Friday, May 26, 2006

'Till Death Do Us Part

I periodically stumble across a obituary that catches my attention. Usually I'm struck by how people are portrayed after their death. The CEO of Michelin (the tire maker) died recently in a boating accident. Here's some sy what is mentioned about him:
He was charming
He one of France's finest business men
He was passionate about business, and inspired that passion in others
He was brilliant, dynamic, and humane.
As fine and admirable as those qualities are, I don't think they are what I'd want my friends or co-workers mentioning if they were given a single quote to describe my life.

On the other side of life, I have the honor of being in the wedding of a couple good friends this weekend. I'm sure I'll have many more reflections after the wedding (not to mention that I really should write my 'Why geishas are more relaxing than going to church' reflection after last night. But here's one I've been thinking about tonight: The custom of the father giving the bride to the groom, symbolizing the transfer of responsibility for protecting her from the father to the husband (among other symbols).

What about women makes protection appropriate? Does offering protection imply that the protectee is weaker? Is genuine protection ever offered without implying value? What does it mean for a husband to protect his wife? His daughter?

Friday, May 19, 2006

A Penny Saved...is Worthless

A friend introduced me a while ago to Dave Ramsey. The site, once you get through all the glitz, has some very good advice. Essentially Dave deals with the question "How do I wisely deal with my money?" One of the sections that makes me wince is the "Stupid Tax" section, where people share stories of ways they've been taxed on their stupidity. I think I just hate the fact that many life lessons have to cost money...in some cases, lots and lots of money.

I just started poking around the site recently, and so I've been thinking about how much our money handling skills impact our lives; about why it is one of the top five sources of marital conflict; about why Jesus talked so much about money. Here's a few thoughts to ponder with me...

Is it really true that my heart goes where I spend my money?
What does it mean to be content?
What does it mean to be grateful with great wealth?
What does it mean to be wise with great wealth?

Do I believe that contentment is related to wealth? (Corollary: Do I feel guilty of the poor because I believe they are incapable of contentment without wealth?)

Why do I work? What benefits and goals am I pursuing?
Ramsey has a quote to the effect of "The purpose of job benefits is to be a benefit to us. There's no point in pursuing benefits that don't benefit our interests, nor of paying a higher cost than the benefit's worth."

Sunday, May 14, 2006

One More Thought

I came across this movie just after finishing my blog entry. It seemed...appropriate. Enjoy.

Labor Surplus

In my last post, someone asked me "So what would your economy tend to produce instead?" Here's a few thoughts...

Missionaries: It's easy to claim that God is easily one's greatest treasure. It's also pretty easy to claim that others should equally prize God. But how we spend our money often speaks loudly to whether we truly value others knowing God or not. Without getting into a mission philosophy discourse, here's a few observations:

Besides missionaries, there's a significant infrastructure needed to provide training, support, and materials for missionaries. There's also an underlying consideration of when sending American missionaries is the wisest use of resources. In many parts of the world, native missionaries can work without the cultural or language barriers for far less money.

Rational Aid: Money means power, and that means that our economy is capable of supporting a far more significant effort to help people, whether foreign or domestic. For this aid to be helpful in many cases, though, requires more than simply throwing resources at a problem. It also requires shrewdness about human nature and how to encourage growth and responsibility; compassion and mercy mingled with wisdom. It's far easier to give a lazy man a fish day after day than to actually convince him to learn to fish.

Art: I'm not sure this industry would prosper more than it does not, but I think it would prosper differently. There's something about the creative expressive nature of art that is valuable to promote and maintain.

Relaxation: Not so much an industry, but rather a use of time. Americans are very good at living hurried busy anxious lives filled with entertainment, but generally bad at pacing ourselves in a way that includes genuine relaxation.

Technology (& Education): Technology is the ability to do more with less. Or perhaps more with more. It's also a reflection of God's creation. So research and development flourishes...or perhaps doesn't decline. Depends a little bit on how one sees today's technology situation.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Macro Economics 101

As I mentioned in my last post, sometimes I contemplate the economic future my values would tend to create in America. I'm not a master economist - or even a minor one, but let me start with one observation: Fundamentally, we pay money for one of two 'goods':

Labor: We pay for someone else's time, expertise, and energy.

Resource: We pay for 'ownership' of non-manufactured resources (land, gold, sand, oil, water, etc.).

So how do I think industries would fair? Here's a few thoughts...

Clothing: Very badly. The whole designer name brand bit would do very badly. I'm a big fan of inexpensive quality clothing. Something like

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Hospitality (or micro-economics)

I've been contemplating economics lately - as in, what would happen to America's economy if a significant percentage of people followed my values? Hopefully I'll get around to that line of thought soon, but I've also been contemplating the virtue of hospitality (in part in relationship to my musings in my last post about community).

I've been thinking about the legacy of a long-time friend of mine is leaving the pastorate. One of the first characteristics that pops into my mind is how hospitable he and his wife were. Despite the busyness that was always around them, they loved to have people over, to make them feel welcome, to share their food.

It's strange how my perspective has changed: I remember puzzling over why such the Bible placed an emphasis on hospitality. Surely having people over wasn't such a difficult thing to do, was it? As far as commands go, it seems almost trivial compared to some of the other instructions (love your neighbor as yourself, don't lust, be content).

But gradually, I'm seeing hospitality as about more than simply having people over and letting them plop on the couch. Here's a few ideas...

Hospitality doesn't just spontaneously happen - people don't just lurk outside my door waiting for me say "You know what? I feel hospitable right now...come on in." In fact, hospitality is often down right inconvenient. Guests are unpredictable - sometimes they need to talk, sometimes they need food, sometimes they disrupt the "sacred social norms". Hospitality is more on our turf - people see us a bit more as we are as we deal with the unexpected parental visit or drunk friend.

Hospitality requires initiative and planning. People don't invite themselves over - and once over, they take attention. Plan on feeding them? Better have made time for an appropriate grocery trip - or keep one's pantry properly stocked. Want to have a crowd for the Superbowl? Better have gotten an appropriately sized place with plenty of seating.

Hospitality is an aspect of community: There's a nice feel to being able to be a welcome guest - to knowing that others want to have me around, want me to be comfortable, want to get to know me, are willing to have their space and convenience infringed upon.

I'm tempted to also go into why hospitality seems so difficult, and why I appreciate the examples of others in this area...but creative juices are draining rapidly...