Thursday, October 30, 2008

CCDA Conference

Andrea and I got back from the CCDA Conference on Monday. The theme was "Shalom", which is also the name of our little start-up in Oakland, so we had to go (I'm wondering if they would care if we stole the logo? :) We were surrounded by wonderful people. The plenary session speakers were inspiring and the seminars were actually extremely helpful and informative. I can be quite a critic of conferences, organizations and institutions, but the CCDA is legit. There's something about being with people who have a common vision and projection in life. A guy leading a seminar talked about moving into a new house with his Mom helping and then having the family run upstairs while there was a shootout in front of the new house, followed by repeated attempts at getting someone to talk to him after dialing 911, and we chuckled, sighed and groaned with familiarity. There is something beautiful about being with people who have similar stories. Side note: I was actually quite proud of my own mother when she took my kids to the nearby park and found blood all over the playground and was very calm about the whole thing.

We were reminded to be patient in our work here in East Oakland, to never neglect our own spiritual and emotional health, to worship the loving, peace bringing Jesus of the Bible, to care for our family (we were even we shouldn't be guilty about not sending our kids to the local elementary school) and to be confident in our calling in the midst of all the craziness in our country. I particularly enjoyed seminars on starting a mentoring program for children (led by this crew), the community and movement that made Martin Luther King Jr. the leader he was, "neighboring", and urban consumerism.

Andrea and I found a ridiculously inexpensive hotel a few miles away from the conference center, so we had an hour long bus ride twice a day. It didn't compare to my Greyhound trip to New Mexico a couple years ago, but it was a interesting little experience. I have to say that I prefer my normal mode of transportation...the bicycle. One of these days I'll get a helmet so Damon will stop reminding me to get one.

Now it's back to work...

Monday, October 20, 2008

Polarization

For some reason I thought we were moving towards a less polarized society, all this talk of "third ways" and independent voters and post-evangelicals...but I'm starting to think I was terribly wrong. I once heard Donald Miller explain political polarization as a byproduct of the way we teach debate (two opposing viewpoints). The media obviously rolls forward with this way of thinking (for the most part). You put two people with opposing viewpoints on camera or radio together and hope that sparks fly. The problem is that we all know (I think) that very few issues of any kind are actually that simple.

Perhaps I'm becoming cynical by reading too many blogs and looking at facebook postings. People are so predictable. Provocative and bold statements are made, or links to provocative and bold statements are made. Your friends enthusiastically encourage you with subtle hints that anyone who disagrees is absolutely insane. Every once in a while someone from the "other side" hops and and starts an argument, and everyone can jump in and spout some statistics or logic or maybe even a Bible verse or two. I'm always tempted to jump in, but it just seems so pointless. Is anyone actually open to the other person's viewpoint? Are Christians who consider environmental activism to be of the devil actually going to consider another way? Are people who have been over talking about "penal substitutionary atonement" for years actually going to listen to someone who quotes MacArthur on the issue? How many McCain/Palin supporters don't despise Obama, along with, of course, the "liberal" media? How many people who are voting for Obama don't think Palin is the stupidest person of all time and will never be convinced otherwise? Any conservatives ready to listen to a long conversation about liberation theology, the black church and Jeremiah Wright? Wanna have an intelligent conversation about Christianity and abortion on the Internet? Have fun with that.
Seriously, I may be way off, but it seems like most of us make up our mind one way or the other about things, and all the reading we do from that point on just serves to inspire us to believe in our idea with even more passion, or convinces us that all people who believe in another way are complete total morons who hate God and America and have some ridiculous evil agenda. Then again, people do change their minds about things, perhaps due to a new environment, new friends or new experiences. Who knows, maybe someone just read a facebook rant/debate and saw the light about an incredibly important idea! Maybe...
Perhaps I'm just tired of this election season, but thanks blogger for letting me vent.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Quote of the Week


"Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their

names are anger and courage: anger at the

way things are, and courage to see that they

do not remain the way they are.”

--St. Augustine