One of the biggest things going on in my life right now, if not the biggest, is the fact that I’m participating in Team in Training. Team in Training is an organization that exists for the sole purpose of raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This society is amazing!
I could go on and on and on about it (trust me) but I think that Matt Hall does a really good job of explaining the impact LLS has had for people struggling with leukemia, lymphoma and other blood cancers.
Matt's Thank You Video
When I don’t want to get up at 3:30 in the morning and traipse around my neighborhood in my ridiculous reflective gear and flashing lights, straining my muscles to the point of open rebellion I think about, well Matt now, but also Lisa. Lisa is working with our team and is a five year survivor of blood cancer. She was helped by LLS and now works in an LLS clinic greeting new and (thankfully) old patients.
Can you imagine what kind of impact she has? Imagine you’ve been diagnosed with a blood cancer like Leukemia. That’s scary. No, forget scary. It’s terrifying. It’s Leukemia! All these crazy thoughts and questions are running through your mind and scaring the dickens out of you. You get sent to this cancer clinic and walking through the door you don’t know what to expect. Part of you isn’t expecting the doctor to prescribe anything other than the length of your stay of execution. Then you meet Lisa. Lisa gets you some coffee. She’s pretty. She’s sweet. She’s kind, helpful and knowledgeable but most importantly, she’s alive! Lisa is sitting there as living, walking, talking, coffee fetching proof that you CAN survive. She’s an angel embodying hope for the future, your future.
Lisa does all this just by breathing but there are other things she does that are equally as helpful. Lisa can give you practical advice. Lisa says, “Whatever question you’ve got that you think is too silly or embarrassing to ask the doctor? You can ask me.” Lisa can tell you her story. Lisa can tell you things your doctor will never properly be able to understand. Lisa is a godsend.
I absolutely believe that donating to LLS is a way to help save people’s lives. LLS funds research that has produced life saving treatments for people suffering from blood cancers, LLS funds clinics that allow patients to receive those treatments, and LLS funds patient contacts like Lisa that help give people the positive, hopeful outlook that is so important when fighting such a daunting battle.
Yep, raising money for this organization is definitely one of the biggest things going on in my life. I’m doing fundraising but also training to represent LLS in the San Diego Rock N Roll marathon on June 6th. I train five days a week and do whatever I can think of to get donations. My goal is 3,000 USD. Both the half marathon event and the fundraising goal are daunting and scary but nowhere near as daunting or scary as facing one of these diseases.
I’ve been working with my Mom-in-law on fundraising ideas. One of them is the Warm Hug. A Warm Hug is a long rice sock divided into sections with a handle on either end. You place the hug into a microwave for a minute, turn it and then do another minute. It comes out fragrant and deliciously warm. You can then drape it around your neck, over a sore joint (it’s especially good for applying heat to those tricky ankles) but my favorite is holding it by the handles slung snug against the small of your back. It’s an absolute must have for the pregnant woman.
My Mom-in-law has done most of the work but I have done my part as well. This morning I’ve sold five, possibly six at $15 per Hug. I like the fact that people who are making donations to this awesome organization get to feel a nice warm feeling over and over again.
If you would like to contribute to my fundraising efforts please, please do! Here’s a link to my personal fundraising website with team in training. After donating you can check back in to see my progress via updates I will be posting to the site.
My Fundraising Page
If any of you donate $25 or more, please send me your address because I’d really like to send you a warm hug!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The Way: Buddha & Christ
Initially, the lives, teachings and deaths of Christ and Buddha seem very different. Jesus of Nazareth, or Christ, was born into relative poverty. Siddhartha Gautama, or Buddha, was born into relative wealth. Christ taught that he was the Messiah. Buddha forbid his followers to worship him. Christ was martyred. Buddha died peacefully. However, the religions based on their teachings both focus on personal responsibility, the awareness and pursuit of truth, and love. Though differences exist, the true practice of the teachings of these men is essentially similar.
The story of Christ states that he was born in circumstances so strained that his mother was forced to give birth to him in a stable. The story of Buddha, on the other hand, states he was born to wealth and comfort. The two beginnings seem like opposites until you take one more step back. The Christian tradition states that Christ existed in Heaven prior to his birth. Thus, Christ and Buddha both lived in seemingly ideal environments and both chose to renounce the comfort and security of those environments in order to pursue truth.
Another similarity is the fact that neither figure chose to leave their ideal environment in order to better their own personal circumstances. Buddha chose to leave his lush surroundings because of his discovery of pain and suffering in others. His lifestyle had to that point insulated him from pain and suffering. He had no personal interest at that time in solving the problem but chose to do so out of compassion for his fellow human beings. Thomas Merton states, “The basic aim of Buddhism…seeks to provide a realistic answer to man’s most urgent question: how to cope with suffering.” Buddhists commonly refer to this as Buddha’s Great Renunciation. Christ chose to leave Heaven and become human out of a similar altruistic desire to solve the problem of pain suffered by humanity. In both stories the central figures abandon positions of privilege and expose themselves to suffering they would not have otherwise felt. This is a sacrifice both figures make in order to solve the problem of pain and suffering for all of mankind. In this way, though only one, Christ, is ultimately killed as a result of his beliefs, both men can be considered martyrs.
When approaching the teachings of these men there is again an initial impression that their teachings are extremely different. Christ seemingly teaches a strange mixture of monotheism and polytheism, presenting a single God composed of three separate personalities: God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. Buddha, on the other hand, presents no God figure and his teachings revolve around self-discovery and enlightenment, not worship. Christ insists his followers worship him while Buddha insists his followers should not.
Once again, the two are more similar than expected but it takes a greater understanding of both teachings to find the similarities. In both traditions at one point a person comes to each teacher and asks for a summary of what they are teaching. In the story of Christ, a man approaches and asks what the greatest commandment is. In the story of Buddha, a man asks what Buddha and his monks practice. Their answers seem to emphasize the differences of their teachings. Christ replies that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength while Buddha states that he and his monks sit, walk and eat. But, once again, one must look closer. Christ adds that in addition to loving God, a man must love himself and his neighbor and he defines a neighbor as transcending race, nationality and even religious conviction; encompassing all humanity. When Buddha is pressed to more clearly define his answer he states, “When we sit, we know we are sitting. When we walk, we know we are walking. When we eat, we know we are eating.” This is an example of the Buddhist concept of mindfulness; being aware of, accepting and loving yourself and the world around you.
These might still seem very different teachings but they are, in fact, remarkably similar. Christ instructs us to love God, love ourselves and love others. More than that, he implies that these acts are all connected; that if we know and love God, we will automatically know and love ourselves and our fellow human beings. In clarifying the Buddhist concept of mindfulness Thich Nhat Hahn states, “To me, mindfulness is very much like the Holy Spirit…When you have mindfulness, you have love and understanding, you see more deeply, and you can heal the wounds in your own mind…all of us also have…the capacity of healing, transforming, and loving.” Both religions state that followers should be aware of their place in the world, of themselves and of their fellow beings and to respond to the world with love and compassion.
The last area in which these two men and the faiths they inspired seem to differ greatly is in their deaths. Christ was killed, dying a violent death as a martyr for his teachings at the age of only 33. Buddha died peacefully at the age of 80. The resurrection of Christ is one of the most important tenants of the Christian religion. While Buddhists do not present the belief that the Buddha was resurrected, they do believe there are two Buddhas; the historic Buddha and what Hahn describes as “the Buddha within ourselves who transcends space and time.” Thus, though both faiths believe their founders to be dead, both faiths also believe these men live on in a spiritual yet very real sense.
While Buddhism and Christianity are, like the men who founded them, very different; there are as many, if not more, similarities as differences between the two. As Hanh states, “We have different roots, traditions, and ways of seeing, but we share the common qualities of love, understanding, and acceptance.” C.S. Lewis wrote something similar: “There have been differences between…moralities, but these have never amounted to anything like a total difference.” You cannot argue against the differences that appear when comparing the lives, teachings and deaths of Christ and Buddha. Yet, neither can you argue against the similarity of the core beliefs of the teachings and, most importantly, the examples they left behind.
Bibliography
Hanh, Thich Nhat. Living Buddha, Living Christ. New York: Riverhead Books, 1995.
Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1952.
Merton, Thomas. Mystics and Zen Masters. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1976.
Thurston, Bonnie. "A Chrisitan's Appreciation of the Buddha." Buddhist-Christian Sudies (University of Hawaii Press) 19 (1999): 121-128.
The story of Christ states that he was born in circumstances so strained that his mother was forced to give birth to him in a stable. The story of Buddha, on the other hand, states he was born to wealth and comfort. The two beginnings seem like opposites until you take one more step back. The Christian tradition states that Christ existed in Heaven prior to his birth. Thus, Christ and Buddha both lived in seemingly ideal environments and both chose to renounce the comfort and security of those environments in order to pursue truth.
Another similarity is the fact that neither figure chose to leave their ideal environment in order to better their own personal circumstances. Buddha chose to leave his lush surroundings because of his discovery of pain and suffering in others. His lifestyle had to that point insulated him from pain and suffering. He had no personal interest at that time in solving the problem but chose to do so out of compassion for his fellow human beings. Thomas Merton states, “The basic aim of Buddhism…seeks to provide a realistic answer to man’s most urgent question: how to cope with suffering.” Buddhists commonly refer to this as Buddha’s Great Renunciation. Christ chose to leave Heaven and become human out of a similar altruistic desire to solve the problem of pain suffered by humanity. In both stories the central figures abandon positions of privilege and expose themselves to suffering they would not have otherwise felt. This is a sacrifice both figures make in order to solve the problem of pain and suffering for all of mankind. In this way, though only one, Christ, is ultimately killed as a result of his beliefs, both men can be considered martyrs.
When approaching the teachings of these men there is again an initial impression that their teachings are extremely different. Christ seemingly teaches a strange mixture of monotheism and polytheism, presenting a single God composed of three separate personalities: God the Father, God the Son and God the Spirit. Buddha, on the other hand, presents no God figure and his teachings revolve around self-discovery and enlightenment, not worship. Christ insists his followers worship him while Buddha insists his followers should not.
Once again, the two are more similar than expected but it takes a greater understanding of both teachings to find the similarities. In both traditions at one point a person comes to each teacher and asks for a summary of what they are teaching. In the story of Christ, a man approaches and asks what the greatest commandment is. In the story of Buddha, a man asks what Buddha and his monks practice. Their answers seem to emphasize the differences of their teachings. Christ replies that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength while Buddha states that he and his monks sit, walk and eat. But, once again, one must look closer. Christ adds that in addition to loving God, a man must love himself and his neighbor and he defines a neighbor as transcending race, nationality and even religious conviction; encompassing all humanity. When Buddha is pressed to more clearly define his answer he states, “When we sit, we know we are sitting. When we walk, we know we are walking. When we eat, we know we are eating.” This is an example of the Buddhist concept of mindfulness; being aware of, accepting and loving yourself and the world around you.
These might still seem very different teachings but they are, in fact, remarkably similar. Christ instructs us to love God, love ourselves and love others. More than that, he implies that these acts are all connected; that if we know and love God, we will automatically know and love ourselves and our fellow human beings. In clarifying the Buddhist concept of mindfulness Thich Nhat Hahn states, “To me, mindfulness is very much like the Holy Spirit…When you have mindfulness, you have love and understanding, you see more deeply, and you can heal the wounds in your own mind…all of us also have…the capacity of healing, transforming, and loving.” Both religions state that followers should be aware of their place in the world, of themselves and of their fellow beings and to respond to the world with love and compassion.
The last area in which these two men and the faiths they inspired seem to differ greatly is in their deaths. Christ was killed, dying a violent death as a martyr for his teachings at the age of only 33. Buddha died peacefully at the age of 80. The resurrection of Christ is one of the most important tenants of the Christian religion. While Buddhists do not present the belief that the Buddha was resurrected, they do believe there are two Buddhas; the historic Buddha and what Hahn describes as “the Buddha within ourselves who transcends space and time.” Thus, though both faiths believe their founders to be dead, both faiths also believe these men live on in a spiritual yet very real sense.
While Buddhism and Christianity are, like the men who founded them, very different; there are as many, if not more, similarities as differences between the two. As Hanh states, “We have different roots, traditions, and ways of seeing, but we share the common qualities of love, understanding, and acceptance.” C.S. Lewis wrote something similar: “There have been differences between…moralities, but these have never amounted to anything like a total difference.” You cannot argue against the differences that appear when comparing the lives, teachings and deaths of Christ and Buddha. Yet, neither can you argue against the similarity of the core beliefs of the teachings and, most importantly, the examples they left behind.
Bibliography
Hanh, Thich Nhat. Living Buddha, Living Christ. New York: Riverhead Books, 1995.
Lewis, C. S. Mere Christianity. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1952.
Merton, Thomas. Mystics and Zen Masters. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1976.
Thurston, Bonnie. "A Chrisitan's Appreciation of the Buddha." Buddhist-Christian Sudies (University of Hawaii Press) 19 (1999): 121-128.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Why blogs are a good thing.
I think blogs are a good thing. That’s not really a radical position for a blogger to take, I know. It may seem that it bears no explanation but I’m going to explain anyway because I’m a blogger and it’s kinda what I do.
Blogging is good for historians.
Blogs are a form of journal writing and journals have proven to be incredibly useful tools for historians. The fact that people who want to understand a wide range of public thought and reaction to major events now don’t have to wait until the writers die or are far enough removed from those events they feel comfortable publishing their thoughts in the form of a memoir (often by semi-ruining the information with what Shakespeare called ‘the pale cast of thought’ or what I call retrospective introspection) is, I think, a good thing. With the magic of blogging, you gather information on the immediate thoughts and feelings of people from vastly different walks of life by doing a simple Google search.
Blogging is good for bloggers.
People who are intimidated by a bound book of empty pages demanding to be filled can often find blogging a vastly more approachable medium. The fact that you are often writing to an audience encourages perseverance and persistence when many would have otherwise given up on writing a journal. Why is that good for bloggers? Because journaling and blogging create a scenario in which we actually sit down and think about our lives and the world around us. We take the time to consider events and how they might be affecting our feelings, leanings and even world view. This allows us to learn more from our successes and failures and about ourselves. The ability to look back and read past blogs allows us to understand the reasons we came to certain conclusions at the time we drew those conclusions. Believe it or not, the ability to objectively revisit emotionally motivated logic is an incredibly affective tool in the process of refining the series of beliefs and principles that make up our person.
Blogging is good for readers.
I mentioned historians because they’re a special case and reading doesn’t necessarily describe what they do with journals/blogs; with them it’s more like dissecting and discerning. A reader just sort of takes it in.
Blogging is good for readers in exactly the opposite way objective presentation of facts is good for readers. Objective presentations allow us the freedom to look at facts and form independent opinions. Blogging is good because it not only exposes us to vastly arrayed differences of opinion; it often shows us the process the writer’s thoughts took to come to those opinions. Thus, we not only are presented with a differing point of view but also the reasoning and facts that led to that point of view. We get to see that people who disagree with us don’t do so because they’re just deceived/deceivers with a malicious predisposition etc. There is a whole life’s history that goes into each person’s views on life, the universe and everything and readers get to see that. This causes us to be more sympathetic of those other experiences and, better, to learn from those experiences.
It’s like making plans to place your hand on a hot stove and then reading an account of what happened when someone else did the same thing. By reading the thoughts and experiences of others, you can save yourself.
Another way of putting it might be this: Life is a mine field and our experiences form the map we use to traverse it. As I move forward, I either develop theories about where mines are located or determine through painful experience exactly where mines are located. By reading of the experiences of others, I not only can learn the exact location of some mines, I can also gain knowledge that refines my theories about where possible mines are located. My map only covers a small part of the field. Blogging is, in effect, sharing my map with the world. Reading blogs is allowing the world to add to my map and refine it. The end result hopefully being that I step on fewer mines and live a longer, happier life.
Blogging is good for the world.
I love the movie A Far Off Place. There is a scene at the beginning of the film where Reese Witherspoon’s character is arguing with her father about the ethicacy and efficacy of two different approaches to the problem of poaching. He believes in addressing it peacefully and she believes in hunting down the poachers and shooting them.
Nonie: You know, Dad, people need to stand up and fight for what they believe in, or things will never change.
Nonie’s Dad: People need to sit down and talk, or people will never change.
I think blogging is yet another wonderful chance for global communication. I get to sit at my computer and read the inner thoughts of a teenager in the U.K., a world-wise woman in the Netherlands or a struggling musician on the East Coast of the U.S. There are so many different people with so many different paths and points of view. The ability to share the world with them and be aware of the fact that I share this world with them is an amazing gift; one that should be shared.
Blogging is good for historians.
Blogs are a form of journal writing and journals have proven to be incredibly useful tools for historians. The fact that people who want to understand a wide range of public thought and reaction to major events now don’t have to wait until the writers die or are far enough removed from those events they feel comfortable publishing their thoughts in the form of a memoir (often by semi-ruining the information with what Shakespeare called ‘the pale cast of thought’ or what I call retrospective introspection) is, I think, a good thing. With the magic of blogging, you gather information on the immediate thoughts and feelings of people from vastly different walks of life by doing a simple Google search.
Blogging is good for bloggers.
People who are intimidated by a bound book of empty pages demanding to be filled can often find blogging a vastly more approachable medium. The fact that you are often writing to an audience encourages perseverance and persistence when many would have otherwise given up on writing a journal. Why is that good for bloggers? Because journaling and blogging create a scenario in which we actually sit down and think about our lives and the world around us. We take the time to consider events and how they might be affecting our feelings, leanings and even world view. This allows us to learn more from our successes and failures and about ourselves. The ability to look back and read past blogs allows us to understand the reasons we came to certain conclusions at the time we drew those conclusions. Believe it or not, the ability to objectively revisit emotionally motivated logic is an incredibly affective tool in the process of refining the series of beliefs and principles that make up our person.
Blogging is good for readers.
I mentioned historians because they’re a special case and reading doesn’t necessarily describe what they do with journals/blogs; with them it’s more like dissecting and discerning. A reader just sort of takes it in.
Blogging is good for readers in exactly the opposite way objective presentation of facts is good for readers. Objective presentations allow us the freedom to look at facts and form independent opinions. Blogging is good because it not only exposes us to vastly arrayed differences of opinion; it often shows us the process the writer’s thoughts took to come to those opinions. Thus, we not only are presented with a differing point of view but also the reasoning and facts that led to that point of view. We get to see that people who disagree with us don’t do so because they’re just deceived/deceivers with a malicious predisposition etc. There is a whole life’s history that goes into each person’s views on life, the universe and everything and readers get to see that. This causes us to be more sympathetic of those other experiences and, better, to learn from those experiences.
It’s like making plans to place your hand on a hot stove and then reading an account of what happened when someone else did the same thing. By reading the thoughts and experiences of others, you can save yourself.
Another way of putting it might be this: Life is a mine field and our experiences form the map we use to traverse it. As I move forward, I either develop theories about where mines are located or determine through painful experience exactly where mines are located. By reading of the experiences of others, I not only can learn the exact location of some mines, I can also gain knowledge that refines my theories about where possible mines are located. My map only covers a small part of the field. Blogging is, in effect, sharing my map with the world. Reading blogs is allowing the world to add to my map and refine it. The end result hopefully being that I step on fewer mines and live a longer, happier life.
Blogging is good for the world.
I love the movie A Far Off Place. There is a scene at the beginning of the film where Reese Witherspoon’s character is arguing with her father about the ethicacy and efficacy of two different approaches to the problem of poaching. He believes in addressing it peacefully and she believes in hunting down the poachers and shooting them.
Nonie: You know, Dad, people need to stand up and fight for what they believe in, or things will never change.
Nonie’s Dad: People need to sit down and talk, or people will never change.
I think blogging is yet another wonderful chance for global communication. I get to sit at my computer and read the inner thoughts of a teenager in the U.K., a world-wise woman in the Netherlands or a struggling musician on the East Coast of the U.S. There are so many different people with so many different paths and points of view. The ability to share the world with them and be aware of the fact that I share this world with them is an amazing gift; one that should be shared.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Crazy Conversations
My husband and I are a little crazy, I think. At least, we have these crazy-people conversations. It seems like the really crazy/silly conversations happen when we're getting ready for bed. I think it's mostly his fault.
For example, I got a new shampoo that I thought made my hair smell nice. I ask a simple question and this is what happened.
Me: Smell my hair. Doesn’t it smell nice?
Hubby: (Laughs) Smell my butt. It smells nice.
Me: No it doesn’t.
Hubby: How do you know it doesn’t? Have you smelled it?
Me: No. I don’t have to. It smells like butt. You know how I know? Because it IS a butt.
Hubby: Not necessarily. For all you know my butt could smell like daisies. You don’t know, because you haven’t smelled it. You wanted me to smell your hair but you won’t smell my butt.
Me: There’s a big difference between smelling someone’s hair and smelling someone’s butt.
Hubby: My butt has hair and I submit to you that the hair on my butt smells like daisies and until you’re willing to smell my butt and prove me wrong you’re going to have to concede that.
Me: So be it. Your butt smells like daisies. Are you happy?
Hubby: Very.
Me: You won’t be.
Hubby: What does that mean?
Me: Oh nothing.
Hubby: Okaaaay. … Good night.
Me: Good Night, Daisy.
Hubby: … Touché.
For example, I got a new shampoo that I thought made my hair smell nice. I ask a simple question and this is what happened.
Me: Smell my hair. Doesn’t it smell nice?
Hubby: (Laughs) Smell my butt. It smells nice.
Me: No it doesn’t.
Hubby: How do you know it doesn’t? Have you smelled it?
Me: No. I don’t have to. It smells like butt. You know how I know? Because it IS a butt.
Hubby: Not necessarily. For all you know my butt could smell like daisies. You don’t know, because you haven’t smelled it. You wanted me to smell your hair but you won’t smell my butt.
Me: There’s a big difference between smelling someone’s hair and smelling someone’s butt.
Hubby: My butt has hair and I submit to you that the hair on my butt smells like daisies and until you’re willing to smell my butt and prove me wrong you’re going to have to concede that.
Me: So be it. Your butt smells like daisies. Are you happy?
Hubby: Very.
Me: You won’t be.
Hubby: What does that mean?
Me: Oh nothing.
Hubby: Okaaaay. … Good night.
Me: Good Night, Daisy.
Hubby: … Touché.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The Why Game
Last Saturday my husband, his siblings, his siblings significant others, his Dad and I were all going to see the film Avatar. We all divided ourselves into different cars and my husband, Scott (my husband’s little sister’s husband) and I rode together. As the three of us were walking toward the theater I saw an empty McDonald’s fries container lying right in the middle of the beautiful, still miraculously green grass outside the theater. So, I picked it up.
My husband sighed and said, “What are you doing?”
Scott replied, “She’s being a Good Samaritan.”
That really struck me as odd. See, I didn’t think doing something as simple as picking up a single piece of trash and carrying it 20 or 30 feet to the nearest trash bin warranted the title “Good Samaritan”. To me that’s a pretty grand title.
The term ‘Good Samaritan’ comes from a parable of Jesus Christ. He tells the story of a Jewish man who is attacked by thieves on an isolated mountain road and left for dead. Two people, who are not only his countrymen, but religious leaders, happen along and both find reasons not to stop and help him. Finally a Samaritan, a minority Jewish sect persecuted and severely ostracized for their beliefs, stops and helps the man. He not only tends to the man’s wounds and carries him to the nearest city. Once there, he leaves money to pay for the man’s care AND makes the stipulation that if what he leaves turns out to be insufficient, he’ll be back by at a later date and will pay the difference.
THAT is a Good Samaritan. Actually, that is THE Good Samaritan.
The point of that story wasn’t to shame the predominantly insulated and self-agrandzing Jewish religious leaders of the time or to provide an example for people with regard to how we should treat each other. I’m pretty certain it accomplished both of those tasks and that was intentional but that wasn’t the main purpose of the story.
That story was told to answer a specific question which was the last in a series of questions that, honestly, reminds me of the ‘Why’ game my kids play sometimes.
(If you don’t have kids the game is a contest of wills. They ask why until they either they get bored, are satisfied or you lose your sanity.)
So, this guy comes up to Jesus and says, “You know what? We’ve got a lot of rules. A LOT of rules. Which is the most important?”
Personally, I think that was a pretty stupid question. It’s like. “There are a lot of laws in this country, Officer. Sure, I was breaking one but it wasn’t the most important one.”
Anyway, Jesus goes with it. He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength…” Then most translations continue it this way “and the second is ‘like it/like unto it’, love your neighbor as yourself.” I hate the way this is translated.
I went to a Preacher’s school. Some people call it seminary. This one was called an ‘International Biblical Institute’. The point is, I studied Greek and that passage is not so simple and the concept is hard to put into words in English. I think the best I can do is ‘the second most important commandment is part of the first’. In my personal opinion and interpretation it wasn’t a ‘do this, and then that’ situation. It was an ‘if you do this then you will, by default, also be doing that’ situation. He wasn’t saying, “Love God first and then love your neighbor.” He was saying, “If you love God, then you automatically will love your neighbor.”
My kids get to take a single toy to day care every day. Today my son wanted to take the ambulance that his sister got him for Christmas. My husband said, ‘That one is extra special.’
Jonathan decided to start playing the Why Game.
“Why, Daddy?”
“Because it’s the one Emmy got you.”
“Why?”
“Because she loves you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re her brother.”
“Oh.”
That stuck in my head. (You may have noticed that happens a lot. What can I say? I have a sticky head.) Why did this particular incident stick in my head? Because the Why Game session was so SHORT. Because the concept of brotherhood was so fundamental, even to my three-year-old, that it severely truncated a Why Game.
The concept of the greatest commandment and its runner up is that God is the father of humanity and that makes each and every human being on the planet siblings; family. The concept of universal brotherhood isn’t limited to a belief in God either. Whatever your beliefs, if you go back far enough we all came from the same place. We are all related to each other. We are all family.
Jesus in that commandment was saying, “If you love God, then you will love your neighbor. Why? Because God does. Why? Because that other person is just as much His child as you are.”
The parable is the answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The main aim of the story of the Good Samaritan was to teach the questioner that shared DNA, skin color, nationality or even religious beliefs do not determine who your neighbor is. We are ALL neighbors. We are all family.
If the holidays teach us anything, they teach us that you don’t necessarily always agree with your family. You don’t necessarily always like all of your family. BUT you do love them. You make a conscious decision to overlook things in family members that you make a conscious decision not to overlook in people who are not family. Petty annoyances, social and economic differences, differences in religious and political beliefs; they all drive us crazy at the holidays but we put up with them.
Why?
Because they’re ‘family’.
Why?
Because our society decided they are.
Why?
Because we needed people looking out for us.
Why?
Because human beings apparently don’t look out for each other unless they feel obligated by the dictates of society.
Why?
Um...
My husband sighed and said, “What are you doing?”
Scott replied, “She’s being a Good Samaritan.”
That really struck me as odd. See, I didn’t think doing something as simple as picking up a single piece of trash and carrying it 20 or 30 feet to the nearest trash bin warranted the title “Good Samaritan”. To me that’s a pretty grand title.
The term ‘Good Samaritan’ comes from a parable of Jesus Christ. He tells the story of a Jewish man who is attacked by thieves on an isolated mountain road and left for dead. Two people, who are not only his countrymen, but religious leaders, happen along and both find reasons not to stop and help him. Finally a Samaritan, a minority Jewish sect persecuted and severely ostracized for their beliefs, stops and helps the man. He not only tends to the man’s wounds and carries him to the nearest city. Once there, he leaves money to pay for the man’s care AND makes the stipulation that if what he leaves turns out to be insufficient, he’ll be back by at a later date and will pay the difference.
THAT is a Good Samaritan. Actually, that is THE Good Samaritan.
The point of that story wasn’t to shame the predominantly insulated and self-agrandzing Jewish religious leaders of the time or to provide an example for people with regard to how we should treat each other. I’m pretty certain it accomplished both of those tasks and that was intentional but that wasn’t the main purpose of the story.
That story was told to answer a specific question which was the last in a series of questions that, honestly, reminds me of the ‘Why’ game my kids play sometimes.
(If you don’t have kids the game is a contest of wills. They ask why until they either they get bored, are satisfied or you lose your sanity.)
So, this guy comes up to Jesus and says, “You know what? We’ve got a lot of rules. A LOT of rules. Which is the most important?”
Personally, I think that was a pretty stupid question. It’s like. “There are a lot of laws in this country, Officer. Sure, I was breaking one but it wasn’t the most important one.”
Anyway, Jesus goes with it. He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength…” Then most translations continue it this way “and the second is ‘like it/like unto it’, love your neighbor as yourself.” I hate the way this is translated.
I went to a Preacher’s school. Some people call it seminary. This one was called an ‘International Biblical Institute’. The point is, I studied Greek and that passage is not so simple and the concept is hard to put into words in English. I think the best I can do is ‘the second most important commandment is part of the first’. In my personal opinion and interpretation it wasn’t a ‘do this, and then that’ situation. It was an ‘if you do this then you will, by default, also be doing that’ situation. He wasn’t saying, “Love God first and then love your neighbor.” He was saying, “If you love God, then you automatically will love your neighbor.”
My kids get to take a single toy to day care every day. Today my son wanted to take the ambulance that his sister got him for Christmas. My husband said, ‘That one is extra special.’
Jonathan decided to start playing the Why Game.
“Why, Daddy?”
“Because it’s the one Emmy got you.”
“Why?”
“Because she loves you.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re her brother.”
“Oh.”
That stuck in my head. (You may have noticed that happens a lot. What can I say? I have a sticky head.) Why did this particular incident stick in my head? Because the Why Game session was so SHORT. Because the concept of brotherhood was so fundamental, even to my three-year-old, that it severely truncated a Why Game.
The concept of the greatest commandment and its runner up is that God is the father of humanity and that makes each and every human being on the planet siblings; family. The concept of universal brotherhood isn’t limited to a belief in God either. Whatever your beliefs, if you go back far enough we all came from the same place. We are all related to each other. We are all family.
Jesus in that commandment was saying, “If you love God, then you will love your neighbor. Why? Because God does. Why? Because that other person is just as much His child as you are.”
The parable is the answer to the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The main aim of the story of the Good Samaritan was to teach the questioner that shared DNA, skin color, nationality or even religious beliefs do not determine who your neighbor is. We are ALL neighbors. We are all family.
If the holidays teach us anything, they teach us that you don’t necessarily always agree with your family. You don’t necessarily always like all of your family. BUT you do love them. You make a conscious decision to overlook things in family members that you make a conscious decision not to overlook in people who are not family. Petty annoyances, social and economic differences, differences in religious and political beliefs; they all drive us crazy at the holidays but we put up with them.
Why?
Because they’re ‘family’.
Why?
Because our society decided they are.
Why?
Because we needed people looking out for us.
Why?
Because human beings apparently don’t look out for each other unless they feel obligated by the dictates of society.
Why?
Um...
Monday, December 28, 2009
The First Day
I work in Cube Land. It’s a magical place of in-between. There are these sort-of-but-not-really walls. People here are sort of friends (but not really) and it’s sort of your home away from home (but not really). The thing is you can’t escape your co-workers. You can try but then you get a black mark on your performance review.
(No, really, you do. I actually got a black mark saying basically that I worked too hard. I apparently “just sat at my desk and did my work” and I wasn’t “engaging with coworkers or making any attempt to be social”. My supervisor actually asked if I watched Survivor and when I said no suggested I start watching the show. She said that “the team” all watched and it would be a great opportunity for me to join in socially. Really. I’m not making this up.)
There are a few phenomena that are interesting in cube land. One of my favorites is the seemingly endless battle between those with hygiene and those without. The combatants are firmly entrenched in the restrooms but the fight occasionally extends to the communal refrigerators.
One of my favorite phenomena is the First Day After Christmas. The First Day is fun for me. People tend to put on this pretence of being grumpy about going back to work but generally are somewhat relieved to be free of the chaos of holidays that are usually filled with people who don’t know where to put their odds & ends and how the appliances work. Coming back to the quiet order of work is a relief but we can’t really say that so there is this affectation of “I don’t want to be here”.
The real fun though, is the gift display. People go to fetch coffee in new shiny World’s Greatest Dad mugs or wearing ties with a binary pattern that when decoded say, “Ties Suck.” They proudly wear inappropriately ornate but new jewelry or walk about with bulging pockets that conceal this or that new and exciting gadget.
Then there are the stories. I can tell the story of taking the kids to the movies and how Jonathan at one point apparently got tired of actually picking up the popcorn, just stuck his head into the tub and started munching. There will be present stories and burnt Turkey stories and missed flight stories. This year I’m sure there will be a few stranded by flooding stories.
Yes, on the First Day we’ll all whine about work and show off of gifted gadgets and tell tales of Turkey turmoil…oh, and work…sort of.
(No, really, you do. I actually got a black mark saying basically that I worked too hard. I apparently “just sat at my desk and did my work” and I wasn’t “engaging with coworkers or making any attempt to be social”. My supervisor actually asked if I watched Survivor and when I said no suggested I start watching the show. She said that “the team” all watched and it would be a great opportunity for me to join in socially. Really. I’m not making this up.)
There are a few phenomena that are interesting in cube land. One of my favorites is the seemingly endless battle between those with hygiene and those without. The combatants are firmly entrenched in the restrooms but the fight occasionally extends to the communal refrigerators.
One of my favorite phenomena is the First Day After Christmas. The First Day is fun for me. People tend to put on this pretence of being grumpy about going back to work but generally are somewhat relieved to be free of the chaos of holidays that are usually filled with people who don’t know where to put their odds & ends and how the appliances work. Coming back to the quiet order of work is a relief but we can’t really say that so there is this affectation of “I don’t want to be here”.
The real fun though, is the gift display. People go to fetch coffee in new shiny World’s Greatest Dad mugs or wearing ties with a binary pattern that when decoded say, “Ties Suck.” They proudly wear inappropriately ornate but new jewelry or walk about with bulging pockets that conceal this or that new and exciting gadget.
Then there are the stories. I can tell the story of taking the kids to the movies and how Jonathan at one point apparently got tired of actually picking up the popcorn, just stuck his head into the tub and started munching. There will be present stories and burnt Turkey stories and missed flight stories. This year I’m sure there will be a few stranded by flooding stories.
Yes, on the First Day we’ll all whine about work and show off of gifted gadgets and tell tales of Turkey turmoil…oh, and work…sort of.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
The Importance of Being You.
If you’ve read my blog, you know that I was hit by a car when I was a toddler. I spent some time in the hospital after that little stunt and made a connection. There was this nurse. I remember her being very beautiful, though I can’t see her face in my mind anymore. She had long silky black hair. One day she was adjusting something and it fell over my face. It smelled wonderful and tickled so gently. I absolutely loved it. From that point forward, whenever she came to check on me she would take the time to tickle me a bit with the ends of her hair.
I had my birthday while in the hospital and she gave me a present; a wire framed, pose-able, plush Tweety Bird. I loved that doll. I kept it for fifteen years before losing it. I packed it away with my things when I left home for Europe and it was somehow lost while I was away. I remember how truly upset I was when I realized that it was gone.
I have a point. It’s in here somewhere, trust me.
The point is this woman had a pretty demeaning job. Doctors don’t have a reputation for being appreciative and respectful of the role nurses play. In fact, nurses tend to be picked on by both the doctors and the patients. Most people don’t enjoy time spent in the hospital and don’t tend to express too much appreciation to nursing staff.
I don’t imagine that woman ever dreamed that I would remember her almost three decades later. I don’t imagine it crossed her mind when she picked up that fuzzy yellow bird that her purchase would make Tweety my mascot, the cartoon character with which I most identify.
There is a disease that has taken hold in the United States and is seen spreading all over the world. It’s a pandemic more disastrous than the much touted H1N1. People in this world have developed the concept of worth that is, in my opinion, dangerously warped. There is this designation of “important” roles and “unimportant” roles.
To try to better explain, I’m going to ask for help from one of my favorite TV shows; Chuck. Chuck is the name of the main character. He’s a computer technician at a large electronics store that is meant to be a parody of the US chain, Best Buy. He fixes people’s computers and cell phones and the show consistently portrays his job as unimportant to the point of being demeaning. Characters constantly ask when he will quit his “dead-end” job and get a “real job”, an important job.
The concept that he appears unimportant in this role but is actually a secret spy and very important, is one of the main themes of the show’s storyline. This is actually one of the only things I don’t like about the show. Chuck the ‘Nerd Herder’ is discussed as an unimportant cover life but he really is important in THAT role.
Example: In the pilot episode, a father comes into the store with his ballerina daughter. He is distressed because the video footage of the dance recital won’t play back. Chuck takes a look and discovers the man didn’t understand that he needed digital tape and has failed to record the recital. The girl is crushed and Chuck comes up with a solution.
The father purchases tape and Chuck sets up the great wall of screens to display the feed from the digital recorder. The little girl dances her part in front of this back drop and the day is saved.
Chuck, the lowly Nerd Herder saved the day! Another example is in a later episode. Lou (a brief love interest) comes into the store distraught because her smart phone is broken. She says something along the lines that her whole life is stored inside. Chuck is her hero, not because he has the knowledge of ‘the intersect computer’ locked in his brain, but because he can repair her phone.
We all need to pay attention to how important we are. A truck driver in the US is absolutely vital. They drive hour after hour alone on dark, slick and icy roads. People look down their noses at them, get annoyed at their large vehicles in traffic or just avoid them but without these men and women, America would come to a staggering and crashing dead stop.
The scary thing about people not valuing themselves or their contribution is we don’t see the consequences of our actions, good or bad. If we really don’t think our jobs matter, we lose opportunities to make other people’s lives better. If we don’t take pride in what we do, how can we really do it to the best of our ability? We’ve been sneering at each other for so long, we’re starting to forget what it’s like when someone really does take pride in their work and provides exceptional goods and services.
The other, even scarier, side of this is if we don’t think what we do matters, we don’t feel as much restraint from being dismissive or neglectful of other people’s needs. We can be cruel and not think much of it because what does it really matter what we do?
I’m sure that nurse didn’t think much of taking a few extra seconds to brighten a three-year-old’s day. That Tweety Bird doll was probably the first thing she came across in the store. Maybe it was an afterthought: Okay, got the eggs, milk & bread. Hmm, that little girl’s birthday is tomorrow. I’ll just grab this Tweety Bird on my way out.”
Yet twenty-eight years later, I remember her and her kindness. She will forever be a part of who I am.
You are important. What you do is important. What you do affects people in ways you cannot possibly imagine.
This Christmas my wish is that we all remember how important we are not only to our friends and family, but to people we will never meet.
I had my birthday while in the hospital and she gave me a present; a wire framed, pose-able, plush Tweety Bird. I loved that doll. I kept it for fifteen years before losing it. I packed it away with my things when I left home for Europe and it was somehow lost while I was away. I remember how truly upset I was when I realized that it was gone.
I have a point. It’s in here somewhere, trust me.
The point is this woman had a pretty demeaning job. Doctors don’t have a reputation for being appreciative and respectful of the role nurses play. In fact, nurses tend to be picked on by both the doctors and the patients. Most people don’t enjoy time spent in the hospital and don’t tend to express too much appreciation to nursing staff.
I don’t imagine that woman ever dreamed that I would remember her almost three decades later. I don’t imagine it crossed her mind when she picked up that fuzzy yellow bird that her purchase would make Tweety my mascot, the cartoon character with which I most identify.
There is a disease that has taken hold in the United States and is seen spreading all over the world. It’s a pandemic more disastrous than the much touted H1N1. People in this world have developed the concept of worth that is, in my opinion, dangerously warped. There is this designation of “important” roles and “unimportant” roles.
To try to better explain, I’m going to ask for help from one of my favorite TV shows; Chuck. Chuck is the name of the main character. He’s a computer technician at a large electronics store that is meant to be a parody of the US chain, Best Buy. He fixes people’s computers and cell phones and the show consistently portrays his job as unimportant to the point of being demeaning. Characters constantly ask when he will quit his “dead-end” job and get a “real job”, an important job.
The concept that he appears unimportant in this role but is actually a secret spy and very important, is one of the main themes of the show’s storyline. This is actually one of the only things I don’t like about the show. Chuck the ‘Nerd Herder’ is discussed as an unimportant cover life but he really is important in THAT role.
Example: In the pilot episode, a father comes into the store with his ballerina daughter. He is distressed because the video footage of the dance recital won’t play back. Chuck takes a look and discovers the man didn’t understand that he needed digital tape and has failed to record the recital. The girl is crushed and Chuck comes up with a solution.
The father purchases tape and Chuck sets up the great wall of screens to display the feed from the digital recorder. The little girl dances her part in front of this back drop and the day is saved.
Chuck, the lowly Nerd Herder saved the day! Another example is in a later episode. Lou (a brief love interest) comes into the store distraught because her smart phone is broken. She says something along the lines that her whole life is stored inside. Chuck is her hero, not because he has the knowledge of ‘the intersect computer’ locked in his brain, but because he can repair her phone.
We all need to pay attention to how important we are. A truck driver in the US is absolutely vital. They drive hour after hour alone on dark, slick and icy roads. People look down their noses at them, get annoyed at their large vehicles in traffic or just avoid them but without these men and women, America would come to a staggering and crashing dead stop.
The scary thing about people not valuing themselves or their contribution is we don’t see the consequences of our actions, good or bad. If we really don’t think our jobs matter, we lose opportunities to make other people’s lives better. If we don’t take pride in what we do, how can we really do it to the best of our ability? We’ve been sneering at each other for so long, we’re starting to forget what it’s like when someone really does take pride in their work and provides exceptional goods and services.
The other, even scarier, side of this is if we don’t think what we do matters, we don’t feel as much restraint from being dismissive or neglectful of other people’s needs. We can be cruel and not think much of it because what does it really matter what we do?
I’m sure that nurse didn’t think much of taking a few extra seconds to brighten a three-year-old’s day. That Tweety Bird doll was probably the first thing she came across in the store. Maybe it was an afterthought: Okay, got the eggs, milk & bread. Hmm, that little girl’s birthday is tomorrow. I’ll just grab this Tweety Bird on my way out.”
Yet twenty-eight years later, I remember her and her kindness. She will forever be a part of who I am.
You are important. What you do is important. What you do affects people in ways you cannot possibly imagine.
This Christmas my wish is that we all remember how important we are not only to our friends and family, but to people we will never meet.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)