A Brief Case for the Useful Arts

The other day I decided to create some lists for my life. Lists always clear things up for me. As I sat down to write out things I wanted to further study (possibly graduate school?) and learn how to do, I quickly saw that I had a desire to use my hands/physical being to create things. Crawford has hit on something. We humans like to produce/create, but in our fast pace, consumeristic, academically driven society we have lost the ability and desire to do manual labor. Society often looks on it as blue-collar labor for those who did not have the chance to go to college to get a high paying job, but in reality people who have learned to use their hands have also learned how to think in a conceptual manner. Life is not so abstract. One who has manuel skills can live life in a simple and satisfying way. Four years of college and a degree in history might not have prepared me for life as well as I thought.

Economic Friendships

I think this chapter was the first one I read that really helped me understand how to redefine the use of money. I found it refreshing and helpful. Wilson-Hartgrove speaks truth when he says that we are to make friends with our money and take care of each other, and in so doing that we cheat the system and honor God. This actually seems like a feasible tactic. My parents and I are already doing this by taking part in a Christian healthcare co-op. I think it is a creative way to use the provisions God has given us, but still allows for us to have our medical needs taken care within an expensive healthcare system. I'm thankful that we have the freedom to choose to take part in a private, Christian co-op. I hope that we will be able to continue in this practice, but it seems our choices are being taken away from us with the healthcare plan. It seems the government is trying to take the place of what the church is suppose to do. The church in America has fallen down on the job and now we are loosing our ability to show Christ's mercy in a tangible way.

thoughts after class

I guess I have trouble articulating my ideas in class, but many things are crashing through my mind right now. One being that I see importance in the ritual practice of the Eucharist. Every week as I take part in confessing my sins, praising God, and then praying before, during, and after taking part, I am reminded of the gift of grace God bestows on us. I remember Christ's death and the physicality of His being on Earth for us. It is a sacred and holy time filled with wonder. I think that one can find holiness in the every day, but I find it easy to forget or get caught up in the everyday so that it become routine and not sacred or holy. The Eucharist shared in church is a very blatant reminder. Sharing a meal, even if we pray beforehand, and I am aware I am sharing out of Christian love, I don't know if I would necessarily be reminded of Christ's sacrifice or concentrate on my sins and ask for forgiveness, making my heart right before God and others, before partaking. It is good for one to take part in the breaking of bread with a community, but I think there is some real importance in the practice of sacraments within a church setting.

Another recurring topic that seems to come up within both books we are reading for class is that capitalism is evil, and real Christians should live out an economy completely separate/isolated from this world or one that is socialist in nature. (I know I am not backing these statements up with direct examples as I should. Maybe I am just picking up those vibes because I know the audiences the books are trying to reach.) It is the popular liberal economic stance; capitalism=evil, but no one seems to come up with a better, realistic, economic plan. Yes there is greed, sin, and corruption that happens, but that happens within any government and earthly economic system because we are sinful human beings. The thing is that with capitalism there is a free market. That means that there is a chance of bad things happening, but there is also the possibility for real good. Think of all the world crisis like in Rwanda, Haiti, in southeast Asia when the Tsunami broke, where private charities from America were able to come in with supplies and the Gospel and share it in a real way. The extremely generous charities of America are unique in their ability and size because wealthy people have given to these charities because they cared about the suffering of the world. There is a good side to capitalism. A free market allows for money to be made in creative manner to be spent in creative, and often generous, way.

Community living with a common purse is a nice idea, and it is wonderful that a small community has the freedom to choose to live that way (maybe a more Biblical model), but when it comes to a world of sinners with millions of people that do not have the same mindset or worldview it is hard to realistically say we should give up money all together or evenly distribute among the world's population. This is beyond idealism.

We have to be careful not to let money become our treasure, and it might be harder when you are part of the world, working and making money, to remained centered on God and always trusting Him for provision, but I think that is where our mind, reason, and funnily enough, or faith come into play. God has given us resources, minds, jobs, etc., to take care of each other. We are commanded to take care of one another, not necessarily to live with one another and share everything equally. (Even the early Christians did not live in a commune. They shared among each other, and broke bread together, but it never says they had a common purse.) Some make more and are able to be more generous. As a Christian we should use what God has given us, our mind, wealth, and His provision, to take care of the Body and the world.

Disciples Break Bread Together

My world view is a bit challenged. I think I have the "Protestant" work ethic so ingrained in me that  I have always created some division between economics and my faith. They did not connect as much as Yoder made them connect at least. He was able to show me that the practice of breaking bread together was "matter of economic ethics". They are so interlinked and I never saw it before.


I have always believed that I should be an example for Christ out in the world in whatever job I do; the more I make the more I can give, and I always thought that was enough. Now I am wondering if it is enough. Was Jesus calling for something more? If I am to agree with Yoder's interpretation of Jesus' words then I would have to live out a communal life, breaking bread with others daily, instead of just on Sunday through a symbolized sacrament. My life would look radically different. That's scary, but maybe it's really what Jesus meant for us to do all along, and I have just been americanized.


I never wanted to be one of those students who goes to one class or reads one book and is totally won over by the one voice they hear, but Yoder is definitely challenging me to rethink some things I have been so convinced of.

Eternal Investments

I have to be honest. I have always struggled to trust God wholly. It has been my stumbling block for many years and is rooted in pride (a sin I am working on). I like to rely on my own ability (little that it is) to survive and be in control of my life in certain ways. I believe that God has given me a brain to think and take action and that I should make investments and be wise with what He has given me. I tithe and give to the needy, and then I try to save so that I can give more later. God does give us the ability to be good stewards with the resources we have around us. It is hard not to sometimes think about the safe feeling that comes from more money in the bank, but Wilson-Hartgrove made a good point when he wrote that investments in the world are fleeting and unsafe (no matter how sure someone is). God is the only true safety and I have to believe that. The only sensible decision would be to trust my creator with my life and then be wise with what he has blessed me with. I don't think that necessarily means I have to not accept health insurance for me and my family or live in a collective community. I think one can live wisely, simply, and still be dependent on God even with insurance and savings.

Binding and Loosing

I have found that when God is trying to teach/convict me of something He repetitively places the same words before me in many different formats, and He is at it again. This time God seems to be trying to teach me about the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation. Last night at Reba the speaker, David, spoke about being subversive to the world's economy. He mentioned that to be a Christian means to be subversive. There are many examples of this in the Bible including in Jesus' own life through his offering of forgiveness to all. Forgiveness and reconciliation are not "normal" practices, but to be part of the body of Christ requires that we do those things. It is something that John Howard Yoder again talks about in his book Body Politics. He believes that the Body of Christ needs to be one of reconciliation and forgiveness without punishment. We can learn to resolve conflict, trust each other more, and allow the Holy Spirit to work by giving us love even for those who have offended us. Yoder sees conflict as human, but the way we handle it as representative of the gospel.

Recently a close friend and I had a falling out unlike anything I had ever gone through before. I never experienced the feeling of bitterness that rose up in my chest and the thoughts I carried in my mind all day. I kept trying to pray for the person so that I would again have feelings of love towards them, but it was to difficult on my own. Finally this morning we sat down together and shared our hurts, both asked for forgiveness, and forgave. The mutual forgiveness reconciled us and were once again able to express our love for each other. I had to directly implement the lesson that God has been teaching me the past three days. It has been hard, but I have experienced God working in my life in a new way.

Subversive Service

The "servant sermon" is an old one and the question still remains... How do we live a life of no reputation and service? Wilson-Hartgrove's only answer seems to be voluntary poverty. He is trying to redefine the common definition of the good life,which I commend him on, but his examples seem far removed from the everyday Christian's experience. Not every one can be like St. Francis Assisi or Peter Maurin. They are exceptions and other, less extreme individuals have been able to selflessly serve. Yes, we need to live a life of abundance without an excess of worldly goods, but is that the only answer? I guess I am still grappling with the idea of voluntary poverty. Is that the only way to live a life of subversive service? It did not seem like the president of Wilson's Hartgove's college needed to live a life of poverty to serve the incoming freshman. Poverty might make it easier to trust God and be willing to sacrifice, but I think Wilson-Hartgrove's answer is a narrow one.

Love

Love is a discipline. Thurman backs me up on this when he wrote, "There cannot be too great insistence on the point that we are here dealing with a discipline, a method, a technique, as over against some form of wishful thinking or simple desiring." It is an everyday battle to love beyond those who are not similar to you. It take a great amount of humility and work. This is a lesson I have been learning of late, and it has awakened in me more love than I thought possible.

Thurman points out that there are three levels of love. Each one is harder than the last and requires one to love their distant enemy. Often I have not thought about loving the politicians I disagree with or the Korean neighbor down the street. They just seem so far removed from my personal experience, but Jesus was able to love those directly around him, those he had contact with, and those far removed from his life in Israel. Jesus loved the disinherited because he put himself in their camp. He loved by breaking down the walls of race, gender, and background.

Eating at God's Table, Chap. 3

So I begin by contemplating the questions Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove laid out in his third chapter: "What could it possibly mean to base our lives and relationship to money on the assumption of abundance? What difference would it make in our hopes and dreams? In our daily lives?" These are questions I don't think I have ever really thought about in depth. I have always been thankful for the money I have, but I have never felt I have an abundance. I am always hoping to have a little more to make my life easier and allow for greater generosity. I do compare myself to those who do not have to pay for school on their own or are able to travel often. Money has never driven me to seek out a degree for the purpose of a "good paying" job or power, but money still remains somewhat important in my mind, even if I do not consciously think it does. I secretly think more is better. If I started living out a life like I already had more than I think my life would change dramatically. I don't think I would feel as discontent as I sometime do, and I would be able to put God first in my life because money and my own security wouldn't be as large a priority in my mind. It would redefine what it means to be a citizen of this Earth!

I felt Jonathan's desire to change the world, through helping the poor receive money and power from the rich, was an important example. I think often Christians believe that a redistribution of wealth is the answer to oppression, but if we were to step back from the situation and look at what we are actually doing and what the result of our good intentions are we might come to the same conclusion Wilson-Hartgrove came to: unintentionally continuing the evil cycle of power grabbing and greed by our taking control of the situation. It's a tempting thing to fight the powerful by becoming powerful, but what is the result of gaining power?

I am interested to see what tactics Jonathan will come up with that allow for us as Christians to change the world through the cracks...

Jesus and the Disinherited: Deception and Hate

Deception and hate are two topics I don't often think about but they really impact our character. Thurman points out that we should live out lives of sincerity like Jesus did, even in times of survival, because we are always in God's presence and we cannot hide who we are from Him. I cannot hide who I am from God so why should I try to deceive the people around me about who I am?

Thurman also brings up the point that anger can be used as a cover for our moral debasement. It becomes a tool to protect against one's "finer set of values". One might say something in anger or righteous indignation that they would normally not say to someone, and it becomes an easy excuse for saying something out of bitterness and hatred. This idea seems to ring true, as did the idea that "hatred cannot be controlled once it is set in motion" (Thurman, 87). It becomes all consuming and everything else is swallowed up. All goodness, creativity, and the spirit are quenched. Thurman encourages me to live a life of love and not let the ball of hatred start rolling. It seems to sneak to up on us sometimes, but Thurman's mapping out of the steps toward hatred was a good reminder of what leads one down that path. I hope to live a life of fellowship that is beyond contact, and then hopefully I will be on my way to understanding people with a truly empathetic heart and acting out in goodwill.