Check out this U-Tube video on leadership. Very interesting demonstration of how leadership works, and what it takes to really start–and be a part of– a movement! Pertaining to New Wine, who do you think the Lone Nut is, (eh-hem) and how well are we following/leading?
Endangered Species: Creative Humans
Check out this link http://www.sirkenrobinson.com/
It’s a clip of Sir Ken Robinson, an “internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources”. He claims that we get educated out of our creative capacity, and that “if we’re not prepared to be wrong, we will never come up with anything original.” Very interesting.
There are more clips of him on U Tube if you are interested.
What do you think about what he has to say as it relates to us being made in the image of an infinitely creative God?
Why do you think creativity is more and more being pushed out or undermined in our society and educational systems if it is indeed part of our core identity?
Is Christianity good for the world?
Check out this clip ( video link underneath the photo):
It’s from “Collision” a documentary which follows an atheist and theologian as they debate whether Christianity is good for the world. What do you think about this clip?
Warning: Love. Proceed With Caution.
I was on a run the other day and got to thinking about love. Now, this could be simply because right now, I gotta say, I feel loved. Not only that, but I can genuinely say that I love so many people in my life. And this love is so deep and rich and powerful to me. It truly is a mystery. A mystery the way I can hear a beloved friend or sister speak and just beam with appreciation and awe. It’s that moment when I feel deeply connected to them, almost as if I created them. I know that sounds odd. But it’s this weird…pride and protective feeling I get when I truly feel love for someone.
It made me think about a conversation I recently had with my dear friend and former New Wine intern, Crystal. We were talking about how dangerous love is—yet it’s something that we all pine for. Odd, isn’t it? Love is the very thing that breaks us down, ruins us, and makes us crazy, pathetic, annoying, delirious and sometimes a bit awkward. We lose our common sense. We forget or misplace our priorities. (I mean, I never do that. But I hear it happens.) We go BLIND over this creepy thing called love. Yet we all want it, and when we get it, we are so “in love” that when the person we love hurts us, we are shocked. Dismayed. Beside ourselves. Our guard was down because, well, we were in love, silly.
Are we all masochists? We are then so surprised that that this beautiful, irresistible love hurt us and we become broken, scarred, terrified.
The crazy thing is, we all love imperfectly. Yet love in this world is not only absolutely necessary and the glue that holds humanity together, but it is also the glue that sticks to our fingers, peels our skin off, and makes us go mad. It’s also a force that, when mismanaged, can turn ugly. It is crazy to me to think that the only love that is perfect and full is our Creator’s love. And this love still sometimes hurts, sometimes shocks, and sometimes hides from us. But it’s the most perfect love we will ever experience. It’s also the perfect love that we must learn from and imitate. God loves recklessly. How are we allowing love to manifest and truly be fostered in our lives?
Loving cautiously to me, is scared, untrusting love. It’s rancid love. I want to step out in faith on love a bit better. I want to know what it’s like to truly love my co-worker who can never seem to utter one positive thing about anyone, bless my roommate who can never seem to grasp that beautiful step of moving the dishes from sink to dishwasher, extend a helping hand to my overwhelmed colleague who, quite frankly, is in way over her head (no, I’m not talking about you) and awkwardly build a relationship with someone who is so different from me I don’t even know where to begin. But again, that requires stepping outside of myself and trusting that love truly does cover a multitude of sins. I guess my question is, do we really believe this enough to risk allowing this sort of crazy love into our own lives? Or are we trusting more in our own fears, wounds and pride that we are depriving ourselves from experiencing this deep, reconciling love?
What’s after the “Call” again?
Call + Response has been out for a while, but alas, I just watched it. And go figure, I am inspired. First of all it is inspiring to see individuals who are giving their lives, their voices, their careers, their talents, to abolishing modern day slavery. I realize I need to fight that voice in my head that says it can’t be done, because it CAN be done. Slavery has been abolished before, we can do it again, and this time with the help of much more resources. I am sold: I do believe that this is a 21st century challenge to an age old problem that we all are faced with and called to respond to. We are responsible.
We must do what we can with what we have. And what we have is… a lot.
We have our voice, resources, education, talents, gifts, consumer power, the wisdom of God, the power of the Holy Spirit and community. Slavery was abolished before because of concerted effort and solidarity. It can and will happen again in the same way.
But I’m afraid.
I’m afraid that I will forget the hopelessness in their voices
and the emptiness in their eyes.
I’m afraid I will forget the anguish I felt for them.
I’m afraid that the empowered voice in my head that said “Yes! I must do something. I can liberate these people!” will fade away.
But what if we don’t let it fade away.
What if we encouraged one another to
consider the challenge
to fight for another’s freedom
to fight for another’s laughter and song
to fight for another’s dignity.
What if “holding each other accountable” took on a whole other level?
What if we followed the ramifications of our actions to the ends of the earth (rather than foolishly thinking they stop at us)
and what if we saw the tremendous power we have as consumers, decision makers, social changers?
What if we harnessed this power and freed the oppressed
to sing the better song of freedom.
I’m afraid I will forget the way I felt sitting there, looking at the faces of God’s beautiful creation–
tormented and broken–
wanting so badly to break into their lives and bring them hope and liberation,
to rescue them from their hell and lead them outside,
so they can look up at the endless sky
simply because
now they can.
I fear that the blatant corruption and evil I saw will be overshadowed,
that the moving music, impassioned calls, fiery convictions
will be subsumed by
a stressful paper to write
a job to find
a family member I must call
a traffic jam I must endure.
And I will forget
the 27 million (individuals with names, fears, hopes, desires, just like us)
who know no freedom
of writing a paper
searching for a job
talking with family
battling traffic
And beyond this, they don’t even know how
to read or write,
express themselves or laugh.
They don’t
even know how
to smile.
Again, I am pleading with my self, with my flesh in all its funk, with my community
with you
to cry with them
and to fight for them.
I fear I will move on and say one day,
Yes, I saw that movie.
Yes, I knew there were 27 million oppressed, enslaved individuals (each created and loved passionately by a God who knows them by name and calls us to love and liberate them)
and…no
I didn’t respond
because I had a paper to write
a phone call to make.
And besides, what can one person do?
That, my friends, is the voice of an oppressor.
And I fear that in all my shock and paralysis, I will only succumb to being
yet another slave trader
out of cowardice and disconnect.
Like Ashley Judd said (something to the effect of), ” I don’t want my purchases to be another’s torture, my freedom to be another’s slavery.”
“And now let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:24
Solidarity + Action = Call + Response
Addendum:
It starts somewhere, and somewhere is all it takes. No action is too small.
In my humble opinion, these are the 4 first main steps we can take:
1) Become a conscious consumer. I am convinced that this is the first most tangible, immediate, powerful step. Know who you are oppressing. Know who you are empowering. Live, love, shop and eat intentionally. It does make a difference. “What you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it.” (Gandhi)
2) Identify your strength. What are you good at? Do that. God intentionally gave us different gifts and I believe he desires us to use this to love and liberate the world. Making a musical documentary (a “rockumentary” if you will) was creative and beautifully harnessed the power of music for a greater cause. Those people used their strengths. If organizing is your “thing”, then organize an event to have a group or community write their senator requesting him/her to address slavery.
3) Pray– for wisdom, vision, courage, for the slaves and slave traders