Crystal Clear

While watching the Olympics (which was a community affair at the house of one member who graciously purchased extra sports channels, made available her wide screen TV, and supplied watchers with copious amounts of tea and other drinks – she’s the best!) and being inundated with high priced (and often effective) commercials, there was often much discussion.

One point came out that was very striking: advertisers want you to really believe that buying products that are discounted will save you money.

The reality: you save money when you do not buy something.

Let me say it again: when you choose not to buy something, that is when you save money.

So, when a commercial tells you differently, think about what it is really saying. If you were intending to buy a product already, and now it is on sale, then you might save money in that instance. But if it is something you were not considering before, then you are not saving money by buying it just because it is on sale.

A corollary: Special diet food. You don’t lose weight by eating food (even special low fat food). You lose weight by not eating food.

Let the myth busting commence!

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Living in community isn’t a walk in the park. Whether you’ve been at it 2 years or 50 years, it is still critical to

• communicate to build relationships, and
• know your own expectations, and know the expectations of others.

Conflict will inevitably result if we fail to continue to work on these.

The alternative to doing this hard work is to pull back from relationships. I think that is what a lot of North American society has done. We live in our own houses, make our own decisions without consulting others, and can break off relationships when ever we want – divorce, friends, club membership, churches.

And yet, I hear that people wish they had more friends or that they were closer with the friends and acquaintances they do have.

We need to learn how to communicate through and in conflict, and to be able to talk about our expectations.

To do this, I think we need the values encouraged in the Bible:

• commitment to something beyond ourselves – God and his plan for history, awareness that happens through relationships,
• understanding that we mess up and make mistakes, and we need help to change – concepts of sin and salvation, and
• believe that relationships can be restored – forgiveness received by God can be then extended to others.

The reward? Conflict won’t fester into feuds. Unconditional commitment means others will support me when life gets tough. Being known and accepted by others for who we are. Ability to work with others towards a better future.

I think that’s worth the hard work.

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Western culture has an aura of optimism. And Western Christianity has it too. I struggle with this when things go wrong in life.

Well meaning people may say: “God’s in control. It’ll all work out.” or “Don’t worry, God will provide.”

Those promises are true, but the optimism of Western culture has imbued a meaning to them which may not be what was intended. Which therefore, when reality is found to work out differently, can lead to a real crisis of faith.

Christians have suffered starvation during famines in Africa. God did not provide food for them. Genocide in Kosovo meant that it didn’t all work out for many Christians there.

Why then do we in North America optimistically tell each other it’s going to be okay?

Many people are finding out it’s not okay and it may never be okay. So what might the promises truly mean? What is really solid at the centre?

Not having a good job or even any job, or enough food or a roof over our heads. Not having health and care when we are ill. Not having things get better instead of getting worse.

Maybe good happen to some, but that doesn’t mean they happen because God kept his promise specifically to them.

What we can count on: God’s love and that he will never abandon us. Evidences of beauty and life in even darkness and pain. His presence will give us strength. Everything will be made right, but only fully on the other side of eternity. God is still in control of the big picture.

Everything that we find good beyond these are truly blessings – to be cherished and enjoyed and celebrated. But let us be careful not to add to the promises of God more than what is really there.

…

Am I way off? Speaking out of my own pain that which I know not? Help me to understand. Tell me your story.

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We just made our commitments to living in the Kirkendall community for the next year. There’s something about taking a vow that is stirring.

Maybe it’s thrilling because it’s something outside of ourselves, something bigger than just me. Think about what it is like for a refugee who has fled horror to come to the safety of Canada, and is now making their citizenship vow. Or maybe it’s like a doctor, after so many years of schooling, to take the Hippocratic oath.

When we do this sincerely and commit ourselves to keeping that vow, even when our emotions make us reconsider, and we keep at it until all other avenues are explored, that is an amazing, wonderful thing!

At the beginning of the Christian story, God makes a promise, a vow, that he’ll fix things, even though it was us that started making the mess. In the end it cost him the death of his son. Jesus wanted there to be another way, a way out, but in the end he kept his end of the bargain.

I think the keeping of promises / vows / commitments are such opportunities for hope.

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On Earth… the problem had been with cars. The disadvantages involved in pulling lots of black sticky slime from out of the ground where it had been safely hidden out of harm’s way, turning it into tar to cover the land with, smoke to fill the air with and pouring the rest into the sea, all seemed to outweigh the advantages of being able to get more quickly from one place to another – particularly when the place you arrived at had probably become, as a result of this, very similar to the place you had left, i.e. covered with tar, full of smoke and short of fish. (from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe)

Satire and humour sometimes get to the absurdity of our life in a way regular speech often can’t. And, it can help us step back a minute and think about what we’re really doing with our actions and decisions.

Because reading articles about the problems with the sealants we put down on our driveways (Environmental News Network, and US Geological Service) doesn’t always have the same shock factor nor encourages us to change our actions, like:

1. Drive less and use / encourage alternative types of transportation (transit, walking, bike lanes / paths, trains, etc)
2. Put in a different driveway – gravel, interlock, grass / interlock or ‘grassy pavers‘ and the like
3. Support restriction of harmful chemicals – like coal tar and the like

We’re always going to need to travel and move around. But maybe we can think about doing it only as much as needed, not doing it needlessly, and doing it in the least destructive way possible.

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