A Cookie Cutter World

 
When I was little, I used to love the game “Follow the Leader.”  It was fairly simple, and I loved making sure I was spot on with the leader, including my facial expressions.  I remember making several of my kiddie contemporaries mad when I mimicked them too closely.

Teenage years brought angst when mimicry was both hated and embraced.  I especially hated when I wore the same outfit as another girl in my class. Or conversely, it was okay to wear the same color outfit as my friend or posse as if it were a secret code. And it was acceptable, and expected that all teens went to the same hang out, or had to like the same idols, or they were weird. Weird is unacceptable in teen worlds.  That was about when my grandma began asking me “if all of your friends jump off the pier will you blindly follow?” And while I did not want to be different, I saw her point.  To blindly follow the masses was not very compelling or smart.

As I have reached adulthood I find myself opting to be different then many of those around me a lot of the time. Not to be merely contrary, I like being a leader. And especially, a leader with a purpose.  Often, I find I have fewer followers than I would hope. Not many are trying to mimic me closely.

As a general rule, however, it seems people love copying and following rather than marching to their own tune. Post Thanksgiving Black Friday all the stores went to earlier sales, and all the automatons marched the advertiser’s Pied Piper tune and followed to their flute. I felt a pattern of brainwashing began in mid-September this year. According to MerchantsWire:

For the 24 hours of Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 28^th same-seller gross merchandise value (GMV) increased 40% relative to the same 24-hour period in 2012. For the 24 hours of Black Friday, November 29^th, same-seller GMV sales lagged slightly behind Thanksgiving Day results but still increased over Black Friday 2012 by 35%, achieving a new Merchant daily record gross merchandise value (GMV) on Black Friday.

We are LEMMINGS!           

Humans seem to follow rather than march to the beat of their own drum perhaps because we hate to be alone, wrong or lose social status. We go along to get along out of fear of being shunned. It is easier than doing something different and having to explain or face ridicule. There is also power in numbers.

We see this everywhere from local and Washingtonian politicians, to wanna-be pop stars and actors, to iPhone buyers (it’s the most expensive and not necessarily the best, but everyone has one!)

I hear my grandma asking, “If everyone jumped over a cliff, would you?”  I see a society that will be less creative, strong, differentiated in the future. I picture automated rubber-stamping rather than well-reasoned decisions. A society that once stood proudly as being independent and strong individuals seems to be cookie cutter copies of each other, directed largely by the media and rich corporations.

Some would say as a person of faith, I am merely a follower as well. My religion of choice is, yes, to follow a man who lived outside his cultural norms, went against the establishment for the betterment of all, not the replicating of all. Jesus showed love (contrary to some who come in his name) to all people, even when that is terribly hard for human beings who find it easier to fear and hate.   I do not mind being accused of following such a rebel.

My faith calls e and all people to be “in the world, NOT of the world.”  Historically, the power of the church has been in our ability to live in the tension of existing "in, but not of." The Church is to be counter cultural. Not lemmings. Counter cultural doesn’t mean that the church stands against society to stand against it. The church is called to lead and leaders must stand FOR something rather than merely stand against something.

Yes, there are certainly times when we need to protest and stand against what is wrong. There are times when we must cry out against injustice and call for an end to corruption. But I hope that’s not all we do. I hope we remember the best form of protest is to stand for something better.

Counter cultural is deliberately different than society in positive ways.  Christians are centered and anchored in Jesus who was a lover of all people. Attempting to descent and condemn culture does not accurately depict who Jesus is and was. Instead of calling out what is wrong, or highlight that "these are not the way things ought to be,”  Christians are to stand for what is RIGHT -   for the common good. The Church is against the world, for the world.

Christians are restorers. We go about fixing the things that are broken. Because that is what God does. We are sacrificial. We should be mindful about what practices would help us celebrate God and God’s creation. Mindful about how we use things – do they make us more connected or less so?  Do they help or hurt others?

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:2 The Message)

I stand for the common good because God’s love is for all and calls us to be a part of the renewal of the world. It means I lead culture. I stay true to self and do what needs to be done to help others.   Jesus was on the side that was for life, for hope, for grace, for our salvation and for the big picture and the common good of all. The life of Jesus and His act of love on the cross was for us, and it powerfully stood against the forces of evil and darkness. Living like this is compelling in the midst of a culture that may view things differently – as in for fear, retribution and death, and the short term.

Of Peacocks and Lions

I was so excited to start this blog. It took some time to come up with an idea that was not too narrow or too wide. I took pride in my first few bloggy endeavors. Than as the old Proverb goes, “Pride always goes before a fall.”

The last few weeks, I have had nothing! Just shooting blanks. Writers block or too busy or something.  My sense of proud accomplishment has shriveled to a dry husk. It is frustrating.

If you see anything in yourself which may make you proud, look a little further, and you will find enough to make you humble.   WELLINS CALCOTT, Thoughts Moral and Divine

  I began pondering PRIDE and my sense of humility! I grew up with the notion that “pride” was a negative emotion or trait. As a grown-up (ish) person, I wonder and struggle with the notion of PRIDE.

This year, there is a lot of Pride going around. Over the past several weeks there have been a number of “Pride” Parades in and around Chicago– from the nationalistic Fourth of July parades and fireworks to the GLBTG Pride parade and this week’s Disability Pride Parade. All of that seems positive and promoting strength, value and a sense of community.

When I was in high school we had “Pride” week celebrating being a Sequoit (there really is no such thing) and showing school spirit. And then again recently, it shows when watching my dad become a Lion’s club governor with a focus on Lion’s pride. And feeling a sense of pride for my step-dad regaining strength and health after a scare.

Why is pride so bad?

It is a defined usually as a vice or as hubris. Saint Augustine defined “Pride” as “the love of one’s own excellence.” A very personal sin set opposed to humility and grace and seen as a disagreement with or inflation of the truth of who one is. An over-inflated sense of self-worth or accomplishment. Pride tends to blind us to our own faults. Being proud as the proverbial peacock is seen as bad. I understand this when we would compare ourselves to God, rank ourselves above others or put others down based on our personal accomplishment, or perceived success.

“A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.”  ― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Originally, the word” pride” comes from an old Latin term for “useful.” In French and Old English it meant “brave” or “valiant.” On the plus side, pride is a sense of satisfaction of one’s choices and actions along with a feeling of belonging. It allows for a sense of healthy respect for one’s attachments and associations, but in comparison with a group or community. A public expression of a common belief that our individuality and strong social association are a natural part of human community, a celebration of our heritage and culture, and a validation of our experience.

“Pride helps us; and pride is not a bad thing when it only urges us to hide our own hurts—not to hurt others.”  ― George Eliot, Middlemarch: A Study of Provincial Life

Pride in a group or association seems to take on a different and positive connotation. I think of my parents who take exceptional pride in their grandchildren. I think of a group of lions who haughtily stroll the jungle as “King of the beasts.” Yet, they live together. As a group (pride), not as individuals.  Perhaps that is the differentiator!?

Yet the Bible takes on national pride, and speaks of God’s wrath against those who exalt themselves – as individuals or nations.

I am proud of friends who take a stand and come out so they can be themselves.  I am sometimes proud to be an American with our ideals of democracy and building a republic. (Except when it goes overboard and becomes hubris, as of recent history.) There is pride watching those who struggle with life overcome their adversities. But can I not be proud that I have worked hard at an endeavor and found some value in my growth? Can I not value doing a good job serving others?

Of Peacocks or Lions?  Not sure I understand or comprehend.

Watch for Part 2 on "Of Peacocks and Lions" soon.

Called Up with Direction

 

Tonight is a big night for my husband. Not because he is married to me. Or because it is June 6^th and a remembrance of D-day. It is the Major League Baseball Draft. Ok! He is TiVo-ing it and watching it. He has been calculating various players for his favorite team (The Chicago Cubs, of course). For a huge baseball fan like my hubby, I guess it is interesting. All good until you consider that the MLB draft is the “least watched draft” in sports. It is not as” sexy” as football or basketball, even hockey for that matter. It will not have an immediate impact on anyone’s favorite team in 6 months time. So what is the big deal? 

As someone who was usually picked in the last groupings for most sporting activities, it is not on my interest list. But here are young men still in high or college (of course, no young woman would be offered the ridiculous salaries possibilities for sports that men get. But that is another blog topic) who have great potential in the baseball world in hitting, pitching or fielding and could command high salaries for entertaining us with their athletic prowess . Good for them, they are not left standing loving a sport that they cannot play like most of us geeks and loveable losers.  

 

 “We’d pick out the captains and we’d chose up the teams,

                                          It was always a measure of my self-esteem.
                  Cause the fastest, the strongest played shortstop and first,
                                        The last ones picked were always worst”.  (“Right Field” Peter, Paul and Mary) 

Get yourself a draft of beer or other beverage and consider this:

God does not pick anyone for last. Or conscript anyone to service. Everyone has their own gift and special talent and place in the Kingdom. And the right opportunity to serve. Do you know what your specialty is? Not yet? Ok. You are in the making – a rough copy or preliminary construction growing into what makes you – You. 

It took me a long time to realize my special gifts and even feel good about my talents. I love sports and picture myself a great player. But alas, I am a mediocre athlete at best. Give me the brain challenges though and I will be picked near the top. (Except by my friend Rich, whom I talked out of a right answer in a Biblical Trivia Challenge. Still sorry Rich!) I always rule at spectator Jeopardy. 

I don’t talk about this to urge you to find and assert your bragging rights. I simply call attention to each of us being called at the right time in the right place for the right reasons with the right gift. The Spirit is blowing where it will to create partnerships, teams and companies to build the corporate body for good.  You and I are constructed, and reconstructed, to find the flow of the Spirit and pull our load. 

 

We spend a good bit of our lives blown by the wind, and wondering why we’re not getting anywhere. Perhaps we like thinking we are in control and deciding which way, and how, to go. Walking against a strong wind slows you down.  Walking or running with the wind at your back makes you move forward faster. NASCAR fans used to say that the reason Dale Earnhardt Sr. won so many races was because he could see the draft: he could see the airflow coming off our other cars, and he would line up with that draft to aerodynamically propel him forward. What if we understood our lives in a different way: we have a special gift and power and the opportunity to fly by the current of the Holy Spirit and be propelled into a celebratory future!?

 

 Life in Christ is like that. The Holy Spirit is always blowing through our lives and communities. And our main job is to see the draft, to lick our finger and see where the wind’s blowing, what God is already up to, and then to join in that – to make sure that wind of the Spirit is at our back, that we are moving in God’s direction.

 We are never picked last. Or left as only a work in progress. God puts us in always on time, every time. We are caught up by a Spirit of love, for love and life changing purpose.

 

 

My purpose is to create and connect words and everyday living to our Spiritual nature and true home. Please challenge me with a reflection word or countering my perceptions. I would love to hear from, and be challenged by, you.  This is your page, as much as mine.