The thought occurred to me that we are now in a petri dish. Obviously I have my opinions about the state of our nation. But the particular environment that we are in right now makes me feel like we are a part of some great experiment.
We have for the first time (from my limited perspective) re-elected a president in light of the empirical data that we have not seen consistent trends in economic growth or job related growth. (the key words here are consistent trends) That's not to say that we won't see these positive trends appear; it's only to say that in light of their absence we basically said, "Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead."
So the outcome of yesterday's election says to me that enough people in the nation have faith that President Obama's policies can turn this economic collapse around relatively soon. It says that many people believe that the mess that he inherited was not made worse by his policies but rather his policies are slowly going to turn our decline and have the effect that he and his aides have planned.
(Many conservatives will say that the "many people" are stupid or ignorant. I don't think that's true. I think they have a differing ideology and they are willing and have the numbers to push it through.)
It's interesting to me because by reelecting President Obama we will be able to see whether his policies will indeed ultimately right the economy and job losses over the next four years. Or at least we'll be able to see a positive or negative trend appear.
This is why I feel like we are in an experiment. If Governor Romney had been elected and we saw positive economic growth it would have been immediately attributed to his election. Policy changes that he would have immediately put into place would account for positive growth.
On the other hand if Romney had been elected and the downward trends continued we would still be playing the blame game of antecedent administrations. Either way we wouldn't know if President Obama's policies worked or not.
On the other hand yesterday's result will be informative over the next few years because it will shed light on whether or not the presidency (and this particular administration) really has the ability to control the success or failure of the economy. I've long been a skeptic about this.
For my two cents I think it's highly possible that America has seen her economic height. (I don't care if I'm wrong about this; the kingdom I belong to is not of this world.)
At this point, in terms of the economy, I really don't think it matters which political party controls the government. Our leaders have accepted debt (exorbitant debt) as normative. We are slaves to the Chinese because of our debt and lavish standard of living. Our banks enslave people to usury and make money by selling money.
Every time God creates a way to free us from bondage and slavery we create a new system that puts us right back in it. Economic slavery, consumerism, materialism, political agendas. We are an enslaved people because we think that all of these systems will make life better, because we try to buy security with our systems.
There is only One response to man-made systems and the security and peace we desire.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Owen love's his momma.
Sometimes, I just don't feel like writing.
"A writer writes, always." is a quote taken from one of my favorite movies Throw Momma From the Train. It's from the same movie that the title of this post derives. I've been struggling with the motivation to sit down and write articles for some time. And so this quote has reminded me that if I want to be a writer then I must write something. Whether the writing is good or not is not the only point. There is great value in the doing.
I have been writing sermons for almost 10 years now, but since a sermon is oratory the process for writing sermons is considerably different than just writing on paper. (At least that's the case for me.) I do type my sermons on the computer, but I often speak them out-loud as I go along. I need to hear them; I need to hear the way the words sound coming out of my mouth. I need to listen to the sound of my voice in order to deliver a more gentle correction or a stern rebuke. Or better still an affirming, "Well done!" It's difficult to catch some nuances in delivery if you don't practice them.
I recently finished reading C.S. Lewis' sermon The Weight of Glory I think I would have appreciated it more had I heard him deliver it. Perhaps I'll read it out loud next time. The point is that sermon writing is different. It's intended to be spoken and heard.
The other kind of writing I'm interested in is for entertainment. It is for inspiration, But like sermon writing it is to engage other people minds. That's why I appreciate C. S. Lewis so much. His writings do all of that for me. I like it when people say to me, "What you said made me think about something differently." It doesn't necessarily mean that they've changed their mind. It doesn't mean they've come to agree with me. Rather it means they've come to think about their own opinions. I like that a lot. I like it because now we can have a rational debate about a topic.
It seems to me, nowadays, that in our culture we don't know how to disagree with each other without vilifying our opponent. We defend our positions with emotional argument rather than rational objective defense.
Not that there isn't a place for emotion and passion in an argument. The problem is that if these factors are what shape the conversation, I'm afraid it's more likely to end in violence rather than in a peaceful solution.
Another hurdle is the unwillingness we have to change our positions. When we are entrenched in said position with only an emotional defense, the only natural step is to act out in argumentative ways.
So regarding my writing, I hope that the exercise itself will improve my ability to communicate thought and challenge ideas. I just want to stay motivated to keep writing.
The motivation I finally received came from a movie about a short dull unhappy little man named "Owen" who lived with his oppressive mother, whom he loved. In order to better himself. "Owen" took a creative writing course and by the end of the movie he had written a book.
Since before seeing that movie I've had this crazy idea that I might write a book or screenplay or articles that might somehow be useful to people And let's be honest, I'd love to get filthy rich off of it too.
"A writer writes. Always." If I'm not writing there's no hope that desire to inspire, entertain, or teach will come about. There is value in the doing, because in the doing perhaps something good can come.
So! What is it that you should be "doing?" Get out there and "Just do it."
"A writer writes, always." is a quote taken from one of my favorite movies Throw Momma From the Train. It's from the same movie that the title of this post derives. I've been struggling with the motivation to sit down and write articles for some time. And so this quote has reminded me that if I want to be a writer then I must write something. Whether the writing is good or not is not the only point. There is great value in the doing.
I have been writing sermons for almost 10 years now, but since a sermon is oratory the process for writing sermons is considerably different than just writing on paper. (At least that's the case for me.) I do type my sermons on the computer, but I often speak them out-loud as I go along. I need to hear them; I need to hear the way the words sound coming out of my mouth. I need to listen to the sound of my voice in order to deliver a more gentle correction or a stern rebuke. Or better still an affirming, "Well done!" It's difficult to catch some nuances in delivery if you don't practice them.
I recently finished reading C.S. Lewis' sermon The Weight of Glory I think I would have appreciated it more had I heard him deliver it. Perhaps I'll read it out loud next time. The point is that sermon writing is different. It's intended to be spoken and heard.
The other kind of writing I'm interested in is for entertainment. It is for inspiration, But like sermon writing it is to engage other people minds. That's why I appreciate C. S. Lewis so much. His writings do all of that for me. I like it when people say to me, "What you said made me think about something differently." It doesn't necessarily mean that they've changed their mind. It doesn't mean they've come to agree with me. Rather it means they've come to think about their own opinions. I like that a lot. I like it because now we can have a rational debate about a topic.
It seems to me, nowadays, that in our culture we don't know how to disagree with each other without vilifying our opponent. We defend our positions with emotional argument rather than rational objective defense.
Not that there isn't a place for emotion and passion in an argument. The problem is that if these factors are what shape the conversation, I'm afraid it's more likely to end in violence rather than in a peaceful solution.
Another hurdle is the unwillingness we have to change our positions. When we are entrenched in said position with only an emotional defense, the only natural step is to act out in argumentative ways.
So regarding my writing, I hope that the exercise itself will improve my ability to communicate thought and challenge ideas. I just want to stay motivated to keep writing.
The motivation I finally received came from a movie about a short dull unhappy little man named "Owen" who lived with his oppressive mother, whom he loved. In order to better himself. "Owen" took a creative writing course and by the end of the movie he had written a book.
Since before seeing that movie I've had this crazy idea that I might write a book or screenplay or articles that might somehow be useful to people And let's be honest, I'd love to get filthy rich off of it too.
"A writer writes. Always." If I'm not writing there's no hope that desire to inspire, entertain, or teach will come about. There is value in the doing, because in the doing perhaps something good can come.
So! What is it that you should be "doing?" Get out there and "Just do it."
Friday, September 14, 2012
Days of Christmas 3 of 3: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
The Spirit of Christmases yet to come. This has been the most difficult part of the story for me to write. Indeed this was the Spirit which Scrooge acknowledged caused him the most anxiety saying, "I fear you more than any spectre I have seen."
I started this post back in December; I intended to finish it before Epiphany and the end of the12 Days of Christmas. But in light of outside distractions I allowed myself to let it go because, I thought, "How can I write about the future?"
In reality, the reason that I've hesitated was that I was afraid. The story A Christmas Carol leads Scrooge through a radical change and new beginning that I can't parallel. My writing, my telling of the story, was leading me to a point of intellectual dishonesty. The life transformation that Scrooge was called to is so radically different from the life we live (I live).
I'm lazy, and it's taken this long to sit down and write that Christmas is a season to give up the self. God help me. We look at Christmas as the season to receive not to give. It is the earth that has "received her king." And in celebration of that event we have created some pseudo-religious season where the spirit of giving is the mask of a reciprocal receiving. I have to be honest enough with myself that I could not make it through Christmas without having my feelings bruised if I did not receive a gift from a friend or relative.
When I peer into Christmases past of my family life, Christmas was communicated to us as a season that was mostly about us children. But with spiritual maturity we learn that if we are to discover the true meaning of Christmas then we ought to approach the season as God did. God exists on the other side of a window; He exists outside of space and time, in eternity. He looks through that window and sees his Creation with all of its groaning. He chooses to pass through that window and make himself a part of that story. That is Incarnation and that is what we celebrate at Christmas.
Christmas is about giving, but without the expectation of receiving in return.
I don't know how to live this out in my life because it takes a persona that doesn't demand a gift in return. I'm too selfish to think that way. God help me.
You know I'm not the one to tell you what to do. Neither did Scrooge go around telling everyone else what to do. He just started giving. He opened up the coffers and made many people happy.
I started this post back in December; I intended to finish it before Epiphany and the end of the12 Days of Christmas. But in light of outside distractions I allowed myself to let it go because, I thought, "How can I write about the future?"
In reality, the reason that I've hesitated was that I was afraid. The story A Christmas Carol leads Scrooge through a radical change and new beginning that I can't parallel. My writing, my telling of the story, was leading me to a point of intellectual dishonesty. The life transformation that Scrooge was called to is so radically different from the life we live (I live).
I'm lazy, and it's taken this long to sit down and write that Christmas is a season to give up the self. God help me. We look at Christmas as the season to receive not to give. It is the earth that has "received her king." And in celebration of that event we have created some pseudo-religious season where the spirit of giving is the mask of a reciprocal receiving. I have to be honest enough with myself that I could not make it through Christmas without having my feelings bruised if I did not receive a gift from a friend or relative.
When I peer into Christmases past of my family life, Christmas was communicated to us as a season that was mostly about us children. But with spiritual maturity we learn that if we are to discover the true meaning of Christmas then we ought to approach the season as God did. God exists on the other side of a window; He exists outside of space and time, in eternity. He looks through that window and sees his Creation with all of its groaning. He chooses to pass through that window and make himself a part of that story. That is Incarnation and that is what we celebrate at Christmas.
Christmas is about giving, but without the expectation of receiving in return.
I don't know how to live this out in my life because it takes a persona that doesn't demand a gift in return. I'm too selfish to think that way. God help me.
You know I'm not the one to tell you what to do. Neither did Scrooge go around telling everyone else what to do. He just started giving. He opened up the coffers and made many people happy.
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