2005-10-24T09:15:00.000-07:00

i've got the itch. no, not a skin irritation. it's that itch in the back of my brain that says it's time to move on to a new challenge. i get this feeling about once a year, and unfortunately it is accompanied by an unusual mental shuffle through a bunch of seemingly random ideas about what to do next. the options are not completely random, like scuba diving or race car driving (although i would actually like to try both of those), but the variety is still fairly broad. for the most part, i would basically like to go back to school, but for what? my options are limited because i want to stay in seattle, so thus far, i've got the following list:

1. d.min (doctor of ministry) from bgu.
2. d.miss (doctor of missiology) from fuller.
3. ph.d in sociology from uw.
4. ordination with the ecc.

bgu is small, but 'up and coming' and the d.min program has an awesome overseas rotation with some good connections to schools, scholars, and practitioners around the world. it's also fairly cheap and local, but the d.min is more of a practical than an academic degree, aimed mostly at 'professional' ministers, whatever the heck that means. the d.miss from fuller i know very little about aside from the fact that it's a part of the school of intercultural studies. i've been told that i won't have to move to LA (thank god), but i will have to travel a bit. uw sociology would definitely be the most rigorous and prestigious, and i'm intrigued by their sociology of religion concentration. their program is aimed primarily at those who want to teach/research in a purely academic setting, and the pre-req's would be the most substantial since it's a bit of a divergence from more theologically based education. bleh. lastly, ordination is an option, and while i do like the ecc, i'm not quite sure i want to move in that direction yet. and i'm not sure why, either.

suggestions, anyone?

/ / gazing :

2005-10-20T10:57:00.000-07:00

we used to make fun of dennis for his habit of occasionally staring off into the distance with his trademark expressionless gaze- eyes seemingly fixed on nothing and something at the same time. it would happen at random times throughout the day without warning. a few days ago i noticed it again as he sat on my couch, eyes glazed over for a few moments longer than usual. this time, though- he seemed a little more tired than distracted, and i wondered what thoughts were floating around in his head. dennis is joining kenny in the cancer hall of fame for young asians with unexpected conditions- and i hope, like kenny, dennis will exhibit remarkable resiliency in the face of such modern medical tortures like chemo and radiation.

i find myself gazing a lot more these days, but for unexplained reasons. maybe it's the lack of fresh air or natural daylight in this technology-laden basement where i am surrounded with the dull glow of four lcds and the quiet, incessant hum of cooling fans. or maybe instead it's the presence of death and suffering around me that seems so out of place and unwelcome in my busy context of work, church, marriage, and ministry. there is no time, no space- no place for quiet contemplation in my car, at my desk, or on the go- as i often am. so when josh visits and tells me the story of how his sister tragically lost her young fiancee to a debilitating disease just weeks after they were supposed to be married and starting a new life together, or when leah talks about the long road of recovery her brother will need to endure after extensive reconstructive surgeries, or when dennis outlines the rigorous treatment schedule he'll be undergoing and the toll it will take on his body, i'm there, but just for a moment before the numbness creeps back in.

i'm confronted with the painful and prevalent reality of suffering all around me, but i just have to push it away or switch it off because of the list- that damn ever-growing list of tasks and priorities that yank at my attention all day long. these are the responsibilities of the modern adult- home ownership, financial planning, insurance evaluating, career tracking... i used to enjoy the complexities, but lately i just want to find a cave. or a hole. some place remote and quiet. i cannot hear god above this noise, but in the sacred space of solitude, i hear his gentle whisper- and i am reminded of his presence with those who suffer, his strength made perfect in our weakness. if only i could allow the silence and stillness to coexist with the noise and busyness- then perhaps my frequent gaze would be directed towards christ, and not the nothingness.

/ / israel's land grab :

2005-10-18T10:24:00.000-07:00

as was predicted by many, having withdrawn from gaza, israel is now redrawing the roadmap and grabbing more land than they relinquished in gaza. building quickly and quietly, the infamous "security wall" snakes through the west bank, seizing valuable resources and isolating palestinians in abject poverty.

among the social conditions that breed terrorism, near the top of the list i believe you'd find poverty and oppression, with foreign occupation merely being a more specific perpetuator of both. but rather than excavate the systemic root causes of terrorism, we tend to prefer to drop bombs first and ask questions later. it is certainly easier to 'obliterate the bad guys' than trying to figure out why they hate you. 'after all,' bush & friends would say, 'isn't it a sign of weakness to try to understand your enemy?'

the saddest part of it all is that the whole run & gun mentality is merely a cover-up for what the government already knows. as cavalier and irresponsible as they are, they are not as simple[ton] (except for maybe bush) as they may appear. they knew long before they went into iraq that the invasion would increase global terrorism, but the bottom line is the bottom line. the risk was calculated, and we went in anyway. several years ago in vancouver i saw a picket sign at a war protest on robson that read "no blood for oil." i didn't believe it was that simple then, but i do now. sure, there are other considerations in the equation, but none so powerful as money.

but why am i always going on about this? you know this already if you read the paper. i guess the only question i'm left with is whether or not this particular administration is just above and beyond the call of evil, or if things have always been this way, and i only just noticed because they are especially over the top. my initial investigations into answering this question have returned depressing results. and i wonder how culpable i am for my years of complicity.

/ / way to go pat :

2005-10-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

thanks to the idiocy of pat robertson's ridiculously absurd call to assassinate democratically elected venezuelan president hugo chavez, chavez is now issuing a retaliatory expulsion of the US-based organization new tribes mission.

i don't know a whole lot about ntm, but regardless of whether or not chavez is justified in his reaction, the irresponsibility of robertson is inexcusable. what a moron. in a pathetic attempt to 'clarify' his orginal intentions, pat issued an official statement in which he compared himself with theologian dietrich bonhoeffer. at that point, i became too overcome with nausea to continue reading. it's a shame that tribal venezuelans and US missionaries have to reap the consequences of pat's stupidity while he sings his own delusional praises in the shadow of someone who gave his life to fight the corruption and hypocrisy that robertson himself represents.

/ / while i was sleeping :

2005-10-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

23,000 dead and 2.5 million displaced. it's like all the homes from renton to everett being destroyed. corpses everywhere, critical infrastructure in chaos, everything lost. these disastrous crises are seemingly all too common of late- in our backyard as well as abroad. the incomprehensible damage is numbing. relief organizations are already talking about how slow fundraising has been thus far in the aftermath of katrina and the se asian tsunami. people are all tapped out on generosity. sadly, we seem to be all out of empathy as well.

i'm no exception. i spent most of my day yesterday on fairly frivolous activities- painting a wall, reading a book, shooting squirrels in my backyard. but before i went to bed, i was sure to dedicate an entire 50-70 second prayer towards the unimaginable pain and suffering that millions of people are enduring at this very moment. then, warm and comfortable under my duvet, i slept like a baby and dreamt about rainbows.

when i woke up this morning, the world had changed forever. and tomorrow it will change again. sometimes i feel tired of going about my routine rationalizing mediocrity with information overload. because the bottom line is that i really do care much more about my agenda and my comfort than those who are in much greater need than i am. and i wish that didn't bother me, but for some odd reason, it does.

/ / chicken or the egg :

2005-10-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

like little children arguing over who hit who first, it can be impossible to determine who is the original victim, who is the transgressor, and ultimately, which party is to blame. however, if the two children happen to be one older overgrown bully and one younger underdeveloped runt, then the situation shifts a bit. the runt may not be blameless, but it's very likely that the big bully has taken advantage of his stature in one way or another. as with all systemic injustice, there is a power dynamic that must be addressed.

in the wake of floundering support for the iraq war, bush's pathetic speech writers are getting as desperate as they are creative. it's the same old song about 9/11, fear, and radical islamists who aim to "enslave whole nations and intimidate the world." oh, but he's not done yet- they also want "a totalitarian empire" reaching from Spain to Indonesia. did i mention that they are worse than communism, more evil than murderous pyschopaths, and anti-semitic to boot! wow, that's a long list of evil. i'm almost ready to enlist myself- give me a gun, i'll shoot them damn terrorists!

wake up. any cursory analysis of our foreign policy record shows one simple thing: we have systematically demonstrated again and again throughout the last 50 years that there is no limit to who we will kill in order to gain global dominance. i'm not saying we haven't done good things as well- we have- but the reality of our treacherous ambition is not hidden from history. it is merely dressed up in political rhetoric. we have killed more civilians, bombed more innocents, and illegally backed or toppled more regimes than the so-called 'uncivilized' governments we so often demonize. why is this time any different? it's not. we are the powerful, and we exploit the weak. don't be fooled by fear and ignorance. take a look at history yourself and see that this is not a war on terror- it's a war of terror.

/ / things look different now :

2005-10-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

it's interesting how certain life events can shift your perspective on things that seemed relatively predictable or important just moments before. unfortunately, it often takes a second of sobering reality to bring clarity and focus to the otherwise mundane- the things we all take for granted at every moment. like how i'm able to sit here and breathe in and out without pain, how easily i can get up and walk down the hall to talk with a friend, and how simple it is for me to not worry about my basic sustenance and well-being.

humans are experts at living in the moment and being self-absorbed. it seems to be just part of our nature, ingrained in our cultural dna. and when we are confronted with the fragility of life, the temporal nature of our existence- we don't know what to do. it makes us uncomfortable. mortality can be unpleasant. the sad part for me is that it takes the suffering of someone close to you to bring reality to the forefront. the rest of the time it's not on our radar that the suffering of others ought to impact us personally. and that's because i don't have enough of the heart and spirit of christ in me... transformation- conversion, even- is such a long process.

this has all happened before- kenny knows all too well and now dennis has to suffer through a painfully familiar situation. why? theodicy is an age old debate and doesn't have much bearing when your friend is lying there not able to take for granted the simple things most of us enjoy because we are healthy. theology doesn't get rid of cancer, though i wish it could. cancer cuts through the crap and asks you hard questions- what do you believe is truly important? where is your trust? what is the substance of faith? and who is standing beside you?

/ / $100 laptop :

2005-09-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

no, it is not the latest consumer gadget available for tech geeks- it is so much cooler than that. mit's concept for a $100 laptop is aimed at revolutionizing children's education in developing nations. the best part about the laptop is that it's more than just another novel idea- the projected costs and system specs seem feasible within a quickly approaching timeline: the preliminary schedule is to have units ready for shipment by the end of 2006.

those who fear corporate enslavement to the man need not worry (yet), the units will run a linux-based OS, not a microsoft windows system. thank god they won't be endlessly downloading critical system updates and security patches- that would be enough to drive any developing nation into chaos.

props to the mit media lab for moving in this direction- what a refreshing development to see those with knowledge and wealth choosing to work towards reconciling educational inequities abroad instead of merely hoarding their privilege for themselves.

"This is the most important thing I have ever done in my life. The idea is simple. It's an education project, not a laptop project. If we can make education better--particularly primary and secondary schools--it will be a better world."

-Nicholas Negroponte, founding chairman of MIT's Media Lab

/ / gladys, bert, and pat :

2005-09-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

so i finally met my neighbors more formally, and all it took was a little hanging out in the front yard for some hardcore weed pulling action. i got this forked weed puller that looks like an overgrown meat skewering device and it works like a charm- just one good jab at the root plus a little leverage and most weeds pop right out. not bad for $2.87 from home depot. i now have a huge collection of decomposing weeds on my back patio. the gross part is the stream of dark brown dead weed juice that dribbles off the concrete and seems to be attracting all sorts of flying bugs. sick.

but anyway, back to the neighbors. gladys and bert are retired and have been living in the same house since 1948- yes, that is 57 years. amazing. they raised their 4 (i think) kids who now have kids of their own and now they mostly hang out at home and keep their yard in immaculate condition. every time i see their perfectly trimmed hedges, i feel ashamed of my whacked out foliage. what used to be a flower bed in my front yard now looks like a mixed weed convention, or a showcase of how to ruin a perfectly good flowerbed. what not to do to your garden. take your pick. so yeah, i like gladys and bert- they seem very nice and grandparently. i hope they don't mind my rogue ivy that is stealthily crossing over our property line.

on the other side is pat, a middle aged vietnamese guy who has chosen a different look for his yard: concrete. i like it a lot- very low maintenance, lots of room for extra parking, and hey, he's got a basketball hoop bolted above his garage, so cement from the house to the curb seems appropriate. i might ask him if i can shoot around once in a while, or maybe i'll challenge him to some one-on-one. he's about 5'4", so i think i can take him, but with all these middle-aged asian basketball leagues, you never know. a game of pig or horse might be a safer bet- i'm sure my old school playground shots would catch him off guard.

in all seriousness, chris and i would love to figure out some ways to just be good neighbors to them. who knows, maybe we could have them all over at once for tea. doesn't everyone like tea? maybe we'll get to talking and whoa- we could be friends. what a crazy idea.

/ / just for fun :

2005-09-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

this is so amusing. i could play for hours... click and drag!