MINIMAL CRIMINAL

Between all my bike shop action, coffee shop action, bike riding action, Camp Firefly action, sleep action and hanging out action I've been reading Jesus for President and The Omnivore's Dilemma these days. Interestingly they have a lot to do with each other. Shane's book so far has done a lot of description of Jesus in the context of the Roman Empire and of the distinctness of the kingdom of God (both among the church and among the pre-monarchy Hebrews) from other people groups. Michael Pollan's book details the conventional synthetically grown food industry in our own empire, as well as the organic industry and the (distinct from organic) "beyond organic" market comprised of grass-based, organic, self-sustaining farms which mirror natural ecosystems and limit their growth only to local buyers.

I've been thinking about nifty little "inventions" (or, more accurately, retro-fits or re-appropriations) like the green shopping bag, biodegradable soap, Gina's plastic bag-based handbags, etc. in context of the idea of the church's holiness (i.e. distinctness) from the dominant culture. It seems to me that things like the green bag don't dazzle conceptually; the green bag just takes the poorly thought-out advent of what has become probably the most wide-spread litter item, the plastic shopping bag, and makes it something that won't be tossed into the gutters en masse. It takes the idea of a bag back to the days before disposable everything, which is to say that it does only what humanity had done for thousands of years before our "convenient" (short-term-wise; very inconvenient long-term-wise) little 50-year long stint with the plastic bag came about. The same can be said for non-toxic soaps, which of course existed long before harmful synthetic chemical-based cleaners came into use. It's the very nature of these things' being simple, done-before no-brainers that makes them so great – and so distinct from their destructive counterparts. Their holiness, or set-apartness, from the alternative lies not in their doing something distinct (they perform the same function) but in their being something distinct. And oftentimes their distictness of being lies in their being something simple.

So I'm wondering if there are things we can do at Vox to re-think some of our basic patterns and routines, not necessarily changing their functions but perhaps just their forms. Using biodegradable soap at Space12 obviously comes to mind. So does using locally baked bread (or locally grown grain to bake the bread) for Sunday communion. Maybe not buying the cheapest, most industrial food for our various gatherings; maybe instead contributing a little more per person to get something that will be set apart from the synthetically grown food that's destroying the soil and water of those who live (and who will one day live) in the corn-growing, nitrate-saturated Midwest. Or maybe putting effort into growing a small portion of our own food ourselves, in soil that we know is being taken care of well.

The idea of holiness in America has taken on what I consider a one-dimensionality in its concentration solely on personal behavior. It has become more about improving oneself (for the supposed betterment of one's relationship with God) than about radiating help to others (which, it seems to me, is crucial to a relationship with God). To the God of the ancient Israelites, what they ate and the many other basic daily practicalities of their cultural routines were important to the extent that they were a large aspect of their holiness from other nations. They shared excess food with the poor; they had laws which essentially reset their economy every 50 years, giving some of the accumulations of the rich (including land) back to the disenfranchised; they refused to eat certain types of animals; during the days of the bread from heaven they took only what they and their family could eat.

Of course we live in a covenant not bound by a regulatory, rules-based God. But perhaps what we put in our mouths, what we do with our land, what we accumulate – in other words, the most basic rituals we've performed every day since kindergarten – still matter to him. Maybe holiness exists beyond a spiritualized treatment of the world; maybe it has to do with the front lawns we feed with gallons of good drinking water only to cut down later, or with our funding of a food industry which treats animals like sub-sentient protein machines, or with the soil- and blood-won petroleum we suckle every day from the empire.

Maybe it has to do with our sense of hope and faith, too – faith that there is a way to live without the controlling coddling of the empire. It is hard to imagine life without the normalcy we've had since childhood. It was also hard for the ancient Hebrews to imagine life without the familiarity of slavery, rulers and politics – so they asked for a king. While they gained a stability reminiscent of their lives of subservience in Egypt, they lost their trust in God and their distinctness among the other nations, and bad things happened as a result of what was essentially their biggest sin.

Perhaps we too suffer from the same sin, the one which consists of our believing that there's no other way to live.

If all goes well with my six remaining classes I'm going to graduate in December. Some things I'm thinking about are ...

Teaching in Tanzania (1-2 years)
My parents have some contacts with Village Schools International which is an organization that builds schools in Tanzania with the help of American churches and staff from the States. People from the States go to help build and then teach at the schools. The organization also raises funds for scholarships for Tanzanian kids. The schools are government-approved as normal public schools and help a lot of kids reach higher education. VSI workers must raise funds within the church to promote a sense of calling and decrease the idea of ownership over the mission (the practical side of this is that if a VSI worker paid her own way then she might eventually feel that since it was her money that got her there she can just back out when it gets too hard).
http://www.villageschools.org/index.html

Working in Afghanistan (at least a year)
I enjoyed my time there tremendously despite the bitter cold. I really enjoyed the hospitality of the people and the sense that even the smallest little Microsoft Office certificate really made a difference to them. Our contacts there are gracious and truly remarkable people -- people who embody living for the Christ in a way that has really changed their lives and impacted hundreds if not thousands of people over the many decades they've served worldwide. The world is a different place there with lots of instability among the Taliban, Al Qaeda, Pakistan, India, the national government, the UN, random European armed forces and of course the occupying US forces. There are also major conflicts between likeminded folks and their families and people on the streets -- and between women and society at large (including other women). In short I feel that I made an investment in going there and I want to think hard about going back. It's such a huge intersection for so many cultures and really important movements right now that I feel being in the middle of it is something I could reasonably be called to do. I saw a girl stand up in a rural English class full of boys and offer a piece of really thoughtful and bold religious dissent. I feel like I saw a piece of history in that moment and I would like to be there when it really blossoms into a new generation with its own movement.

There are other things that have crossed my mind but these are what I'm thinking about most strongly right now.

"What's the W for? Woman?"
"Yeah, I like women. It's actually for Wilson."
"Wilson!?"
"Just kidding. It's for white boy."
"You're not white."
"What am I then?"
"You're not a white boy!"
"So I'm a white boy, but I'm not a 'white boy,' is what you mean?"
"No, you're not white!"
*takes off TOMS shoe to reveal pasty white foot beneath tanline*
"Ew! You're white!"
"Yup!"

I'm beginning to wonder if faith in God is real if I rely on worldly structures for anything. I met a guy yesterday named Patrick who "lives by faith" (i.e. is a wayfarer and depends on God for even daily necessities) and has done so for 10 years as a traveling evangelist. He is 32 and has seen miracles like a loaf of fresh-baked bread appearing out of nowhere for him in the middle of the desert. He emphasized humility leading to grace leading to faith leading to obedience, which Christ says is the same as loving him ("If you love me you will obey my commandments"), the same as abiding or remaining in Christ -- the same as having faith in Christ and ultimately the same as having salvation in him (by "following" him literally through imitating his life). Because most of his commandments have to do with becoming the least of all and not giving thought or worrying about tomorrow. And Patrick was saying that if we allow ourselves to trust in the structures and distractions offered by Babylon ("trust" funds, bank accounts, assets, land and property ownership, jobs, etc.) then we lose faith in God that he will take care of us even more than the lilies and the birds. He said that he prays every morning for God to order his day, and then he receives "leadings" from God to go to a certain place at a certain time and he finds himself being used or provided for when he gets there, or along the way.

Anyway the point of this is I guess there are two ways that seem revolutionary (compared to the American church at least) to follow Christ that have been presented to me in the last year: (1) to live in intentional community with other believers and try to foster relationships that will be an invitation to others to find love and forgiveness in Christ, and (2) to give up all stability and literally follow Christ's example of having "no place to lay his head," to take up the same cross of complete trust in God that Christ took and to have faith that God will bless it by using you to bring or point others to him along your journey. One is all about longevity, community and using resources for the good of others; the other is all about transience, individual relationships and giving up resources to live like Christ. One is about a well-established earthly home; the other is about earthly homelessness.

I wonder if the American church's view on the value of using resources for good is a subconscious enabler for us all to continue to be romanced by our Babylonian desires for wealth, possessions and stability ... as long as, you know, we help out a few others too. It seems that the primary concern about wealth and possessions is not how it compromises our faith-based relationship with a very jealous God; rather, perhaps it's about a visible standard of performance that allows us to justify our cravings for possessions and power. And I wonder if there is a richness to faith and a depth of relationship with God and others that can be found better in a life which shoulders the cross of being truly least in life.

Conversation at work, as one boy takes a notebook out of another boy's backpack:

Even though I really love electronic music, sometimes the Smiths hit me hard.

This week has been an obliterating blizzard of schoolwork.

In two days I'll be traveling to the other side of the world for an experience for which I can't possibly prepare myself. Can't wait to enjoy the ride.

If anything happens, it should be clear that I was never all that talented at anything, nor was I very good at being a loving person, but that I was forgiven and was learning to forgive, love and become a servant of God in my own slow way.

Christ be praised in all things!

Before my last day of class, which is in 15.5 days, I have a total of over 40 pages to write. School is like a tsunami when you're a slow writer.

Considering that I have a great fixed gear road bike and a round-trip commute under 20 miles to both school and work, biking is my only responsible method of transportation.

Not Killing People
Seriously hurting or killing people is virtually impossible to do even on purpose on a bike, but is very easy to do even by accident in a car. (I would know!)

Money
My bike cost me about $500, but even within the last month I've made back over a fifth of that in gas I didn't buy. By the time February rolls around I'll have ridden it all back and be saving serious money which can be put where it really belongs—in my savings, debt, projects, relationships and community.

Exercise
Biking seven miles to school and work is still an enjoyable challenge but it's becoming less and less of an intense workout. I'm getting in pretty good shape.

Oil
In terms of my daily transportation I don't contribute to that big mess.

Scenery
I really, really enjoy the views -- not just of the natural world but also of the various buildings, roads, graffiti, people and odd spots along my commute. I love feeling the wind and the sun, or the wind and the cool of the night.

So, the ultimate question is: Is the benefit of reducing my bodily human effort to get to work, school, etc. really worth the cost of potentially killing people, losing $30 a week (that's well over $1000 a year), viewing and feeling the world behind a plate of dirty plexiglass, feeding an industry I don't have any interest in and not getting exercise?

No!