Donald Miller at Democratic National Convention
Category: News and Politics

I'm spending this week with author Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz, Searching For God Knows What, Through Painted Deserts, To Own A Dragon) at a radio leadership retreat in California.  We've gotten to know each other in the past several years, and it's been great to hear him share with primarily right wing evangelical broadcasters his reasoning for appearing at the Democratic National Convention in Denver last week.

I'm reposting his thoughts on it from his website, DonaldMillerWords.com, as well as the text from the actual benediction that he shared on opening night of the conclave.  I appreciate Don's thoughtfulness and candor in how he expressed himself, and don't think I could've said it any better:

I was honored to deliver the closing prayer at the DNC on Monday night. Evangelical voices have been scarce within this party, perhaps since the Carter administration. But as strides are being made .. issues of sanctity of life and social justice, as well as peaceful solutions to world conflicts, more and more evangelicals are taking a closer look at options certain members of the Democratic Party are beginning to deliver. There is a long way to go, but sending a message to Washington that no single party has the Christian community in their pocket, thus causing each party to carefully consider the issues most important to us, is, in my opinion, a positive evolution. I am glad that, for the most part, the dialogue has been constructive and positive. Will you join me in keeping the conversation thoughtful and not reactionary? 

That said, I was honored to speak to, and especially pray with and for, the DNC. Here is the full text of the prayer:

"Father God,

This week, as the world looks .. the leaders in this room create a civil dialogue about our future.

We need you, God, as individuals and also as a nation.

We need you to protect us from our enemies, but also from ourselves, because we are easily tempted toward apathy.

Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left.

Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.

Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.

Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don't have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle.

Hep us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education.

Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony.

We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.

Father, will you restore our moral standing in the world.

A lot of people don't like us but that's because they don't know the heart of the average American.

Will you give us favor and forgiveness, along with our allies around the world.

Help us be an example of humility and strength once again.

Lastly, father, unify us.

Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common.

And unify us not just in our ideas and in our sentiments—but in our actions, as we look around and figure out something we can do to help create an America even greater than the one we have come to cherish.

God we know that you are good.

Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans.

I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.

Let Him be our example.

Amen."

If you would like to see the prayer as it happened on television, see it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b79m3fJfmuA&feature=related

You can also see an insightful interview Don gave with ChristianityToday.com the day before he gave the benediction:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIE5HwW3T_o

Currently listening : Revelation Release date: 2008-06-03

4:27 AM - 1 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Citizenship and Faith
Category: News and Politics

Dr. Tony Campolo, one of my favorite communicators, will be speaking this Wednesday morning at 10 AM at Belmont University's Massey Auditorium.  Admission is free. The topic will be "Citizenship and Faith," and is part of a series the university's Spiritual Life Department is scheduling to prepare for the Presidential Debate to occur on campus in October.

Tony has degrees from Temple University, Princeton, and studied under Einstein. He was an Ivy League Sociology Professor at Penn, and was the head of the Sociology Dept. of Eastern University.  He's authored 33 books, and has spoken over 6,000 times in dozens of countries around the globe.  All the proceeds of his books and speaking engagements have raised tens of millions of dollars for inner city ministries he has started across the U.S., as well as in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Tony is one of the most dynamic, humorous, and challenging men you will ever hear…a master story teller, but also insightful into the heart of what makes us tick and how we can help change the world through acts of committed servanthood.  

 

I have shared some of my favorite quotes from Tony in this blog before.  Here are some more that I've found intriguing (let me know which ones resonate with you):

I've reached that age where when my wife says "Let's go upstairs and have sex."  I respond "I can't do both."

I am tired of all these political and social activists who want to change the system, but aren't willing to support a child in a third world country. We must be faithful in little things.  They don't care about our politics…they just want to eat and have a chance at a decent education.

I've been angry at God seeing kids in devastating circumstances in Africa thinking "God you aren't good and you're not loving or this wouldn't be happening."  But I've sensed Him saying within me "I am good, and I do care.  But the people who I have empowered to meet the needs of these children are not as good as they should be or as loving as they should be."

The politics of personal destruction has got to stop.  We saw it happen to Nixon, and we saw it happen to Clinton. It's horrible.  Too many qualified people are afraid to enter into the political realm because they know their positions will not be questioned, whereas their personal lives will be attacked.

Let's be honest, if we had true Christian colleges, no one would want our graduates. If we graduated a lot of people into the law profession who were really apostles of Jesus Christ they would create more Hell in the American Bar Association than they would want.  Same for the medical profession, which has become one of the worst morally. No one in the AMA would want these true Christian school graduates because they would upset the apple cart.

Some sociologists would say it is impossible to stage a revolution in modern culture. Because the very word has been so watered down. We can't come up with revolutionary language. "Revolution" no longer has any context. Because "revolution" has now subconsciously been associated with tooth paste.  "We have this new revolutionary tooth paste, this new revolutionary mouth wash, or a new revolutionary suspension system on a car."  "Revolution" has come to be associated with slight changes.  Marcussi says obscenity is necessary because it keeps you from absorbing watered-down language too quickly.  The President might say "the time is now for a new revolution," which really means in our current state we should all work a little bit harder.  According to Marcussi if the President said "the time has now come to fuck-up this great country" it would definitely convey something much more profound.

I think the War in Iraq is going to set missionary work back 1,000 years.  In the Arab way of thinking this is a return of the Crusades.  Hostility towards Christianity is reaching an all time high around the world. 

From the end of WW II up until the mid 90's every war on the planet was over political/economic ideology, primarily democratic capitalism vs. totalitarian communism.  Since that time however every conflict has been over religion.  We are facing an incredible era where religion has become the ideology for warfare between Islamic fundamentalists, Jewish fundamentalists, and Christian fundamentalists.

Do we not realize that 15% of the Palestinians are Christian?  Don't get me wrong…I believe in Israel having a safe and secure state.  But the God who loves the Jews in Israel loves the Arabs in the Palestinian areas just as much. 

Like Liberation Theologians, I believe that God is on the side of the poor and the oppressed.  However I differ from them, because I believe that God still loves the rich and the powerful.  He's out to redeem them not to destroy them.  He tells the rich young ruler to give away all of his money to the poor because He's trying to rescue him.  Jesus loved that man. 

The rich need the poor, because it's on the way to ministering to the poor that the rich find Jesus. Christ was rich and became poor for our sakes.  It's we rich that need to be liberated from what wealth does to us.

America is all about how to climb the ladder of success, and Christianity is all about how to come down that ladder.

I was in Alabama recently and I saw two different churches with crosses on the front lawn with flags draped around them.  I was offended. Do I like America?  Let me say that it's the best Babylon on the face of the earth.  But it's still Babylon.  And Babylon collapses in the 17^th chapter of Revelations due to over-consumption.

When Martin Luther King and his followers were beaten senseless by the police on that bridge in Selma, Alabama, I knew that they civil rights movement had just won. How did they win?  They were getting beaten, murdered…but we Christians have a unique habit of rising again. 

There's nothing passive about love, love is totally action oriented—it reaches outward. Love and Power are diametrically opposed…you can't express both of them at the same time.  Power coerces…but Jesus doesn't choose to use coercion.

You'll never know that Jesus is all there is until Jesus is all you've got.

Science is no longer the great arbiter of truth.  In our post modern world science is no longer on the throne.  There are realities and truths that are beyond the veil of science and reason and logic. In the end truth is something you grapple with that can only be apprehended on a spiritual level.

My wife says a sociologist is somebody who—when a beautiful woman walks into a room—looks at everyone else.

Jesus refers to the poor over and over again. There are 2,000 verses of Scripture that call upon us to respond to the needs of the poor. And yet, I find that when Christians talked about values in this last election that was not on the agenda, that was not a concern. If you were to get the voter guide of the Christian Coalition, that does not rate. They talk more about tax cuts for people who are wealthy than they do about helping poor people who are in desperate straits.

Jesus left his mansion to become one with the people he came to serve.  In today's world we are not going to truly help the poor, the downtrodden and the weak unless we incarnate ourselves into their situation.

You serve Jesus not because you expect to get anything but because he's already given you everything. God loves you infinitely.  You know how much you're going to get from God when you get to heaven?  The answer is: all that He has. There are no gradations for infinity and all that He has. 

Women in our culture are absolutely right when they condemn men when they say "50 million pushy, obnoxious, aggressive, domineering husbands have made our lives miserable."  But what we have to learn is the answer to 50 million pushy, obnoxious, aggressive domineering husbands is not to create alongside of them 50 million pushy, obnoxious, aggressive, domineering wives.  Jesus calls us all to submission.

A Christian never asks "who's going to be the master?"  Christians should be asking "who's going to be the servant?"  This is a servant movement…not a master movement.

God's kingdom isn't about power…it's about what God the Father can do through powerless, weak, submissive people like you and me.  There's nothing inherently wrong with power, but it is very difficult to express power and love at the same time. Jesus came into the world and set aside His power in order to become a vulnerable and weak person.  Love can only truly be expressed from a position of vulnerability.

If America is too arrogant, too prideful to repent, then it's not the kind of country that God wants it to be.

Charles Finney, the greatest evangelist of the 1800's, had people came forward at his meetings to accept Christ, and then he would march them into a back room where they would be asked to sign up for either the abolitionist movement or the feminist movement. He contended that these two movements were the most important issues where God was at work in transforming the world that was into the world that should be.

People always ask me if I'm a Republican or a Democrat. I respond by saying "please name the issue."  In some cases I'm committed to the Democratic agenda, and others I am on the Republican side.  And others I may vote Green or independent.  But just grasp this reality: God's frustrated with all the parties.

  

These issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change.

Some people think they're moral because they don't use bad words.  Jesus isn't interested in making you pious, because He wasn't pious.  If you're worried about being pious, remember you're following one who had a lousy testimony in Jerusalem. The Bible says that Jesus was a wine-bibber, a glutton, and he hung around with whores.  You misunderstand Jesus if you think His goal is to make us nice. What He's interested in doing is making us into people who are angry when other people lose their humanity, are downtrodden, and are not allowed to become all that God intended for them to be when He created them.  Jesus isn't looking for a bunch of nice people who say all the right words, He's looking for a bunch of caring people who will go to where there is hurt and injustice and oppression and become the agents through which He wants to straighten out this world.

I contend that it's impossible to read the Sermon on the Mount and not come out against capital punishment.

All of us are capital offenders.  The Bible says all of us are worthy of death. If we have been spared from death, shouldn't we be part of a group of people who believe no one else should die either?

If the person that was about to be electrocuted was your brother, how would you react?  Well, because of Calvary he is your brother, and you'd better react properly. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

You're not a Christian until you can look at this world and all it has to offer and yell at the top of your lungs "Who cares?" All the things that this world says are important to have, Jesus says are not important to have.

Currently reading : Red Letter Christians: A Citizen's Guide to Faith and Politics By Tony Campolo

1:45 PM - 7 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

He Ain’t Called "The Boss" For Nothin’
Category: Music

For the 5th time spread out over 4 decades, I witnessed the power and the passion of a Bruce Springsteen concert a few nights back here in Nashville.  Some of you may recall from earlier posts over the years that I wasn't always a fan.  In fact, in the mid-70's I was downright cynical about the guy and all the hype that surrounded him.  I mean, Springsteen hadn't even had a gold album yet and he made the cover of both Newsweek and Time simultaneously and was dubbed the savior of rock 'n' roll.  And I just couldn't relate to all of his mixed metaphors about revved-up cars, the Asbury Park boardwalk, and the bowels of the Big Apple. 

But being a DJ and rock journalist, my Columbia Records rep insisted I go see "The Boss" on the first leg of his Darkness on the Edge of Town Tour.  So I drove into Milwaukee to the aging Mecca Arena and on June 9, 1978, and, for reasons even beyond the fantastic performance, I became a believer (see my blog about "Meeting Springsteen at Radio Doctors"):   http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&FriendID=15700358&blogMonth=1&blogDay=11&blogYear=2006

I don't give a damn for the same old played out scenes
I don't give a damn for just the in-betweens
Honey I want the heart, I want the soul, I want control right now

There were some things that were different about the show here in Music City a few days ago, however.  Bruce has always had a way of building his shows through a sort of narrative...a storyline where he takes the audience on a journey through the lyrics as well as the stories he tells between songs.  But those elements were missing, or at least greatly diminished on Thursday night.  Not many acoustic or gentle songs were in the list...something that helps with the dynamic and adds to the tension and release that his shows are known for.



These changes may be partially due to his new trend of taking requests from the audience, which is fun, but definitely makes a more stutter-step approach.  I never felt that the evening built momentum like I've experienced in Memphis during the Born In the USA Tour in '85, or with on the Reunion Tour in Nashville in '99.

Perhaps the fact that Clarence Clemons was really hurting (he's scheduled for reconstructive knee surgery the day after the tour ends this week) might have thrown off the show, too.

But even with these elements being reduced, Bruce Springsteen and his compatriots still put on a better performance than just about anyone imaginable.  I mean, how many artists would be equally coated in sweat just 3 songs into the show?  Bruce worked the edge of the stage on practically every song, coaxing the crowd to join him, taking every chance he could to scale that invisible wall that often separates performer and audience.  Why, even in the opener, "Out in the Street," he was sitting on the edge of the stage with a 10 year old girl inviting her to sing the chorus with him (which she did with ebullient joy).  In turn, this spoke to the crowd immediately that Bruce was here to shatter that barrier right from the get-go.

During the final encore, a garage band rendition of "Dancin' In the Dark," he pulled a 50-something woman from the assembly to slow dance with him...he even picked her up and gently handed her back down into the front row when their tango was done.  This was a show that bridged all generations.  Good rock does that.

In between, Springsteen would lean into the throng, letting them prop him up as he would sing a verse, or let dozens of hands strum his guitar during boisterous romps, or take posters, banners, and flowers tossed his way and treat them with respectful fun. 

Not even an hour into the concert (he played nearly 3), his black shirt was clinging to his torso, and even sweat stains could be seen through his dark jeans.  He made regular stops to the right of Mighty Max Weinberg's drum kit where a trough of ice water would await for him to dunk his face into.  Striding back to the to the front of the stage with water dripping of his features all over his guitar, he had little regard for how disheveled or sloppy it made him look...he had a job to do, and he was not about to be deterred.

Talk about a dream; try to make it real
You wake up in the night with a fear so real
You spend your life waiting for a moment that just don't come
Well don't waste your time waiting

My buddy Kirk who was with me at the show sent the set list that Bruce had written up minutes before the show (its amazing what you can find on-line these days).  It was scribbled in his handwriting, and included "Nashville 8/21/08" at the top.  The amazing thing was, out of the 28 songs listed, they only played 15...and another 14 were changed-out on the spot during the show!  Now, don't get me wrong, I would've loved hearing "Candy's Room," and "Tenth Avenue Freeze Out,"  but it's a testament to Bruce's spontaneity and the E Street Band's skill (not to mention the road crew) that they could morph around a concert set that easily while on the fly. How amazing to watch Bruce turn and bark out a different tune idea and key changes as one song was finishing and not one train-wreck ensuing.  You'd never know this was the 99th of 102 concerts on this massive world tour covering 14 countries.

How many other superstar performers are that vulnerable?  That transparent?  That willing to take chance after chance?  Bono and U2 come close, but they learned most everything they know from Bruce, and would probably be the first to say that he is indeed the master. 

This is the genius of Bruce Springsteen: to be so plugged into the moment, so in-tune with what he is receiving from each night's crowd that he can create and build unique community with the over 200 songs in the band's repertoire (and even a few they didn't  know like Johnny Cash's "Walk the Line," or Elvis' "Good Rockin' Tonight" which they hadn't played since 1978).   But as he plead with the 15,000 in attendance just 20 minutes into the show "I can't get to where we need to go without you.  We need each other.  We got the rock...but you have the power."  This wasn't chest-thumping braggadocio or arena rock posturing.  He meant it.  And we knew we had to join-in for it to have full effect.
 

Now I believe in the love that you gave me
I believe in the faith that could save me
I believe in the hope and I pray that some day it
Will raise me

The result was the mutual baptism he was clamoring for when he preached like a spirit-filled backwoods minister about wanting us to go along with him to "the river of forgiveness...of faith...of hope...of love...of kindness."  So many of us long for communal meaning, and in so many places in our lives it is unfortunately denied, or at best, hindered.  But on this steamy August night, as they used to say in the Deep South,  many of us could sense we were "being seized by the power of a Great Affection."  Was it from Bruce and the band?  Was it from the synergy of those around us?  Was it from the Spirit?  Perhaps it was all three.

Besides the soul-lifting music, Bruce also implored us "to get about doing God's good work" by supporting missions in our own back yard...to reach out to those less fortunate in a tangible way.  He spoke twice during the evening about Nashville's Second Harvest Food Bank. Hundreds stopped by the several booths Bruce asked to be set up in the concourses after the show, with nearly $4,000 being donated, and  many signing up to be given further opportunities to assist.  Beyond that, Bruce will probably give at least $10,000 from the night's concert proceeds (out of the public eye) to them as well, as he does with local charities that he endorses at every one his tour stops over the years.

This is the boost that music, at its very core, is supposed to give.  It's a mutual deal beyond normal conversation that needs to be shared.  When done right, it resonates deeply, and helps transform all in earshot...gives us hope despite the frustrations and perils of any given day...and a resolve to keep going.

Springsteen gleefully thanked the "incredible crowd' during the final encore.  Though one of the very few stops on the tour that was not sold out, there was still seismic energy in the building, and Bruce insisted that the house lights stay-up during the entire 7 song extra stanza.  "You've been a fantastic," he obliged toward the end.  "We come through the South and we get some of the best crowds we've had in the United States.  Thank you!"

No, Boss...the appreciation is all ours. 

For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it ain't no sin to be glad you're alive

I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me
I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these
Badlands

("Badlands" by Bruce Springsteen from Darkness on the Edge of Town,  1978)

Currently reading : The Gospel according to Bruce Springsteen: Rock and Redemption, from Asbury Park to Magic (Gospel According To...) By Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz

1:41 AM - 5 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment

Bunkerisms
Category: Religion and Philosophy

Dave Bunker is one of my best friends, and happens to be one of the deepest thinkers I've ever met.  Here are some of his great one-liners of his onging search for truth.  Let me know which ones resonate with you.

See time through the clock of the Long Now

Feel secure in what God knows

Regard obsessive irony as self absorption

Let your own sin be your outrage

Create porous boundaries for your tribe

Regard technology as a principality (that probably dosn't surprise you, does it?)

Consider what cynicism excludes

Pray naked

Draw maps with others as you go

Regard the last word as His

Distrust the posture of arrogant certainty

Listen to the humble

Replace your career with your life

Traffic in joy

Make listening a primary skill

Preserve your heritage through long obedience in the same direction

Honor action over rhetoric

Don't confuse art with advertisement

Behave what you believe

Beware of philosophical discussions given by non practitioners

More of Dave's thought processes at these blogs:

http://subversiveorthodoxy.blogspot.com/

http://thepracticeofbeauty.blogspot.com/

http://thepedestrianmystic.blogspot.com/

Currently listening : The Rising By Bruce Springsteen Release date: 2002-07-30

2:42 PM - 8 Comments - 11 Kudos - Add Comment

Poundin’ Rocks
Category: Jobs, Work, Careers

I have a photo hanging over my desk in a forest green frame that nicely accents the robin egg blue bandana and almond skin of the subject: poised with a hammer in striking position above her head, surrounded by piles of battleship grey granite, and withered clusters of nyctanthes bushes...also known as Trees of Sorrow.

It's been a frustrating several weeks with my job...not because of the trip to Brazil---which was stunning---nor the last minute plans for my inaugural visit to Ethiopia.  Neither has it been a hassle to see so many needy kids getting life-changing help through the radio events I help organize and implement.  That part of my work is satisfying beyond compare.  But there have been some issues having to do with management and direction that have gotten me down...even perturbed.

This is why I have this visage of Anjali hovering above my computer.  I'll never forget meeting her 3 years ago in searing 103 degree heat along the dusty two lane highway between Chennai and Kamaraj Nagar in southeastern India.  I had noticed her swinging away as we drove by at 7:30 in the morning and asked our driver if we would be able to stop and visit with her on our way back later that afternoon.  I was curious about what exactly she was doing, and made a mental note of landmarks so I we wouldn't dash past her.  Sure enough, at 5:30 PM, we pulled up across the road from her, and she was still pounding away. 


Several of us poured out of the Range Rover, stretching our legs and backs from the cramped quarters, and squinting at the relentless glare of the summer sun and oppressive heat that slapped us like a steaming towel as we vacated the AC of the van. 

Our guide and primary interpreter, Helen, accompanied us as we strolled up to this woman who appeared to be in her golden years who was hunched over in that all-too-familiar squat position  that one sees nearly everywhere in the developing world.  She was swinging one of several hammers in her repertoire, decisively fracturing shoe box sized chunks of granite into smaller shards.  On this 100 foot stretch of land that hugged the pitted asphalt of the roadway, she had a dozen piles, each at least 4 feet high, of various sized pieces of gravel.  Some as small as a marble, other mounds graduating up to about tangerine circumference. 

She was pleasantly flustered by the interruption.  My guess is she rarely ever spoke to anyone in this lonesome outpost. We introduced ourselves, and she painfully straightened herself upward and extended a gristled, leathery hand of greeting to each of us.  "I am Anjali.  I'm honored to meet you. How may I serve you?"

"We are here to see what God is doing in your beautiful land," I answered.  "As we were driving along to visit a church school where many children are being assisted, we couldn't help but be fascinated by what we saw you doing here."

"Oh that is so wonderful.  I have 4 children of my own, although they are getting older now. As you can see, I break these rocks for a gravel company," the smiling woman stated, as sweat glistened on her neckline.  "They take these different size stones that I cut and use them in driveways and walls for rich people's homes and offices."

One of our group members, John, asked "How many hours each day do you do this?"

"12 hours," she meekly responded.

Then Tracey queried "How many days a week?"

Anjali looked quizzically at Helen as she translated the question in Hindi.  She looked at Tracey with a furrowed brow as if to say "I don't understand."  Helen then rephrased the question.

"Oh..." Anjali replied when she comprehended.  "I work every day."

"Seven days a week?!" Tracey said, almost incredulously.

"Yes...I work every day."

Donald followed up with "Do you ever get time off for your children?"

"Well...I got to take off 4 days for the birth of my 4 children...but other than that, I've been blessed with good health, so I never miss work."

John interjected "How many years have you been doing this?"

Anjali paused, staring off at some unseen calendar in her mind.  "Let's see...I think it has been 28 years now.  Yes.  28 years," she said proudly.

Then Tharren politely posed "If you don't mind me asking, Anjali, how much do you get paid?"

With dancing eyes she beamed "I earn 50 rupees a day."

We had been in the country long enough to do some quick math in each of our heads.  Her back-breaking labor was earning her the equivalent of $1.07 for each 12 hour day...about $7.49 each week.  A rousing $389 per year...a grand total of about $11,000 in nearly 3 decades.

We stood motionless, staring at our shoes.

After an awkward silence from us, she brightly exclaimed "I am so happy that I have a job!"

 

You could've knocked us over with a feather.

"I hope this is not considered rude, Helen, but could you ask her how old she is?" Verne politely queried.

"I will be 48 in September," she replied through her broken smile and chiseled, sun burnt features.  She looked at least 20 years older.

She proudly told us about her children and husband, and about where she lived 3 miles away.  She asked our names, and about our families, and how we were enjoying our time in her country. When asked about the heat, Anjali said it was better than the days during monsoon season when it rained constantly and she would blister and chafe more easily.

We had to keep ahead of the building traffic flow back into the sprawling metropolis of 5 million in Chennai's teeming streets, so Helen told us we needed to leave. One of our group slipped Anjali a 1,000 rupee note as we were saying our goodbyes.  As we climbed into the van, we looked back across to see her eyes about to pop out of her head when she unfolded the currency.  She waived wildly, yelled blessings, and blew kisses as we drove away.

We sat silently in the jostling bus for a while...humbled by whom we had just met. Our conversation hadn't lasted more than 5 minutes...but we knew we would never forget her.

So, as I am grousing about some irritating disappointment with my job, I sit under the visage of Anjali busting up rocks. 

I say another prayer for her.  And ask for forgiveness.

Currently listening : Albertine By Brooke Fraser Release date: 2008-05-27

10:45 PM - 7 Comments - 11 Kudos - Add Comment

Floresta
Category: Life

I have been supporting the work of Tony Campolo's EAPE (Evangelical Assoc. for the Promotion of Education) for over 25 years.  Here is a heartwarming example of what can be done to truly change a nation with some faithfulness, ingenuity, and hard work:

Back in 1984, EAPE invested $10,000 in the dream of a young man named Tom Woodard.  That dream was to restore the land in the Dominican Republic.

While working on a relief project in this developing nation in the
Caribbean, where EAPE was developing a variety of educational programs, Tom realized that much of the increasing poverty of the country was rooted in deforestation. In order to make charcoal that was used for cooking purposes, the Dominicans were cutting down trees at a rate that staggered his imagination.  Tom saw that when the heavy rains came the topsoil was being washed into the ocean, destroying the capacity of the land to grow food. The blight was more and more evident and anyone could see that unless something was done soon, the future of the people of the D.R. would only be marked by disaster.

Tom approached EAPE and asked if they would help him start a faith-based tree planting business that not only would promote reforestation, but would also create jobs for impoverished, unemployed Dominicans. EAPE said "yes" to this dreamer, and out of his efforts came Floresta, a Christian environmental and economic development program which, according to the last report, has planted 3,599,810 trees.

If you fly across the island of Hispaniola, which the Dominican Republic shares with Haiti, you can see the difference that Floresta has helped make through its efforts. From the air, the borders between the two countries are dramatically visible. The Dominican side is beautifully covered with trees, while the Haitian side is a barren wasteland.  The trees that have been planted are bearing fruit that is harvested and sold, providing income for the farmers who partner with Floresta.

As part of Floresta's efforts, over 500 new Bible study groups have been established because, in the end, economic development really depends on developing people holistically, and especially spiritually. To date, they know of more than 1,000 people who, through these Bible study groups, have made personal commitments to Christ.

Recently, the Floresta staff initiated efforts to reach across the border in the hopes of doing the same kind of good work in Haiti, where they have already planted 224,000 trees.

Floresta is also expanding its ministry into Mexico (317,186 trees) and Tanzania (179,040 trees); and is developing a partnership with an indigenous tree-planting ministry in Thailand.

Floresta is on its own these days – you can find out all about it and even sponsor the planting of another tree at http://www.floresta.org/treeprogram.htm -- but back in 1984, EAPE provided the seed money that got things going. Back then, the $10,000 they invested in Tom Woodard represented half of all our assets, but investing in visionaries is what they have always been about. It was the right thing to do!

http://www.tonycampolo.org

Currently listening : True Stories By David Sancious & Tone Release date: 2001-03-13

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More Steven Wright One Liners
Category: Life

Steven Wright has always been one of my fave comedians.  His droll, deadpan, and quirky style of one non-sequitur after another is sort of the audio version of Gary Larsen's Far Side cartoons.  3 months ago I posted some of my faves.  Here are some more of his best one liners.  Let me know which are your faves, or if there are others I've missed.

I eat swiss cheese. But I only nibble on it. I make the holes bigger.

I moved into an all-electric house. I forgot and left the porch light on all
day. When I got home the front door wouldn't open.

If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.

Droughts are because god didn't pay his water bill.

Is "tired old cliche" one?

It only rains straight down. God doesn't do windows.

The sign said "eight items or less". So I changed my name to Les.

In school, every period ends with a bell. Every sentence ends with a period. Every crime ends with a sentence.

Yesterday I found out what doughnuts are for. You put them on doughbolts. They hold dough airplanes together. For kids, they make erector sets out of play-dough.

I know the guy who writes all those bumper stickers. He hates New York.

I had my coathangers spayed.

Last week I forgot how to ride a bicycle.

I had some eyeglasses. I was walking down the street when suddenly the prescription ran out.

I got food poisoning today. I don't know when I'll use it.

I put my air conditioner in backwards. It got cold outside. The weatherman on TV was confused. "It was supposed to be hot today."

I went camping and borrowed a circus tent by mistake. I didn't notice until I got it set up. People complained because they couldn't see the lake.

Sponges grow in the ocean. That just kills me. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn't happen.

I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time.

You know how it is when you're walking up the stairs, and you get to the top, and you think there's one more step? I'm like that all the time.

I put hardwood floors on top of wall-to-wall carpet.

Tinsel is really snakes' mirrors.

What are imitation rhinestones?

If a word in the dictionary were misspelled, how would we know?

If God dropped acid, would he see people?

In my house there's this light switch that doesn't do anything. Every so often I would flick it on and off just to check. Yesterday, I got a call from a woman in Madagascar. She said, "Cut it out."

It's a good thing we have gravity or else when birds died they'd just stay right up there. Hunters would be all confused.

When I was a little kid we had a sand box. It was a quicksand box.
I was an only child....eventually.

I'm moving to Mars next week, so if you have any boxes...

It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to have to paint it.

Cross country skiing is great if you live in a small country.

I saw a bank that said "24 Hour Banking", but I don't have that much time.

I went to the museum where they had all the heads and arms from the statues that are in all the other museums.

I went to a restaurant that serves "breakfast at any time". So I ordered
French Toast during the Renaissance.

The sky is falling...no, I'm tipping over backwards.

I went to a general store. They wouldn't let me buy anything specifically.

I worked in a health food store once. A guy came in and asked me, "If I melt dry ice, can I take a bath without getting wet?"

I went down the street to the 24-hour grocery. When I got there, the guy was locking the front door. I said, "Hey, the sign says you're open 24 hours." He said, "Yes, but not in a row."

I bought my brother some gift-wrap for Christmas. I took it to the Gift Wrap department and told them to wrap it, but in a different print so he would know when to stop unwrapping.

For my birthday I got a humidifier and a de-humidifier...I put them in the same room and let them fight it out.

Ever notice how irons have a setting for *permanent* press? I don't get it...

I invented the cordless extension cord.

I saw a close friend of mine the other day... He said, "Stephen, why haven't you called me?" I said, "I can't call everyone I want. My new phone has no five on it." He said, "How long have you had it?" I said, "I don't know...my calendar has no sevens on it."

I installed a skylight in my apartment...The people who live above me are furious!

Doing a little work around the house. I put fake brick wallpaper over a real brick wall, just so I'd be the only one who knew. People come over and I'm gonna say, "Go ahead, touch it...it feels real."

In my house on the ceilings I have paintings of the rooms above...so I never have to go upstairs.

I have a microwave fireplace in my house...The other night I laid down in front of the fire for the evening in two minutes.

My house is made out of balsa wood, so when I want to scare the neighborhood kids I lift it over my head and tell them to get out of my yard or I'll throw it at them.

The other night I came home late, and tried to unlock my house with my car keys. I started the house up. So, I drove it around for a while. I was
speeding, and a cop pulled me over. He asked where I lived. I said, "right here, officer". Later, I parked it on the freeway, got out, and yelled at all the cars, "Get out of my driveway!"

My house is on the median strip of a highway. You don't really notice, except I have to leave the driveway doing 60 MPH.

For a while I didn't have a car...I had a helicopter...no place to park it, so I just tied it to a lamp post and left it running...[slow glance upward]

I hooked up my accelerator pedal in my car to my brake lights. I hit the gas, people behind me stop, and I'm gone.

I replaced the headlights in my car with strobe lights, so it looks like I'm
the only one moving.

I play the harmonica. The only way I can play is if I get my car going really fast, and stick it out the window. I put a new engine in my car, but forgot to take the old one out. Now my car goes 500 miles per hour. The harmonica sounds *amazing*.

I watched the Indy 500, and I was thinking that if they left earlier they
wouldn't have to go so fast.

I had to stop driving my car for a while...the tires got dizzy.

I have an answering machine in my car. It says, "I'm home now. But leave a message and I'll call when I'm out."

Last year we drove across the country. We switched on the driving...every half mile...We had one cassette tape to listen to on the entire trip...I don't remember what it was.

I saw a sign: "Rest Area 25 Miles". That's pretty big. Some people must be really tired.

I hate it when my foot falls asleep during the day because that means it's