Here are the lyrics to my favorite song of all-time (not just by Project 86 but literally of all-time), "Hollow Again."
"Somehow I lost my way
And now it's clear to me
All that I fought so hard to keep
Is all I had to leave
I know you can't hear me
And you won't believe me
But there is something I must say here
Before I fade away
(This is how the world ends again)
Forever we will be
Forever we will be hollow
Hollow again
So I'm left here waiting
So long I'm contemplating
And now I know how it is
But now it's far too late
How will we open the eyes of the dead
When we are hollow
Hollow
And all along here I was told
By fallen men in their charade
That we could find a hope inside
The safety of this empty place"
Anyone that knows of T.S. Eliot's famous poem, "Hollow Men," should see at least a bit of his influence on this song. The song ends the album Truthless Heroes, an album written basically as a warning to people not to turn away from God or the path of good. So here at the end of the album we find a person lost spiritually, and finally realizing that they are lost but have no way out. Hollow and full of regret they find that the path of instant gratification is merely an "empty place." And now they are desperate to tell others, those still with some hope, not to turn down the same path.
If you were to listen to this song you'd probably agree that it is extremely powerful. The music itself seems to be full of regret and sadness and the vocals express anger and hopelessness. I really encourage you to look this song up on youtube and listen to it.
For me, the "Somehow" at the beginning of the song is really rather touching. Have you ever had moments in your life when you realize all of a sudden that you are not where you meant to be and you ask the simple question, "At what point did it all go wrong?" Because I believe in God and that all humans are created by God with a sense of love and compassion, I must also believe that the perpetrators of slavery somehow went wrong. I believe that they, too, sometimes wake in the middle of the night and wonder how they lost their way and wishing someone would hear their hollow cries. I believe that even the most evil of people do at least sometimes feel as if they have been led astray be fallen men in their charades. I believe that they know they've become hollow and are full of sad regret. So I ask that we have compassion on those who perpetrate and contribute to the cruelest of crimes. They, too, are human beings in need of love and understanding and someone to listen to them. If we don't also love them then they are likely to continue to try and find safety in empty places.
I also invite us to see in this song the story of those enslaved. First they are tricked into thinking that the path of slavery is actually the path to a good life and soon they are wondering what went wrong. As they see clearly their situation in life they also realize that it is not their fault for listening to the charades of fallen men, for losing their way, and for becoming hollow. It is the fault of all of us. We as a society have not listened to those who have gone before us. We have not opened the eyes of the dead.
I am often depressed with the lack of care many high school and college students graduate with toward history. Once I was talking about the Civil War with a friend and she cut me off, saying, "I know it's bad but I don't know much about history," and then she laughed it off and changed the subject. Though our Capitol building contains a number of quotations about the importance of history over its many doorways, we live in a country that simply does not care about where we have come from. That is particularly scary given our horrible history with slavery.
Folks, the slaves in the world today are hopeless because they feel their hollowness. The way they have been used and abused has left them with little to no feelings and little to no concern for their body. They have become or are becoming machines at the hands of people who themselves have not been loved properly. All I can say is that the hollowness of the 27 million slaves in the world today demand us to open the eyes of the dead. We need to understand ourselves and the societies we live in. We need to understand where we have gone wrong in the past and actually do something about it. We have been given the power and the tools to create justice by those who have gone before us. We need to claim that and start making a difference.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Team Black
I want to make up for lost time due to technical difficulties by posting twice today. If y'all are following along day-by-day and you don't see a post later tonight, hold me accountable!
Part of the reason that I want to post twice today is that Project 86's third album, Truthless Heroes, was an album-long story about a person who seeks after the pleasures that I talked about last night: those instant and temporary pleasures that we use to avoid looking at who we really are. Andrew Schwab, the lead singer, has said that Huxley's A Brave New World and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter were major influences on the album. If you are at all familiar with those novels then you perhaps can imagine the lyrical contents of the album. In a strange twist the Christian community basically shunned Project 86 after this album because the lyrics are not "Christian." Personally I find the lyrics extremely Christian because they show us what happens when we turn away from God and refuse to look at ourselves and who we really are.
I feel it necessary to explain the background because otherwise you might be really confused by the lyrics that I'm about to post. These lyrics come from the song, "Team Black." The "You" in the song is most definitely not God but the Devil along with his bag of temporary and ruinous pleasures.
"I don't even like the taste of blood
But it was all they had for sale today
And this is hunger that just won't go away
I was taught to drink my fill of you
You were taught to take take take from me
The more I taste the more I need
The more it (You) makes me ill
The more I taste the more I need
Need my fill of you
You are a sight for hungry eyes today
I am needing more of you inside of me
I am nothing more than what they've made of me
I was taught to drink my fill of you
You were taught to take take take from me
And when my objects become used
I throw them all away
And when I need another fill
I'll turn to you again"
If you go back and read my post from yesterday you'll see how well this song goes with "Cold and Calculated," among other P86 songs. Like a cigarette, all the temporary and ruinous pleasures that beckon to us very rarely are isolated events. Once we taste of the forbidden pleasures we need more. And we will need more even if we acknowledge that they are taking from us our hope and contentment, even if we acknowledge that they are making us ill.
The last verse particularly troubles me. When the objects of our pleasure no longer give us the high we once experienced, we throw them away. Here is the rub, as they say, regarding slavery. Our selfish hearts demand certain pleasures and so we gather together "objects" to help us attain those pleasures. In the case of drugs we ruin our lives. In the case of sex or building a fortune we ruin the lives of others and human beings become our objects. As soon as we have had our fill of our sex or labor objects we simply throw them away. As soon as our objects have lost their value we throw them away.
Imagine how awful it must be for a young woman to have her vagina sown back together over and over again because her clients only find value in her if she feels like a virgin. Imagine how awful it must be for a sex slave to be beaten by her client because he/she "gets off" on that, and then thrown away because now they're bruised and no longer beautiful.
Once again I invite you to think about your own life. "Team Black" and the album Truthless Heroes are not merely explorations into the hearts and minds of those who have completely ruined their lives, they are explorations into the hearts and minds of all people. How often do you seek after a pleasure, receive it, and then feel empty afterward? How often do you seek after a pleasure even though you know it's not going to make you feel any better?
My hunch is that we can all relate, that all of our answers to these questions are, at least, "occasionally" or "sometimes." Ultimately I think what this song, and Project 86 in general, is trying to tell us is that drug addicts and those who own slaves or contribute to the act of slavery are not a whole lot different from us. The sooner we acknowledge that there is not a great divide between "us" and "them who commit these awful deeds" the sooner we can understand the motives and perhaps put an end to all of it. The sooner we see that we, too, seek after things knowing, at least deep down, that they'll only make us feel worse in the end the sooner we will be able to speak openly about temptations with our friends and children so that they might not choose a sick and twisted path. For it is only when we can talk openly with those whom we love about our temptations and why we're tempted that we can speak about how and why we are delivered, why we do not give in. Only then can we actually teach others just how dangerous the wrong paths are.
Part of the reason that I want to post twice today is that Project 86's third album, Truthless Heroes, was an album-long story about a person who seeks after the pleasures that I talked about last night: those instant and temporary pleasures that we use to avoid looking at who we really are. Andrew Schwab, the lead singer, has said that Huxley's A Brave New World and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter were major influences on the album. If you are at all familiar with those novels then you perhaps can imagine the lyrical contents of the album. In a strange twist the Christian community basically shunned Project 86 after this album because the lyrics are not "Christian." Personally I find the lyrics extremely Christian because they show us what happens when we turn away from God and refuse to look at ourselves and who we really are.
I feel it necessary to explain the background because otherwise you might be really confused by the lyrics that I'm about to post. These lyrics come from the song, "Team Black." The "You" in the song is most definitely not God but the Devil along with his bag of temporary and ruinous pleasures.
"I don't even like the taste of blood
But it was all they had for sale today
And this is hunger that just won't go away
I was taught to drink my fill of you
You were taught to take take take from me
The more I taste the more I need
The more it (You) makes me ill
The more I taste the more I need
Need my fill of you
You are a sight for hungry eyes today
I am needing more of you inside of me
I am nothing more than what they've made of me
I was taught to drink my fill of you
You were taught to take take take from me
And when my objects become used
I throw them all away
And when I need another fill
I'll turn to you again"
If you go back and read my post from yesterday you'll see how well this song goes with "Cold and Calculated," among other P86 songs. Like a cigarette, all the temporary and ruinous pleasures that beckon to us very rarely are isolated events. Once we taste of the forbidden pleasures we need more. And we will need more even if we acknowledge that they are taking from us our hope and contentment, even if we acknowledge that they are making us ill.
The last verse particularly troubles me. When the objects of our pleasure no longer give us the high we once experienced, we throw them away. Here is the rub, as they say, regarding slavery. Our selfish hearts demand certain pleasures and so we gather together "objects" to help us attain those pleasures. In the case of drugs we ruin our lives. In the case of sex or building a fortune we ruin the lives of others and human beings become our objects. As soon as we have had our fill of our sex or labor objects we simply throw them away. As soon as our objects have lost their value we throw them away.
Imagine how awful it must be for a young woman to have her vagina sown back together over and over again because her clients only find value in her if she feels like a virgin. Imagine how awful it must be for a sex slave to be beaten by her client because he/she "gets off" on that, and then thrown away because now they're bruised and no longer beautiful.
Once again I invite you to think about your own life. "Team Black" and the album Truthless Heroes are not merely explorations into the hearts and minds of those who have completely ruined their lives, they are explorations into the hearts and minds of all people. How often do you seek after a pleasure, receive it, and then feel empty afterward? How often do you seek after a pleasure even though you know it's not going to make you feel any better?
My hunch is that we can all relate, that all of our answers to these questions are, at least, "occasionally" or "sometimes." Ultimately I think what this song, and Project 86 in general, is trying to tell us is that drug addicts and those who own slaves or contribute to the act of slavery are not a whole lot different from us. The sooner we acknowledge that there is not a great divide between "us" and "them who commit these awful deeds" the sooner we can understand the motives and perhaps put an end to all of it. The sooner we see that we, too, seek after things knowing, at least deep down, that they'll only make us feel worse in the end the sooner we will be able to speak openly about temptations with our friends and children so that they might not choose a sick and twisted path. For it is only when we can talk openly with those whom we love about our temptations and why we're tempted that we can speak about how and why we are delivered, why we do not give in. Only then can we actually teach others just how dangerous the wrong paths are.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Cold and Calculated
I've had some technical difficulties with putting up new posts, but we're up and running again. Here are the lyrics to the Project 86 song, "Cold and Calculated."
"A life you built exploiting the dreams of innocents
Preying on the wide-eyed fantasies of those with the purest intent
As parasites, they always need a host (how many lives have you bled?)
Your crooked gain will always find a leech’s ending
There is a reason you cannot sleep
You found the wages you’ve sown in greed
There is no solace in what you seek
You found that although you have gained it all you had to sacrifice...
Your prize.
After all was said and done you lost...
Your pet.
Rest it eludes you as spirits fill your head
Longing for the days when ghosts you used won’t follow you into your bed
So now it’s cost the apple of your eyes (you’ll never see her again)
Why can’t you see that she is not your property when...
How many lives have you bled?
After all was said and done, you lost...
Your pet.
Your prize."
This song reminds me a lot of my favorite movie, Donnie Darko, but trying to explain why would take a long time. Instead, I'll just point out how relevant this song is to the issue of slavery, sex slavery in particular. The selfish greed that drives many of us silly human beings is not only a very temporary satisfaction, but a temporary satisfaction that causes permanent harm to the perpetrator. Of course, permanent and irreparable harm is done to the victim and that is what we abolitionists are most concerned about, but we should need ignore the spiritual damage inflicted on the perpetrator as well.
One commonality between the Christian idea of sin and the Buddhist understanding of karma is that both express an undeniable truth: when we do wrong, it seriously and negatively affects us for the rest of our lives. Once we have manipulated and used and hurt others their faces remain with us and we cannot escape. We might not ever admit it to anyone or ourselves, but we are haunted by the people we have hurt and the people we have neglected to help. More and more we need to find ways to put ourselves to sleep because on the brink of dreaming the voices of those who have cried out against us return. Instead of confronting ourselves and all the wrong we have committed, we seek out more of the same instant and temporary pleasures so that we might forget or convince ourselves that we are, indeed, good and happy people.
Unfortunately, the truth is that we are not good and happy people. The more we avoid that truth the more we avoid actually getting to know who we really are as individuals. And the more we avoid who we really are, the less likely we are to ever find peace within ourselves and start walking down the long, hard road to some real contentment.
"You've found the wages you've sown in greed, there is no solace in what you seek." We just simply don't want to admit it, so we run after the solace-less pleasures more and more not recognizing the awful consequences.
I invite you to seriously reflect on your life and who you are. Are you willing to admit when you do wrong? Are you willing to admit that maybe you're not as good a person as you think you are? Have you really dealt with those instances in which you've hurt others or not helped others when you could/should have? Do you seek temporary pleasures to forget, to convince yourself that you are happy and feel good?
These are the questions we need to ask ourselves. Trust me, we are a hair's breadth away from crumbling into some really bad people. These are the questions that slaveholders and all the people that take advantage of slaves, especially sex slaves, do not ask themselves. They decided long ago that they couldn't look themselves in the eye so instead chose the path of continual gratification and greed. We, then, must take the risk of looking ourselves in the eye so that we do not contribute to the problem, and so that we might possibly hopefully God-willing encourage others to do the same.
"A life you built exploiting the dreams of innocents
Preying on the wide-eyed fantasies of those with the purest intent
As parasites, they always need a host (how many lives have you bled?)
Your crooked gain will always find a leech’s ending
There is a reason you cannot sleep
You found the wages you’ve sown in greed
There is no solace in what you seek
You found that although you have gained it all you had to sacrifice...
Your prize.
After all was said and done you lost...
Your pet.
Rest it eludes you as spirits fill your head
Longing for the days when ghosts you used won’t follow you into your bed
So now it’s cost the apple of your eyes (you’ll never see her again)
Why can’t you see that she is not your property when...
How many lives have you bled?
After all was said and done, you lost...
Your pet.
Your prize."
This song reminds me a lot of my favorite movie, Donnie Darko, but trying to explain why would take a long time. Instead, I'll just point out how relevant this song is to the issue of slavery, sex slavery in particular. The selfish greed that drives many of us silly human beings is not only a very temporary satisfaction, but a temporary satisfaction that causes permanent harm to the perpetrator. Of course, permanent and irreparable harm is done to the victim and that is what we abolitionists are most concerned about, but we should need ignore the spiritual damage inflicted on the perpetrator as well.
One commonality between the Christian idea of sin and the Buddhist understanding of karma is that both express an undeniable truth: when we do wrong, it seriously and negatively affects us for the rest of our lives. Once we have manipulated and used and hurt others their faces remain with us and we cannot escape. We might not ever admit it to anyone or ourselves, but we are haunted by the people we have hurt and the people we have neglected to help. More and more we need to find ways to put ourselves to sleep because on the brink of dreaming the voices of those who have cried out against us return. Instead of confronting ourselves and all the wrong we have committed, we seek out more of the same instant and temporary pleasures so that we might forget or convince ourselves that we are, indeed, good and happy people.
Unfortunately, the truth is that we are not good and happy people. The more we avoid that truth the more we avoid actually getting to know who we really are as individuals. And the more we avoid who we really are, the less likely we are to ever find peace within ourselves and start walking down the long, hard road to some real contentment.
"You've found the wages you've sown in greed, there is no solace in what you seek." We just simply don't want to admit it, so we run after the solace-less pleasures more and more not recognizing the awful consequences.
I invite you to seriously reflect on your life and who you are. Are you willing to admit when you do wrong? Are you willing to admit that maybe you're not as good a person as you think you are? Have you really dealt with those instances in which you've hurt others or not helped others when you could/should have? Do you seek temporary pleasures to forget, to convince yourself that you are happy and feel good?
These are the questions we need to ask ourselves. Trust me, we are a hair's breadth away from crumbling into some really bad people. These are the questions that slaveholders and all the people that take advantage of slaves, especially sex slaves, do not ask themselves. They decided long ago that they couldn't look themselves in the eye so instead chose the path of continual gratification and greed. We, then, must take the risk of looking ourselves in the eye so that we do not contribute to the problem, and so that we might possibly hopefully God-willing encourage others to do the same.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Project 86
Tomorrow morning is my last training ride before I leave next Thursday. I figure a week of rest will do my legs some good. I'll be riding to Mount Vernon and back. You can do the math. But as I realize that the trip of a lifetime has come quickly and in just eight days I will be putting my body to the test for the sake of millions of slaves who have to put their bodies to a more gruesome test daily, I am trying to gather as many materials as possible to reflect on in the coming weeks.
It comes as no surprise to me or anyone that knows me well that a Project 86 song is the first thing that I'll reflect on with y'all. Project 86 is a "hardcore" Christian band and, in my humble opinion, the greatest band of all time (or, at least, the greatest Christian band of all time). From their music to their lyrics they are not your stereotypical Christian band. Rather than having choruses like, "Jesus we praise your name," Project 86 is actually creative, artistic, and realistic with their lyrics. When I start talking about P86 I generally continue on for hours, but I will cut myself short by telling a story.
My favorite story concerning P86 is, after a concert, a drug-addicted man approached Andrew Schwab, the lead singer, seeking help. The man said that the music of P86 was just about the only thing keeping him going in life so he was hoping that Schwab might have some means of helping him. After a conversation with the man, Schwab handed him a Bible saying that though he had tried many things, Schwab had come to see that only in the Bible can one find solace and hope and real love. The man was taken aback because he had no idea that P86 is Christian. You see, P86 does not outrightly label themselves as a Christian band because they are not like those other stereotypical Christian bands with fluffy lyrics and even fluffier lyrics that don't seem to have any relation to real life. Instead of making the Christian faith seem separate from life Project 86 infuses everything they do with their faith without detracting from the artistic and realistic qualities that make up their music. Though the man had no idea that P86 is Christian, he walked away with Schwab's Bible and with new hope.
Aside from trying to convince you all to listen to Project 86 and support their mission in this world, I bring them up because over the next few days I will be posting their songs along with a little reflection on how it relates to my ride and what it means to me at this point. I've thought of doing this because the song that I post below has been particularly helpful to me in the recent weeks as I have struggled with my own faith and whether or not my life really matters, whether or not the little good that I'm doing with this bike ride actually matters. I hope that you find the lyrics inspiring. And I'll include a youtube address so that you can find the music to the song as well because I think the song itself is very powerful.
"To Sand We Return"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exa68BnXz5A
Cowering man
A legion of no-ones call
Bet it all
Covenant kill
He points to the heavens
Bare with blank stares
Beckoning search in self for his answer
Reckoning, purge, the great fall, the cancer
Settlement comes in wages, now he is
Shattered, broke, and all alone
We've lost all our control
Our faces fall to the ground
We're powerless to Your voice
Surrender to the sound
What'll it take
To prove our decision's wrong
Will we fall?
Alone in ourselves
There's nothing but chaos, fear
End it here
'Til we concede to drink from the endless
The desert we find ourselves in is hopeless
'Til we submit and let go the control
We will always be alone
We've lost all our control
Our faces fall to the ground
And no longer feeling so
Shattered, broke and all alone
Who do I belong to?
Not earth.
Not world.
Not evil.
Not mortals.
Not wretches.
Not horrors.
Who do I belong to?
Unchanging.
Unbreaking.
Unfailing.
Creator.
Immortal.
Eternal.
It comes as no surprise to me or anyone that knows me well that a Project 86 song is the first thing that I'll reflect on with y'all. Project 86 is a "hardcore" Christian band and, in my humble opinion, the greatest band of all time (or, at least, the greatest Christian band of all time). From their music to their lyrics they are not your stereotypical Christian band. Rather than having choruses like, "Jesus we praise your name," Project 86 is actually creative, artistic, and realistic with their lyrics. When I start talking about P86 I generally continue on for hours, but I will cut myself short by telling a story.
My favorite story concerning P86 is, after a concert, a drug-addicted man approached Andrew Schwab, the lead singer, seeking help. The man said that the music of P86 was just about the only thing keeping him going in life so he was hoping that Schwab might have some means of helping him. After a conversation with the man, Schwab handed him a Bible saying that though he had tried many things, Schwab had come to see that only in the Bible can one find solace and hope and real love. The man was taken aback because he had no idea that P86 is Christian. You see, P86 does not outrightly label themselves as a Christian band because they are not like those other stereotypical Christian bands with fluffy lyrics and even fluffier lyrics that don't seem to have any relation to real life. Instead of making the Christian faith seem separate from life Project 86 infuses everything they do with their faith without detracting from the artistic and realistic qualities that make up their music. Though the man had no idea that P86 is Christian, he walked away with Schwab's Bible and with new hope.
Aside from trying to convince you all to listen to Project 86 and support their mission in this world, I bring them up because over the next few days I will be posting their songs along with a little reflection on how it relates to my ride and what it means to me at this point. I've thought of doing this because the song that I post below has been particularly helpful to me in the recent weeks as I have struggled with my own faith and whether or not my life really matters, whether or not the little good that I'm doing with this bike ride actually matters. I hope that you find the lyrics inspiring. And I'll include a youtube address so that you can find the music to the song as well because I think the song itself is very powerful.
"To Sand We Return"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exa68BnXz5A
Cowering man
A legion of no-ones call
Bet it all
Covenant kill
He points to the heavens
Bare with blank stares
Beckoning search in self for his answer
Reckoning, purge, the great fall, the cancer
Settlement comes in wages, now he is
Shattered, broke, and all alone
We've lost all our control
Our faces fall to the ground
We're powerless to Your voice
Surrender to the sound
What'll it take
To prove our decision's wrong
Will we fall?
Alone in ourselves
There's nothing but chaos, fear
End it here
'Til we concede to drink from the endless
The desert we find ourselves in is hopeless
'Til we submit and let go the control
We will always be alone
We've lost all our control
Our faces fall to the ground
And no longer feeling so
Shattered, broke and all alone
Who do I belong to?
Not earth.
Not world.
Not evil.
Not mortals.
Not wretches.
Not horrors.
Who do I belong to?
Unchanging.
Unbreaking.
Unfailing.
Creator.
Immortal.
Eternal.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
School and Such
I am approaching the end of my school year. That means that I am less than a month away from the start of my ride. But it also means that I have a lot of final papers to write if I intend to still be a good student and graduate from seminary on time next year.
Most people have been asking me how I have enough time to ride 20, 30, and 40 miles in a day as a full-time student. A majority of those people have been fellow students who feel overwhelmed with work and can't imagine having time off to do anything besides watch a movie once a week or play a quick match of ping pong. My question to them is, "How do you have time to do homework? In fact, why do you make time to do work?"
You see, the more riding I do in preparation for the cross-country trek, the less I feel the pressure of school and homework. I've realized two things: the goal of life is not to succeed in school or in the workplace, it is to enjoy life; and working to ensure that all people have the opportunity to enjoy life is far more important than what grade I might get on a theology paper. Actually, working toward the liberation of those enslaved is a far more powerful theological statement than any paper or book can make. So why work when I can ride my bike and feel the wind on my face as I speed by gardens and flowers and rivers? Why work when I can prepare for riding being a symbol of liberation and justice as I bike across the country?
Unfortunately I don't have an answer to that. I say unfortunately only because I know that when deadlines for papers come even closer I will regret forcing myself into "crunch time." I say unfortunately because I question the whole reason of being here in graduate school, and for having spent four years in undergraduate as well. What's the point of school? Why have I "wasted" six to seven years of my life in higher education? I feel as though I should quit school so that I can do more important things, a.k.a. enjoy life and do my best to help others enjoy life.
I'm not going to quit school, partly because I don't want to think of myself as a failure (though, in reflecting on this, I have to say that dropping out of school at this point might be a success because I've found my peace with and in God and what God intends for me and my life, I don't need a degree for that). I bring up these questions and reflections, though, for the few readers I have to ask themselves, "What am I doing? Why am I spending so much time working and worrying about money? Could I and should I be giving more time and money to the things that I enjoy and to good works so that others may enjoy life?"
I hope that you will think long and hard about those questions. Of course, jobs do help us pay for the things that we need and enjoy in life, and a steady paycheck can allow us to donate generously to those causes that we don't have time to personally work with. But I think we could all use some reevaluation of what we actually need and how much money we should be spending on pampering ourselves, or how much time we actually need to spend on our job and whether we should donate a whole lot more time and money to helping others.
If you don't know the story, check out Mark 12:41-44 in the Bible (the same story can also be found in Luke). Jesus saw rich people putting in fairly large sums of money into the treasury and a poor widow put in two coins. Jesus says that the widow gave more because she gave all that she had while the rich gave out of their surplus. We all have more to give, we just need to get our priorities straight. Can we allow ourselves to donate $50.00 to this cause, to helping the slaves in the world, but spend $500.00 on a couple of chairs for our dining room?
Most people have been asking me how I have enough time to ride 20, 30, and 40 miles in a day as a full-time student. A majority of those people have been fellow students who feel overwhelmed with work and can't imagine having time off to do anything besides watch a movie once a week or play a quick match of ping pong. My question to them is, "How do you have time to do homework? In fact, why do you make time to do work?"
You see, the more riding I do in preparation for the cross-country trek, the less I feel the pressure of school and homework. I've realized two things: the goal of life is not to succeed in school or in the workplace, it is to enjoy life; and working to ensure that all people have the opportunity to enjoy life is far more important than what grade I might get on a theology paper. Actually, working toward the liberation of those enslaved is a far more powerful theological statement than any paper or book can make. So why work when I can ride my bike and feel the wind on my face as I speed by gardens and flowers and rivers? Why work when I can prepare for riding being a symbol of liberation and justice as I bike across the country?
Unfortunately I don't have an answer to that. I say unfortunately only because I know that when deadlines for papers come even closer I will regret forcing myself into "crunch time." I say unfortunately because I question the whole reason of being here in graduate school, and for having spent four years in undergraduate as well. What's the point of school? Why have I "wasted" six to seven years of my life in higher education? I feel as though I should quit school so that I can do more important things, a.k.a. enjoy life and do my best to help others enjoy life.
I'm not going to quit school, partly because I don't want to think of myself as a failure (though, in reflecting on this, I have to say that dropping out of school at this point might be a success because I've found my peace with and in God and what God intends for me and my life, I don't need a degree for that). I bring up these questions and reflections, though, for the few readers I have to ask themselves, "What am I doing? Why am I spending so much time working and worrying about money? Could I and should I be giving more time and money to the things that I enjoy and to good works so that others may enjoy life?"
I hope that you will think long and hard about those questions. Of course, jobs do help us pay for the things that we need and enjoy in life, and a steady paycheck can allow us to donate generously to those causes that we don't have time to personally work with. But I think we could all use some reevaluation of what we actually need and how much money we should be spending on pampering ourselves, or how much time we actually need to spend on our job and whether we should donate a whole lot more time and money to helping others.
If you don't know the story, check out Mark 12:41-44 in the Bible (the same story can also be found in Luke). Jesus saw rich people putting in fairly large sums of money into the treasury and a poor widow put in two coins. Jesus says that the widow gave more because she gave all that she had while the rich gave out of their surplus. We all have more to give, we just need to get our priorities straight. Can we allow ourselves to donate $50.00 to this cause, to helping the slaves in the world, but spend $500.00 on a couple of chairs for our dining room?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Connecticut Proposition
Polaris Project sent me this article from ctpost.com from Connecticut.
"News item: Stamford police raided a so-called massage parlor masquerading as a brothel last week.
Big deal, you might say. Happens all the time.
Perhaps. And that's the problem.
Every community around here has or has had one or more of these places lurking just beneath our day-to-day notice. We usually choose to ignore them.
It's odd. You'd think slavery would get more of a rise out of people.
Hyperbole? Not even close.
Every day, all over the nation, including Fairfield County, young women are forced into having sex with strangers for money -- usually under threat to themselves and their families.
Stamford police believe the massage parlor they raided Friday was a front for a place where illegal immigrants possibly worked as sex slaves.
The methodology is roughly the same for all: Recruiters bait impoverished women in their home countries with promises of riches to be had in the United States. They get the women here, provide them with false immigration documents and then inform them that they owe a huge debt for services rendered. You can figure out the rest.
It's fashionable today to call prostitution a victimless crime, one that should be legalized. Try telling that to the women caught in these monstrous operations.
The state legislature must take this problem more seriously, and change how we address it.
The first step actually should be decriminalization -- but only for the prostitutes themselves. Too often, it's the women forced to work in the local brothels who face the harshest legal penalties. They already are living lives of desperation. We should be helping them to escape their circumstances rather than making those circumstances worse with an arrest.
Next: The johns, who create the market for prostitution, often receive lesser charges than the prostitutes. Reverse that equation. Make the penalty for perpetuating the enslavement of others fit the crime.
Perhaps the specter of a few months in prison would reduce the client base. Too harsh? It's a cakewalk compared to the destroyed lives these men are funding with their dollars.
For the people who operate these rings, who force women into these lives, they're straight evil. Throw away the key.
Finally, crack down on landlords. Owners of properties used as brothels have to be pretty dense to not know what's going on there. The law currently holds them accountable, but barely. It's a misdemeanor to know prostitution is occurring on your property and not make a "reasonable effort" to stop it. That means any penalty won't even amount to a month's rent.
The only way to stop it is to force those who are guilty of those behaviors to change them.
To do less is an affront to everything we stand for, as people, as a state, as a nation."
"News item: Stamford police raided a so-called massage parlor masquerading as a brothel last week.
Big deal, you might say. Happens all the time.
Perhaps. And that's the problem.
Every community around here has or has had one or more of these places lurking just beneath our day-to-day notice. We usually choose to ignore them.
It's odd. You'd think slavery would get more of a rise out of people.
Hyperbole? Not even close.
Every day, all over the nation, including Fairfield County, young women are forced into having sex with strangers for money -- usually under threat to themselves and their families.
Stamford police believe the massage parlor they raided Friday was a front for a place where illegal immigrants possibly worked as sex slaves.
The methodology is roughly the same for all: Recruiters bait impoverished women in their home countries with promises of riches to be had in the United States. They get the women here, provide them with false immigration documents and then inform them that they owe a huge debt for services rendered. You can figure out the rest.
It's fashionable today to call prostitution a victimless crime, one that should be legalized. Try telling that to the women caught in these monstrous operations.
The state legislature must take this problem more seriously, and change how we address it.
The first step actually should be decriminalization -- but only for the prostitutes themselves. Too often, it's the women forced to work in the local brothels who face the harshest legal penalties. They already are living lives of desperation. We should be helping them to escape their circumstances rather than making those circumstances worse with an arrest.
Next: The johns, who create the market for prostitution, often receive lesser charges than the prostitutes. Reverse that equation. Make the penalty for perpetuating the enslavement of others fit the crime.
Perhaps the specter of a few months in prison would reduce the client base. Too harsh? It's a cakewalk compared to the destroyed lives these men are funding with their dollars.
For the people who operate these rings, who force women into these lives, they're straight evil. Throw away the key.
Finally, crack down on landlords. Owners of properties used as brothels have to be pretty dense to not know what's going on there. The law currently holds them accountable, but barely. It's a misdemeanor to know prostitution is occurring on your property and not make a "reasonable effort" to stop it. That means any penalty won't even amount to a month's rent.
The only way to stop it is to force those who are guilty of those behaviors to change them.
To do less is an affront to everything we stand for, as people, as a state, as a nation."
Thursday, April 7, 2011
My Bike's Name is Cato
When I bought my first car I adopted the habit of naming certain things that are close to me. My car's name became the desired name for my first kid, Cale; my computer's name became Sebastian (which I've decided to name all of my computers in my life); my hockey stick's name became Lucius; and my bike's name became Alexis. The bike, which was a BMX bike, was beautiful, smooth, powerful, and very flexible.
The more serious I became about biking, though, the more I realized that I needed to upgrade from a BMX bike. Almost every kid starts out on a BMX bike. They're easy to ride, good enough to off-road on, and they have a "cool" appeal because you can easily do tricks on a BMX bike. As I got older biking was less about riding around and doing tricks and looking cool and more about enjoying nature while getting some good exercise. Because BMX bikes only have one gear, riding long distances or at moderately high speeds can be rather difficult, so I couldn't really enjoy all that much of nature. Believe it or not, I only bought my current road-bike about 7 months ago in September. My love of nature has only been a recent maturation, thus I was only recently compelled to get a more suitable bike for my extensive riding.
Since I got the bike (I don't like to say that I 'bought' the bike, because I'm a little weird and like to think that it has a personality of its own) I've struggled with naming it. Many people would say it makes sense to name the bike a girl, because I'm a guy, but then those same people think I should name my car a girl and I clearly haven't done that. But I wanted to, because I named my previous bike Alexis, and that is just too beautiful a name to give up on. Plus, I had used all my favorite boy's names already with Cale, Sebastian, and Lucius. Decisions decisions.
In the end, I decided that I should stop using names that I simply think sound cool and name the bike that would help me reduce my carbon footprint something meaningful. I started thinking about the people who have most inspired me in life. I thought of Dorothy (for Dorothy Day); Will (for William Wilberforce); Wesley (for John Wesley); Artie, and Jess (for my best friends); Biko (for Stephen Biko); and Soren (for Soren Aabye Kierkegaard). All these names had a certain ring to them, as well as plenty of meaning for me, and some have a ton of meaning for all the world. Eventually, though, I landed on naming my bike, "Cato."
Now, Wilberforce, Wesley, Biko, Day, and Kierkegaard all have had major influence on the spiritual and political argument for freedom and equal rights and dignity to all, and so would have had lots to say in terms of my current mission on behalf of the 27 million slaves in the world today. To be honest, I chose Cato partly because I thought it had the best sound to it.
But Cato carries a lot of meaning as well. You've probably been reading this post wondering, "Why is he telling me about his bike's name?" Well, my dear readers, the life of Cato the Younger bears a lot of weight on our current situation staring down the terrible and widespread ill of human trafficking. Cato was a Roman statesman in the time of Julius Caesar. Even from the early age of 4, Cato was known for his stubbornness. Never in his life did Cato accept an argument simply because it sounded nice, and never in his life did he accept something for his own personal benefit. Cato lived simply and righteously, always fighting for the republic of Rome, the rights of the people, against the corruption of the Roman government. When Julius Caesar and his famous Triumvirate (you don't need to know what the Triumvirate was, I won't be quizzing you) started to gain a monopoly of power over the Roman Empire, Cato risked his political career and his well-being to argue against the influence of Caesar. We know the end of the story. We know that Caesar crossed the Rubicon and seized ultimate control of the Roman government. That fact alone could help you guess what happened to Cato: not long after Caesar took control of Rome, Cato died in opposition to Caesar. From my Christian perspective it is unfortunate that Cato committed suicide. According to tradition, though, he took his own life not out of despair but as one final dagger thrust into Caesar's pride and power, making sure that Julius Caesar did not have the opportunity to gain more fame by killing the great Cato.
Throughout the ages, Romans looked to Cato as the model for upholding the republic. As the Roman Senate lost more and more control and the Emperor used the empire as his own playground, some few upright senators tried to use Cato's example to return the empire to its roots. Those of us looking back on Cato's engagement in Roman politics might still be disillusioned, because he did not consider equal rights to include women. "Sure," we might say, "he took it upon himself to bring to trial all those who were contributing to the corruption of the government, all those who exploited others for personal gain, and all those who lived a licentious life, but he didn't fight for equal rights for women or the people that Rome conquered." I have nothing to say to that. To some extent all the people we look up to from the past have this crime against their name. Hopefully we can focus on why Cato should still be a model for our lives.
At a time when everyone preferred to bribe Caesar to save their own lives, Cato railed against Caesar for destroying Rome's republican virtues. At a time when most people viewed government positions as opportunities to exploit the people and live in obscene luxury, Cato lived only with the simple necessities and brought just about the entire government to trial. I think Cato is a perfect example for us here and now. Human trafficking seems to be so widespread, so established, and so profitable, that there's really no hope in eradicating it from our midst. Yet, Cato continued to fight for what was right no matter what the costs, no matter how tall and steep the mountain he had to climb.
In his early years, as still a teenager, Cato witnessed the dictator-model for Caesar, Sulla, executing noble Romans who opposed him. Sulla had essentially done what Caesar would later do, he had taken total control of Rome. In order to gain total control Sulla had to kill all the powerful people that opposed him. As Cato stood witnessing this, he wondered why no one had killed Sulla, the dictator. Cato's tutor responded, "They all fear him more than they hate him." Cato's response, which will stay with me all my days, was, "Give me a sword, that I might free my country from slavery." The tutor had to remove Cato from the scene, fearing that Cato actually would take up a sword and attempt to kill Sulla.
As a teenager, Cato had no hope to single-handedly fight his way through to Sulla and kill him. Actually, no matter what age he was, no one could think to do that alone. Yet Cato so hated the thought of his republican country, founded on the ideal of democracy and the people's rights, could be yoked to the chains of slavery that he was willing to fight to the death, if for no other outcome than to be martyr. I am a pacifist and do not condone such behavior, but the attitude is one that we need to regain. We should not be afraid to stand up to the evil forces of our society that seem to be too powerful to conquer. We should not be afraid to live differently than the people around us and instead choose a harder yet more righteous, more peaceful, more justice-filled, more loving life. We have the opportunity to take up our metaphorical swords to free our country from slavery. We should not back down simply because the task seems too great.
Preparing for this bike trip, I've heard a lot of people say something along the lines of, "John, this is great what you're doing, but don't you think it's too much? Couldn't you bike across just half the country? Or maybe just a couple of cities? And do you really think that what you are doing will help any? Is this really the best way to fight against human trafficking? You shouldn't take on such a huge project, and you certainly shouldn't take on so much responsibility." I suppose all I can say to those people is that I am honored to ride as far as I can on the back of Cato. I'm not afraid to die, if it comes to that (and please God it doesn't!), because anything bad that may happen to me will happen with Cato as my advocate. If people choose to look down on my efforts as not worthwhile, not meaningful, not powerful enough; if people choose to not donate much more than the casual $20 they can find in their overflowing wallet, I will not despair, I will not give up hope, I will not stop because the wheels of Cato will carry me forward, revolution by revolution.
Human trafficking too big of an issue for one person's efforts to make a difference? Not with the memory of Cato coming with me into battle to free God's people from slavery.
The more serious I became about biking, though, the more I realized that I needed to upgrade from a BMX bike. Almost every kid starts out on a BMX bike. They're easy to ride, good enough to off-road on, and they have a "cool" appeal because you can easily do tricks on a BMX bike. As I got older biking was less about riding around and doing tricks and looking cool and more about enjoying nature while getting some good exercise. Because BMX bikes only have one gear, riding long distances or at moderately high speeds can be rather difficult, so I couldn't really enjoy all that much of nature. Believe it or not, I only bought my current road-bike about 7 months ago in September. My love of nature has only been a recent maturation, thus I was only recently compelled to get a more suitable bike for my extensive riding.
Since I got the bike (I don't like to say that I 'bought' the bike, because I'm a little weird and like to think that it has a personality of its own) I've struggled with naming it. Many people would say it makes sense to name the bike a girl, because I'm a guy, but then those same people think I should name my car a girl and I clearly haven't done that. But I wanted to, because I named my previous bike Alexis, and that is just too beautiful a name to give up on. Plus, I had used all my favorite boy's names already with Cale, Sebastian, and Lucius. Decisions decisions.
In the end, I decided that I should stop using names that I simply think sound cool and name the bike that would help me reduce my carbon footprint something meaningful. I started thinking about the people who have most inspired me in life. I thought of Dorothy (for Dorothy Day); Will (for William Wilberforce); Wesley (for John Wesley); Artie, and Jess (for my best friends); Biko (for Stephen Biko); and Soren (for Soren Aabye Kierkegaard). All these names had a certain ring to them, as well as plenty of meaning for me, and some have a ton of meaning for all the world. Eventually, though, I landed on naming my bike, "Cato."
Now, Wilberforce, Wesley, Biko, Day, and Kierkegaard all have had major influence on the spiritual and political argument for freedom and equal rights and dignity to all, and so would have had lots to say in terms of my current mission on behalf of the 27 million slaves in the world today. To be honest, I chose Cato partly because I thought it had the best sound to it.
But Cato carries a lot of meaning as well. You've probably been reading this post wondering, "Why is he telling me about his bike's name?" Well, my dear readers, the life of Cato the Younger bears a lot of weight on our current situation staring down the terrible and widespread ill of human trafficking. Cato was a Roman statesman in the time of Julius Caesar. Even from the early age of 4, Cato was known for his stubbornness. Never in his life did Cato accept an argument simply because it sounded nice, and never in his life did he accept something for his own personal benefit. Cato lived simply and righteously, always fighting for the republic of Rome, the rights of the people, against the corruption of the Roman government. When Julius Caesar and his famous Triumvirate (you don't need to know what the Triumvirate was, I won't be quizzing you) started to gain a monopoly of power over the Roman Empire, Cato risked his political career and his well-being to argue against the influence of Caesar. We know the end of the story. We know that Caesar crossed the Rubicon and seized ultimate control of the Roman government. That fact alone could help you guess what happened to Cato: not long after Caesar took control of Rome, Cato died in opposition to Caesar. From my Christian perspective it is unfortunate that Cato committed suicide. According to tradition, though, he took his own life not out of despair but as one final dagger thrust into Caesar's pride and power, making sure that Julius Caesar did not have the opportunity to gain more fame by killing the great Cato.
Throughout the ages, Romans looked to Cato as the model for upholding the republic. As the Roman Senate lost more and more control and the Emperor used the empire as his own playground, some few upright senators tried to use Cato's example to return the empire to its roots. Those of us looking back on Cato's engagement in Roman politics might still be disillusioned, because he did not consider equal rights to include women. "Sure," we might say, "he took it upon himself to bring to trial all those who were contributing to the corruption of the government, all those who exploited others for personal gain, and all those who lived a licentious life, but he didn't fight for equal rights for women or the people that Rome conquered." I have nothing to say to that. To some extent all the people we look up to from the past have this crime against their name. Hopefully we can focus on why Cato should still be a model for our lives.
At a time when everyone preferred to bribe Caesar to save their own lives, Cato railed against Caesar for destroying Rome's republican virtues. At a time when most people viewed government positions as opportunities to exploit the people and live in obscene luxury, Cato lived only with the simple necessities and brought just about the entire government to trial. I think Cato is a perfect example for us here and now. Human trafficking seems to be so widespread, so established, and so profitable, that there's really no hope in eradicating it from our midst. Yet, Cato continued to fight for what was right no matter what the costs, no matter how tall and steep the mountain he had to climb.
In his early years, as still a teenager, Cato witnessed the dictator-model for Caesar, Sulla, executing noble Romans who opposed him. Sulla had essentially done what Caesar would later do, he had taken total control of Rome. In order to gain total control Sulla had to kill all the powerful people that opposed him. As Cato stood witnessing this, he wondered why no one had killed Sulla, the dictator. Cato's tutor responded, "They all fear him more than they hate him." Cato's response, which will stay with me all my days, was, "Give me a sword, that I might free my country from slavery." The tutor had to remove Cato from the scene, fearing that Cato actually would take up a sword and attempt to kill Sulla.
As a teenager, Cato had no hope to single-handedly fight his way through to Sulla and kill him. Actually, no matter what age he was, no one could think to do that alone. Yet Cato so hated the thought of his republican country, founded on the ideal of democracy and the people's rights, could be yoked to the chains of slavery that he was willing to fight to the death, if for no other outcome than to be martyr. I am a pacifist and do not condone such behavior, but the attitude is one that we need to regain. We should not be afraid to stand up to the evil forces of our society that seem to be too powerful to conquer. We should not be afraid to live differently than the people around us and instead choose a harder yet more righteous, more peaceful, more justice-filled, more loving life. We have the opportunity to take up our metaphorical swords to free our country from slavery. We should not back down simply because the task seems too great.
Preparing for this bike trip, I've heard a lot of people say something along the lines of, "John, this is great what you're doing, but don't you think it's too much? Couldn't you bike across just half the country? Or maybe just a couple of cities? And do you really think that what you are doing will help any? Is this really the best way to fight against human trafficking? You shouldn't take on such a huge project, and you certainly shouldn't take on so much responsibility." I suppose all I can say to those people is that I am honored to ride as far as I can on the back of Cato. I'm not afraid to die, if it comes to that (and please God it doesn't!), because anything bad that may happen to me will happen with Cato as my advocate. If people choose to look down on my efforts as not worthwhile, not meaningful, not powerful enough; if people choose to not donate much more than the casual $20 they can find in their overflowing wallet, I will not despair, I will not give up hope, I will not stop because the wheels of Cato will carry me forward, revolution by revolution.
Human trafficking too big of an issue for one person's efforts to make a difference? Not with the memory of Cato coming with me into battle to free God's people from slavery.
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