- The air shall be cleansed of all poisons except those born of human fears and passions.
- In the streets, cars shall be run over by dogs.
- People shall not be driven by cars, or programmed by computers, or bought by supermarkets, or watched by televisions.
- The television set shall no longer be the most important member of the family.
- People shall work for a living instead of living for work.
- In no country shall young men who refuse to go war be imprisoned, rather only those who want to make war.
- Cooks shall not believe that lobsters love to be boiled alive.
- Historians shall not believe that countries love to be invaded.
- Politicians shall not believe that the poor love to eat promises.
- Food shall not be a commodity nor shall communications be a business because food and communication are basic human rights.
- No one shall die of hunger because no one shall die from overeating.
- Education shall not be the privilege of those who can pay.
- Law enforcement shall not be the curse of those who cannot pay.
- No one shall be taken serious who can’t make fun of himself.
- taken from an old 2002 Plough magazine.
June 06, 2006
June 05, 2006
Observing Nature
In the previous week I have noticed that there are a lot of animals that have been coming up to our back porch and windows (our apartment is partially underground). Aside from the multiple Canadian Geese and their gosling, there have been many squirrels and birds and the occasional snake that I have noticed in the 7 ½ months we’ve lived here.
Today was especially interesting, I have been trying to do more sit-spots since the weather has gotten warmer and today while in the woodlands behind our apartment I noticed a Red Fox quickly move through the woods. I almost didn’t get a good look at him since it moved so fast. Once I was done with my sit-spot I walked over to where I saw the fox and looked around for some tracks and after about 10 minutes of looking I found a pair. Exciting!
Then on my way back to our apartment, I spotted a Groundhog and it didn’t notice me since I was fox walking. It was really great to be able to witness creation in such a neat way. I don’t know if it was the same Groundhog or not but about an hour later I noticed a long ball of fur move across our living room window and watched as it scratched at our window. I ran to get the digital camera to get a close-up of him as he moved towards our back porch but as I tried to slowly open the back door he sensed me and quickly ran off into the woods. Guess I need to keep the camera closer to the porch so I can snap some pics for all of you.
It is simply amazing to me that since there has been a strong interest for me to do more nature observation and tracking I have noticed more and more of creation and creation has noticed more and more of me. I thank God for this sense of harmony that I find in the midst of nature.
Today was especially interesting, I have been trying to do more sit-spots since the weather has gotten warmer and today while in the woodlands behind our apartment I noticed a Red Fox quickly move through the woods. I almost didn’t get a good look at him since it moved so fast. Once I was done with my sit-spot I walked over to where I saw the fox and looked around for some tracks and after about 10 minutes of looking I found a pair. Exciting!
Then on my way back to our apartment, I spotted a Groundhog and it didn’t notice me since I was fox walking. It was really great to be able to witness creation in such a neat way. I don’t know if it was the same Groundhog or not but about an hour later I noticed a long ball of fur move across our living room window and watched as it scratched at our window. I ran to get the digital camera to get a close-up of him as he moved towards our back porch but as I tried to slowly open the back door he sensed me and quickly ran off into the woods. Guess I need to keep the camera closer to the porch so I can snap some pics for all of you.
It is simply amazing to me that since there has been a strong interest for me to do more nature observation and tracking I have noticed more and more of creation and creation has noticed more and more of me. I thank God for this sense of harmony that I find in the midst of nature.
June 02, 2006
The Need for Initiation
There has been an area of study that has really fascinated me for the last 3 years or so. I even put it in my Declaration of Major for Manchester College a year ago as one arena of possibility for me to explore at greater depth. As of now that may be the only thing that still remains true to what I want to do. I sense that I will somehow be connected to this for the rest of my life.
The subject matter is that of initiation or rites of passage for youth in our culture. I believe that relates more towards boys than girls at the present age. I began asking myself questions about my own formation and journey into manhood. When did that happen for me? It certainly wasn’t when I got the keys to the car when I was 16. It wasn’t when I was baptized a year earlier at 15. Was it when I lost my virginity at 17? Living on my own at the age of 20? All of these were a resounding NO. When did I become a man? I can testify that my life fits the mold of what Richard Rohr calls being “over-mothered and under-fathered.” I looked back for particular instances where I may have felt like I had just had rites of passage with my own father and kept coming up empty.
I looked around at the present to see if America has any forms of initiation today. I came up with one. The military. Think about it. How often have you heard the expression “Joining the (pick your branch) will make him a man!” That certainly didn’t fly with me because of my strong anti-war/conscientious objection stance. Being in the military doesn’t make you a man.
Since then, I have charted out a life map in which I recall and detail important events in my life and continue to update it today. And I continually return to one event that may have marked my passage into manhood. February 2004, my mother passed away at the age of 47 from complications due to myelodysplasia. I was 23 years old. It seemed to me kind of late in the journey to become a man but remember my earlier statement about being “over-mothered and under-fathered.” I want to avoid the language of me being a “Mama’s boy” since I also had a very close relationship with my father, who still lives today. I was most like my mother and my sister I thought was more like my dad. It was just that my father didn’t do the things for me that you typically think a father shares with his son… I needed to be given boundaries and an identity not just from my mother but my father as well, if not more. I’m not here to lay a guilt trip on my father; I fully recognize what he did teach me.
I can best explain my longings now to be involved in creation and wilderness survival skills as well as my strong desire to do my Vision Quest as a compensation for what I missed out on when I was younger. I am longing to connect with that sense of a healthy masculinity that gets repressed often because of my tendency to revert to the more sensitive guy (which I am more than thankful that my mother instilled that in me).
I also read some books during this time that really helped shape my present understandings of why we need to have a good initiation in our culture today. They are:
Journeymen by Kent Ira Groff
Redeeming Men: Religion and Masculinities
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine
by Robert Moore, Douglas Gillette
The Wild Man’s Journey: Reflections on Male Spirituality by Richard Rohr, Joseph Martos
Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation by Richard Rohr
I will continue to post thoughts and reflections on this topic as I am able. Till then check out some of these books and see if there is a sense of longing within yourself as well.
The subject matter is that of initiation or rites of passage for youth in our culture. I believe that relates more towards boys than girls at the present age. I began asking myself questions about my own formation and journey into manhood. When did that happen for me? It certainly wasn’t when I got the keys to the car when I was 16. It wasn’t when I was baptized a year earlier at 15. Was it when I lost my virginity at 17? Living on my own at the age of 20? All of these were a resounding NO. When did I become a man? I can testify that my life fits the mold of what Richard Rohr calls being “over-mothered and under-fathered.” I looked back for particular instances where I may have felt like I had just had rites of passage with my own father and kept coming up empty.
I looked around at the present to see if America has any forms of initiation today. I came up with one. The military. Think about it. How often have you heard the expression “Joining the (pick your branch) will make him a man!” That certainly didn’t fly with me because of my strong anti-war/conscientious objection stance. Being in the military doesn’t make you a man.
Since then, I have charted out a life map in which I recall and detail important events in my life and continue to update it today. And I continually return to one event that may have marked my passage into manhood. February 2004, my mother passed away at the age of 47 from complications due to myelodysplasia. I was 23 years old. It seemed to me kind of late in the journey to become a man but remember my earlier statement about being “over-mothered and under-fathered.” I want to avoid the language of me being a “Mama’s boy” since I also had a very close relationship with my father, who still lives today. I was most like my mother and my sister I thought was more like my dad. It was just that my father didn’t do the things for me that you typically think a father shares with his son… I needed to be given boundaries and an identity not just from my mother but my father as well, if not more. I’m not here to lay a guilt trip on my father; I fully recognize what he did teach me.
I can best explain my longings now to be involved in creation and wilderness survival skills as well as my strong desire to do my Vision Quest as a compensation for what I missed out on when I was younger. I am longing to connect with that sense of a healthy masculinity that gets repressed often because of my tendency to revert to the more sensitive guy (which I am more than thankful that my mother instilled that in me).
I also read some books during this time that really helped shape my present understandings of why we need to have a good initiation in our culture today. They are:
Journeymen by Kent Ira Groff
Redeeming Men: Religion and Masculinities
King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine
by Robert Moore, Douglas Gillette
The Wild Man’s Journey: Reflections on Male Spirituality by Richard Rohr, Joseph Martos
Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation by Richard Rohr
I will continue to post thoughts and reflections on this topic as I am able. Till then check out some of these books and see if there is a sense of longing within yourself as well.
June 01, 2006
Feeling Nostalgic
There is something I miss from my childhood.
Actually there are a lot of things I miss from my childhood.
One of the more vivid memories for me is when my family would take a Sunday off from our home congregation and go to an Old German Baptist Brethren worship service, which was where most of my mom's side of the family attended. At the time I absolutely hated being there for 3 hours or so, unless there was a breakfast before the service. My mother was raised in an OGBB family but never joined because by the time she was in her mid-teens (the age that most in the OGBB and even Church fo the Brethren are baptized and join the community) my grandparents left the OGBB for a couple of years and started attending what is now my home congregation. So my mom joined, married my dad and raised my sister and I there. Here are some things that I miss about going to the OGBB worship services:
The hard benches that demanded good posture from a kid that loved to slouch,
Turning around, facing the bench and kneeling to pray, even if it meant a chance to nap,
Singing in one unison pitch that sounded almost haunting... like chanting,
Meeting new people and finding out I am related to them,
Wondering what I would look like in plain clothing, black hat and a beard (with no mustache!)
Sitting with Grandpa on the men's side knowing I couldn't hound him like I could Grandma,
Going to Annual Meeting and having to discern who was who, since they all look alike,
The community that they formed with one another not just on Sundays but through the week.
Actually this coming weekend June 3-6, there will be upwards to 6,000 OGBB gathering near Union City, Indiana for their Annual Meeting during Pentecost. I may have to take a day off and go make a visit; being that it is only about an hour and half south of here.
- Picture comes from 1998 Article form the Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA.
One of the more vivid memories for me is when my family would take a Sunday off from our home congregation and go to an Old German Baptist Brethren worship service, which was where most of my mom's side of the family attended. At the time I absolutely hated being there for 3 hours or so, unless there was a breakfast before the service. My mother was raised in an OGBB family but never joined because by the time she was in her mid-teens (the age that most in the OGBB and even Church fo the Brethren are baptized and join the community) my grandparents left the OGBB for a couple of years and started attending what is now my home congregation. So my mom joined, married my dad and raised my sister and I there. Here are some things that I miss about going to the OGBB worship services:
The hard benches that demanded good posture from a kid that loved to slouch,
Turning around, facing the bench and kneeling to pray, even if it meant a chance to nap,
Singing in one unison pitch that sounded almost haunting... like chanting,
Meeting new people and finding out I am related to them,
Wondering what I would look like in plain clothing, black hat and a beard (with no mustache!)
Sitting with Grandpa on the men's side knowing I couldn't hound him like I could Grandma,
Going to Annual Meeting and having to discern who was who, since they all look alike,
The community that they formed with one another not just on Sundays but through the week.
Actually this coming weekend June 3-6, there will be upwards to 6,000 OGBB gathering near Union City, Indiana for their Annual Meeting during Pentecost. I may have to take a day off and go make a visit; being that it is only about an hour and half south of here.
- Picture comes from 1998 Article form the Roanoke Times, Roanoke, VA.