Exit -End Exploitation and Trafficking

http://www.mtvexit.org/radiohead/

In The Details

I'd love some discussion here (and tonight) on this quote:

"A change is a change and, contrary to belief, has to start with the details, the breeding ground of any truly existential experience."

Unbelievable

Chris H left this quote as a comment a few days back, and I'd love to hear more response to it:

"The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, and walk out the door, and deny Him with their lifestyle. This is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable."

Eeyore's Birthday or Face to Face Pt. 2

Yesterday a group of us headed out to Pease Park for Eeyore's Birthday. For those of you who have never been, this is a 45 year old Austin event that brings out an eclectic mix of Austinites and finds its center, if in anything, in community.

In other words, there is music and food and drinking and costumes and drum circles and walking around and laying on the grass and getting high, but the event isn't committed to any one of these things in particular. Which is its genius, and I wouldn't want to change it.

But I couldn't help thinking about what these thousands of people could accomplish were they all to get behind...something. So, here's my question, if you had some charisma and face to face time with those assembled at Pease Park, what might you inspire them to do?

The Story of Stuff

Something worth looking at and discussing. Seems to me this has huge implications for all of us and for those who claim to love our neighbor especially.

www.storyofstuff.com

Face To Face(book)

Facebook is amazing. An incredible opportunity to meet people you might never otherwise encounter, to catch up with old friends, to get news of an event out quickly to many people at once.

Facebook is sick. Just a place to stalk strangers, obsess over what your friends are doing minute by minute, and avoid contact with the real world.

Odds are you come down near one of these. Fact is, they're both kind of true.

I've enjoyed using facebook as a way to catch up with college buddies, to send out the weekly Inklings invites, and to update a bunch of folks if my cell phone is going to be off because I'm taking an R&R weekend. I've even been known to add "friends" who are not, admittedly, people I have ever met.

What we all need to remember about facebook, myspace, and the internet in general is that they are tools meant to provide us with information and some level of connection.

But they aren't meant to be our main source of connection. This online Inklings blog is great, but it can't compare to Tuesdays at Opal Divine's. Facebook is a fantastic networking tool, but it can't compare to a face to face sitdown over a cup of coffee.

I mention this because I had the chance, last night, to attend a concert at Emos where I met a couple of people who had, previous to last night, been facebook friends. Both really nice folks, both people I'd like to try and grab a beer or a cup of coffee with sometime soon.

This is what the connectivity of the internet is meant to provide, an enhancement of connectivity outside the internet.

So don't be afraid if I come adding you as a friend on facebook. But make sure you're out there getting a more face to face.

Oh, and stop having an online conversation with someone you're sitting across the table with. I've seen this in coffee shops and it's freaking me out.

The Seeker

Take 15 minutes to cruise around facebook and check out what people put down under Religious Views. Some are more straightforward options. Others say things like "spiritual" and "love". Today I saw two that intrigued me. One listed their religious views as "inquisitive" and another as "I'm still learning."

Now, I'm a Christian and, even with all the baggage that term carries for many in and outside the church, I'm not embarrassed to say so. Christian, to me, means "one who follows Christ" and I'm trying my best to do that (and failing at it, to some extent, daily). What concerns me is that "Christian" is viewed, by those out and (especially and unfortunately) inside the church, as static. Even the terminology we use often refers to those who have yet to become Christians as "seekers."

What lame logic convinced Christians that discovering the source of truth meant that there were no truths left to discover? Why is it that we don't see following Christ as something that ought make us "inquisitive" and "still learning"? Why does becoming a Christian mean I stop being a "seeker"?

And is it possible that this is part of what makes being a Christian so unappealing to so many?

Practice Resurrection

Yesterday was Earth Day, and some Inklings went to hear Mayor Will Wynn speak on the importance of faith communities caring about the environment. This is something that many faith communities have been slow to get on board with, figuring that this planet is a wash and that our reward is in heaven.

Of course, that's a fairly unbiblical theology, since the New Testament is filled with statements about God saving the planet, not abandoning it. Now, others say that if God is going to save the planet, that frees us up from having to. But we don't apply the same thought process to ourselves. Christ has saved us by grace. But, Paul asks, "shall we go on sinning so that grace may abound? Certainly not!"

We cannot do much good without God, but we are expected to work with God in his plan of restoration. 

This poem by Wendell Berry seemed fitting for Earth Day. Let me know what you think.

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,

vacation with pay. Want more

of everything ready-made. Be afraid

to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.

Not even your future will be a mystery

anymore. Your mind will be punched in a card

and shut away in a drawer.

When they want you to buy something

they will call you. When they want you

to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something

that won't compute. Love the Lord.

Love the world. Work for nothing.

Take all that you have and be poor.

Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace

the flag. Hope to live in that free

republic for which it stands.

Give your approval to all that you cannot

understand. Praise ignorance, for what man

has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.

Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.

Say that your crop is forest

that you did not plant,

that you will not harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested

when they have rotted into the mold.

Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus

that will build under the trees

every thousand years.

Listen to carrion -- put your ear

close, and hear the faint chattering

of the songs that are to come.

Expect the end of the world. Laugh.

Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful

though you have considered all the facts.

So long as women do not go cheap

for power, please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy

a woman satisfied to bear a child?

Will this disturb the sleep

of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.

Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head

in her lap. Swear allegiance

to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and the politicos

can predict the motions of your mind,

lose it. Leave it as a sign

to mark the false trail, the way

you didn't go. Be like the fox

who makes more tracks than necessary,

some in the wrong direction.

Practice resurrection.

Charisma

We are a people that are fascinated by charisma. We're looking for someone who can lead, someone who can redirect our thinking and reshape our behavior, someone who can motivate us to action.

That's on a good day. On a bad day, we're just looking to get close to "it." We can't necessarily say what "it" is, but "it" has become enough of a factor that guys like Simon Cowell now place "it" and "factor" together in a lot of their sentences.

"It" isn't just fame (that helps) or money (that too) or looks (etc.). "It"'s the phenomenon of charisma by popular vote; if enough people are paying attention, you must have "it" and now I want to pay attention too.

Author Philip Rieff recently wrote a book on the topic of charisma, the origins of the word, and the way in which we sacrifice true charisma for something much less meaningful.

"Charisma cannot exist without creed," writes Rieff. His thesis plays out this way; charisma (from the Greek word "charis" meaning "grace") initially meant an authority that was rooted in morality. Charisma was a word applied to those who rework, reshape, and motivate. When the Bible says that Jesus spoke "as one with authority," it was talking about true charisma.

Rieff's concern is that we have become more attracted to the trappings of charisma than in the actual substance of it. We celebrate those who demand attention more than those who deserve it. We raise up those who speak well more than those who have something to say.

To put it another way, we think growing a beard and wearing sandals can make us more like Jesus.

On a major day in primary elections, it seems a good time to address this topic. Throughout the primaries charisma, particularly that of Barack Obama, has been a key part of the conversation.

Hillary Clinton has responded by saying that this is an election about actions, not words; the implication being that Obama is all talk and that Clinton is all action. I don't think she's right (at all), but I appreciate someone reminding us that what we often call "personal charisma" focuses more on an empty suit than on the man wearing it.

So, here's the topic for the day: How important is how you say something, in a culture controlled by soundbites? What's the balance of words and actions? How do we get back to a culture that values true charisma?

Discuss.

What Is/Are Inklings?

Inklings was an informal discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1940s. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who praised the value of narrative fiction and included J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis among their members. "The Inklings were neither a club nor a literary society, though it partook of the nature of both. There were no rules, officers, agendas, or formal elections."

With this in mind, a small group of Austinites began meeting at the Dog & Duck Pub in the spring of 2007 to discuss the news of the day, the stories of their lives, the latest films, books, and music or the politics of dancing. Their motto became "moderate drinking meets meaningful discourse."

In 2008, their location shifted to Opal Divine's Freehouse on the corner of 6th and Rio Grande. They also formed a Facebook group (as any viable organization must), whose membership now reaches beyond 250 members. 

Perhaps 15-25 of these 250 are actually able to make it to the weekly meetings (Tuesday nights at 8:30pm) with any regularity.  

This blog is an opportunity for members to drop in and join the conversation. Inklings members are welcome to contribute blog posts, and should email them to the blog moderator (and Austin Inklings founder) Kester Smith at pastorkes@yahoo.com

Grab a beer and a computer and join the conversation...