Well, not being quite as cool as Dean Snyder, I wasn't able to actually travel to Liberia this year, but I did just read a book that is set (mostly) in Liberia - The Darling by Russell Banks.
I found the book - fascinating. I'm still not sure if I liked or disliked it - it is not a typical novel in many ways. The 'heroine', if such a word is appropriate, is a woman named Hannah Musgrove. Through a series of flashbacks, we follow her life from her late-teens/early twenties to her late fifties at the close of the novel. She's not a particularly likeable character, but I found myself routing for her anyway, or at least rooting for her to get with it! Hannah is involved in the Civil Rights Movement in the US in her early years, but quickly gets drawn into more dangerous/extremist political groups, and eventually flees to Africa to go "underground."
She ends up in Liberia, marries a man who is not too high and not to low in government, and has three children with him. The heart of the book takes place against the background of unfolding events in Liberia - civil war, terror, unrest, chaos, military coups, and eventually, the rise of Charles Taylor to power. Hannah seeks her identity in the midst of all this, and as she shares the only love she seems to be able to give with her dreamers, the chimpazees she cares for at a lab.
One quote from the book: "It may seem strange to you, but something about prisons, jails, cages comforts me. All my life I've run from confinement and tried to keep others, even animals from being imprisoned. Yet whenever I come close to an actual place of confinement . . . something inside me clicks off and something else clicks on. Dread gets replaced by complacent, almost grateful acceptance . . . [When I was in jail for two nights] having relinquished my physical freedom, I was somehow free in a new and more satisfying way." (pg 291)
The book certainly is, as I said, fascinating. The politics of US relations with other countries, the personal journey of someone trying to make peace with haunting events and choices from the past, and many other issues interwoven - it is a very layered story. Worth a read, I think, even if I can't say you'll "like" it!
Sunday, July 31, 2005
a thank you and more on church-searching
Thank you all for responding to my post on finding a new church home. Also, check out my friend Jason's response, which he posted over on his blog, for more reading. I think the stories you've shared are fascinating - you never know what will be the deciding factor for someone to call a church 'home' - no magic pattern. That's a needed reminder sometimes.
Actually, I should have mentioned that my mom is currently looking for a new church home (a blogless family member - shocking, I know) Her journey is somewhat aided by the fact that her daughter and her brother are both pastors in the conference, so we have plenty of suggestions for her!
Today she worshipped with a congregation near her hometown who has a new pastor as of July 1st of this year - one of the few African-American clergy in our conference, one of even fewer female African-American clergy. The church is a smaller church, but filled up for its size, and my mom thought the pastor was great and very spirit-filled. But one of the other parishioners commented to her: "I don't think it detracts from us that we have a black pastor." Ugh. I guess it was her attempt to show how not-prejudiced she was, but I think she missed the mark a bit...
I think my mom may still end up attending this church, despite the comments of some, but if she tours more churches, I'll tell you how her first-time experiences go. She's like my reporter working out in the field ;)
Actually, I should have mentioned that my mom is currently looking for a new church home (a blogless family member - shocking, I know) Her journey is somewhat aided by the fact that her daughter and her brother are both pastors in the conference, so we have plenty of suggestions for her!
Today she worshipped with a congregation near her hometown who has a new pastor as of July 1st of this year - one of the few African-American clergy in our conference, one of even fewer female African-American clergy. The church is a smaller church, but filled up for its size, and my mom thought the pastor was great and very spirit-filled. But one of the other parishioners commented to her: "I don't think it detracts from us that we have a black pastor." Ugh. I guess it was her attempt to show how not-prejudiced she was, but I think she missed the mark a bit...
I think my mom may still end up attending this church, despite the comments of some, but if she tours more churches, I'll tell you how her first-time experiences go. She's like my reporter working out in the field ;)
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
finding a church
At my church, we're starting plans (slowly, but surely) to add a Saturday evening worship service, for a variety of reasons, which maybe I'll write another post about soon. Anyway, in planning, I was talking with a parishioner about how people end up at the church they attend. I was 'born into' one church when I was little. My parents eventually led me to a new church home when I was a sixth-grader, where I went grudgingly at first, but eventually came to love. I stayed at that church until, well, I became a pastor! During college, I attended one of the UMC churches in town, but hopped from church to church too. During seminary, we had a very strong community of worship in our own chapel. So I've never really been in the position to seek a church to call my own.
So I want to know - how do people find a church? If you've had the experience, I want to know, if you are willing to share:
How many churches did you visit before you landed where you attend?
Where you invited by someone to the church you now attend?
What were you looking for in a church?
What did you find that 'made' or 'broke' the deal for you?
Is it the music, or the preaching, or the fellowship that keeps people coming back to a church, or running from it? I'm sure it is a combination of all these things and more - but if you have some insights, I'd appreciate your sharing.
Thanks!
So I want to know - how do people find a church? If you've had the experience, I want to know, if you are willing to share:
How many churches did you visit before you landed where you attend?
Where you invited by someone to the church you now attend?
What were you looking for in a church?
What did you find that 'made' or 'broke' the deal for you?
Is it the music, or the preaching, or the fellowship that keeps people coming back to a church, or running from it? I'm sure it is a combination of all these things and more - but if you have some insights, I'd appreciate your sharing.
Thanks!
Sunday, July 24, 2005
review: The Working Poor, by David K. Shipler
WARNING: LONG (rambling?) POST!
I finally finished reading The Working Poor by David K. Shipler. Let me start of by saying that this is an awesome, excellent book. You should read it. You should especially read it if you think a) the government gives too many handouts to the poor or b) poor people should just work harder and they'd be fine. But you should also read it if you just want your eyes to be opened even wider to what it means to be part of the so-called "working poor." I feel like I could write several posts about this book, but I'll try and spare you and condense my thoughts.
Shipler spent years researching the people whose stories he follows in this book - he knows them and their struggles over a period of time that gives him some real perspective. He divides his work into chapters that deal with aspects of poverty: immigrants, education, family ties, etc. - but his focus is on the people who are poor, and their stories. I think he strikes a good balance - he doesn't paint poor people as saints - he's fair, I think, about emphasizing community and individual responsibility for poverty. But he's clear in showing how the system - government, culture, society, communities - has failed people who are poor.
One of Shipler's primary goals is to debunk the myth that if poor people got jobs they would no longer be poor. In the chapter "Work Doesn't Work," he talks about Christie, a woman, who, for example, took a special training course so she could do more at her job and get a raise - a 10 cents/hour raise. With her raise, her food stamps were dropped by $10/month. The net result of her training? An extra $6 a month. (pg. 41) Talk about motivation! Christie also had her children in a Boys and Girls Club after-school program. (Childcare expenses are a huge issue for families with financial struggles) She was late to pick them up one day - having forgotten that Friday had an early pick up day. The club has a rule that they fine parents up to $10/per child/per 5 minutes for late pick-ups. Christie, an hour late, had a fine of $80/PER CHILD for being late. She couldn't pay, so she could no longer send them to this program. (pg. 45)
"Importing the Third World" talks about our reliance, our American need for undocumented workers in order for our economy to function, and the following chapter, "Harvest of Shame," talks specifically about migrant workers. While in college, I had the opportunity to visit homes of migrant workers my freshman year, and was appalled at the living conditions I saw. This chapter, for you United Methodist readers, also follows the Mt. Olive Pickle boycott - which is interesting to read from a non-UMC perspective. A fact: about 52% of the nation's farmworkers are here in the US without permission.
"The Daunting Workplace" talks about the skills people need to get jobs that they don't have - not skills like typing and computers (though those are of course needed) but 'soft skills' like attire and punctuality, hygiene, etc. And Shipley concludes the chapter saying, "it's as if education were like capital; the more you have, the more you get," when pointing out the jobs-skills programs tend to work best for those who already have the most education. (pg. 140)
"Sins of the fathers" looks at abuse, sexual and otherwise, and its impact on people and poverty. "Kinship" was the chapter that spoke to me most personally. The chapter looks at how people with ties - of family and friends - can manage in and sometimes through poverty in a way that those without ties cannot. My own family struggled a lot when I was a child. My father had been an air-traffic controller and went on strike when I was two. President Reagan fired all of them who didn't return to work, and said they could never be hired by the government again, which was where the vast majority of air-traffic controlling jobs were. We struggled - me, my parents, and my three siblings. We went on food stamps. We got behind on bills. We were recipients of my church's Thanksgiving food baskets. We had our heat and power turned off. One Christmas we opened presents with our winter jackets on, and then went by sled (no gas in the car) around the corner to my grandparent' house. I had an umbrella open in my bedroom over my Cabbage Patch kids, to guard them from the plaster that occasionally fell from my ceiling. But I remember being happy and loved, and part of a tight-knit extended family. We struggled, but never fell through the cracks. With the support of family and benefits of education, we struggled out of poverty into middle class. That's what "kinship" is about, and the family profiled in this chapter moved me to tears.
"Body and Mind" talks about health care, nutrition, food, housing. The basics. The best part was one individual who goes above and beyond the usual, really doing something to help. A doctor Barry Zuckerman is profiled. He doesn't just provide health care. He started giving books to his child-patients, which turned into the program Reach out and Read. He's hired lawyers (his fastest growing division, he says) to pursue things like landlords who won't keep their housing up to condition, which in turns causes asthma or infections in children. (pg. 225-226) Inspiring efforts of one individual.
"Dreams" talks about young people, education, parenting. Inequality in education, struggles of teachers and parents are highlighted. Some of the examples of sub-par education are horrifying.
"Work works" follows the stories we like to hear about : people who made it out. Who went through the system and have become "upstanding members of society," who have jobs and are viable and stable. The stories here are great.
In "Skill and Will," Shipler brings it home, asking, "what can be done?"
He argues that poverty has many related issues, and we can't focus on just one aspect of poverty - like housing - or things won't get better. He says we must have skill and will. What problems do we have the skills to solve? Sometimes, he'll admit, we don't have the skills. But he argues that more often, we never come close to exhausting our skills because we exhaust our apparent will to exercise those skills. (pg. 286) "Holistic remedies are vital," he says, but we must be willing to have some - those with the most to give - be willing to make some sacrifice to alleviate hardship for those with the least. He especially urges for changes in wage structure, education funding (Head Start's funding equaled at the time of writing the price of 1.5 new air craft carriers, pg. 298), and health care (the federal budget for child health care equals the price of a new air craft carrier, pg. 295).
Finally, in an epilogue, Shipler gives us a "where are they now" follow up to some of his primary sources. Some are making it. Some are still in the same cycle of poverty.
Read it!
I finally finished reading The Working Poor by David K. Shipler. Let me start of by saying that this is an awesome, excellent book. You should read it. You should especially read it if you think a) the government gives too many handouts to the poor or b) poor people should just work harder and they'd be fine. But you should also read it if you just want your eyes to be opened even wider to what it means to be part of the so-called "working poor." I feel like I could write several posts about this book, but I'll try and spare you and condense my thoughts.
Shipler spent years researching the people whose stories he follows in this book - he knows them and their struggles over a period of time that gives him some real perspective. He divides his work into chapters that deal with aspects of poverty: immigrants, education, family ties, etc. - but his focus is on the people who are poor, and their stories. I think he strikes a good balance - he doesn't paint poor people as saints - he's fair, I think, about emphasizing community and individual responsibility for poverty. But he's clear in showing how the system - government, culture, society, communities - has failed people who are poor.
One of Shipler's primary goals is to debunk the myth that if poor people got jobs they would no longer be poor. In the chapter "Work Doesn't Work," he talks about Christie, a woman, who, for example, took a special training course so she could do more at her job and get a raise - a 10 cents/hour raise. With her raise, her food stamps were dropped by $10/month. The net result of her training? An extra $6 a month. (pg. 41) Talk about motivation! Christie also had her children in a Boys and Girls Club after-school program. (Childcare expenses are a huge issue for families with financial struggles) She was late to pick them up one day - having forgotten that Friday had an early pick up day. The club has a rule that they fine parents up to $10/per child/per 5 minutes for late pick-ups. Christie, an hour late, had a fine of $80/PER CHILD for being late. She couldn't pay, so she could no longer send them to this program. (pg. 45)
"Importing the Third World" talks about our reliance, our American need for undocumented workers in order for our economy to function, and the following chapter, "Harvest of Shame," talks specifically about migrant workers. While in college, I had the opportunity to visit homes of migrant workers my freshman year, and was appalled at the living conditions I saw. This chapter, for you United Methodist readers, also follows the Mt. Olive Pickle boycott - which is interesting to read from a non-UMC perspective. A fact: about 52% of the nation's farmworkers are here in the US without permission.
"The Daunting Workplace" talks about the skills people need to get jobs that they don't have - not skills like typing and computers (though those are of course needed) but 'soft skills' like attire and punctuality, hygiene, etc. And Shipley concludes the chapter saying, "it's as if education were like capital; the more you have, the more you get," when pointing out the jobs-skills programs tend to work best for those who already have the most education. (pg. 140)
"Sins of the fathers" looks at abuse, sexual and otherwise, and its impact on people and poverty. "Kinship" was the chapter that spoke to me most personally. The chapter looks at how people with ties - of family and friends - can manage in and sometimes through poverty in a way that those without ties cannot. My own family struggled a lot when I was a child. My father had been an air-traffic controller and went on strike when I was two. President Reagan fired all of them who didn't return to work, and said they could never be hired by the government again, which was where the vast majority of air-traffic controlling jobs were. We struggled - me, my parents, and my three siblings. We went on food stamps. We got behind on bills. We were recipients of my church's Thanksgiving food baskets. We had our heat and power turned off. One Christmas we opened presents with our winter jackets on, and then went by sled (no gas in the car) around the corner to my grandparent' house. I had an umbrella open in my bedroom over my Cabbage Patch kids, to guard them from the plaster that occasionally fell from my ceiling. But I remember being happy and loved, and part of a tight-knit extended family. We struggled, but never fell through the cracks. With the support of family and benefits of education, we struggled out of poverty into middle class. That's what "kinship" is about, and the family profiled in this chapter moved me to tears.
"Body and Mind" talks about health care, nutrition, food, housing. The basics. The best part was one individual who goes above and beyond the usual, really doing something to help. A doctor Barry Zuckerman is profiled. He doesn't just provide health care. He started giving books to his child-patients, which turned into the program Reach out and Read. He's hired lawyers (his fastest growing division, he says) to pursue things like landlords who won't keep their housing up to condition, which in turns causes asthma or infections in children. (pg. 225-226) Inspiring efforts of one individual.
"Dreams" talks about young people, education, parenting. Inequality in education, struggles of teachers and parents are highlighted. Some of the examples of sub-par education are horrifying.
"Work works" follows the stories we like to hear about : people who made it out. Who went through the system and have become "upstanding members of society," who have jobs and are viable and stable. The stories here are great.
In "Skill and Will," Shipler brings it home, asking, "what can be done?"
He argues that poverty has many related issues, and we can't focus on just one aspect of poverty - like housing - or things won't get better. He says we must have skill and will. What problems do we have the skills to solve? Sometimes, he'll admit, we don't have the skills. But he argues that more often, we never come close to exhausting our skills because we exhaust our apparent will to exercise those skills. (pg. 286) "Holistic remedies are vital," he says, but we must be willing to have some - those with the most to give - be willing to make some sacrifice to alleviate hardship for those with the least. He especially urges for changes in wage structure, education funding (Head Start's funding equaled at the time of writing the price of 1.5 new air craft carriers, pg. 298), and health care (the federal budget for child health care equals the price of a new air craft carrier, pg. 295).
Finally, in an epilogue, Shipler gives us a "where are they now" follow up to some of his primary sources. Some are making it. Some are still in the same cycle of poverty.
Read it!
Friday, July 22, 2005
children's sermon: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Sorry I haven't posted a children's sermon for the last two weeks - I wasn't preaching! So, for this Sunday, here's my plan.
I'm focusing on the 'yeast' part of the parable, and I am going to bring in two cakes - one made without any baking soda/rising agents, and one made with. I will show them the flatter cake, and ask the children what is wrong with it. I'll talk about how even though it is such a small amount of the recipe, a bad-tasting, unexciting ingredient, it is totally essential to the cake. I'll tie that in to the kingdom of God, and to our own essential and important role in that kingdom.
Not a perfect comparison. But it will do :)
I'm focusing on the 'yeast' part of the parable, and I am going to bring in two cakes - one made without any baking soda/rising agents, and one made with. I will show them the flatter cake, and ask the children what is wrong with it. I'll talk about how even though it is such a small amount of the recipe, a bad-tasting, unexciting ingredient, it is totally essential to the cake. I'll tie that in to the kingdom of God, and to our own essential and important role in that kingdom.
Not a perfect comparison. But it will do :)
congrats...
Congrats to my little brother Tim, who got a 95, scoring 5th place on the firefighter's exam. He rocks!
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
So, I just took a brief break from the other books I'm reading to read JK Rowling's latest in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Like the others, I loved this book as well. I'm fascinated by the details that Rowling has come up with, the world she has created. I admire people who can write so creatively.
What I don't understand, really, is the condemnation of the books by some Christian groups. I really just don't get it. Some of my other favorite books, as I've mentioned before are the Chronicles of Narnia from CS Lewis. I realize he's a theologian writing clearly with Christian themes, but he certainly still talks about witches and wizards and magic in a way that doesn't say they are evil. What makes Harry Potter so bad?
Indeed, as the series progresses, Harry has to struggle with deeper ethical questions. I won't pretend they are blantantly theological questions of course - but they are ethical life questions. Harry's adventures are really about the choices he makes. And Rowling is emphasizing that love is the ultimate power, indeed, that sacrificial love is more amazing than any tangible power another can hold. In the end, Harry's magic powers are just a side note to the decisions and choices he has to make. I think it is sending all the right messages to young (and older!) readers, in a make-believe world that is fun and exciting.
What do you think?
What I don't understand, really, is the condemnation of the books by some Christian groups. I really just don't get it. Some of my other favorite books, as I've mentioned before are the Chronicles of Narnia from CS Lewis. I realize he's a theologian writing clearly with Christian themes, but he certainly still talks about witches and wizards and magic in a way that doesn't say they are evil. What makes Harry Potter so bad?
Indeed, as the series progresses, Harry has to struggle with deeper ethical questions. I won't pretend they are blantantly theological questions of course - but they are ethical life questions. Harry's adventures are really about the choices he makes. And Rowling is emphasizing that love is the ultimate power, indeed, that sacrificial love is more amazing than any tangible power another can hold. In the end, Harry's magic powers are just a side note to the decisions and choices he has to make. I think it is sending all the right messages to young (and older!) readers, in a make-believe world that is fun and exciting.
What do you think?
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