Beyond Interim

Hi, folks.  Just wanted to write one last post here regarding some volunteer opportunities to use your newfound awareness of the empire at Calvin in the coming years.

• Student Activities Board: help plan and staff concerts.  Weekly hour-long meetings.  Contact Rob to be put on the e-mail list.
  
• Cultural Discerners: continue to study the "spirits of our age" and how they emerge in popular culture...then coordinate events in your dorms and on campus.
  
• Multicultural Student Development Office: Jacque Rhodes, who was on our panel, is the director of MSDO, which has a lot of opportunities to get involved in multicultural and anti-racism activities.
  
• Fashion Advisory Board: Fashion shows and fashion magazines around the ideas Erin O'Connor-Garcia talked about in class.  Contact Erin to be a part of it.
  
• Service-Learning Center: Remember what our panelists said about connecting with people who are different from you?  Use the SL-C web site to search for opportunities that fit your interests and skills (or keep the SL-C on your radar for student employment)
  
• Barnabas Team: Organize dorm bible study and worship activities.  Barnabas needs people who are passionate about "double immersion" in scripture and culture and have an expanded definition of discipline.
  

This list is certainly not exhaustive and whether you take advantage of these activities or not, we encourage you to put ideas into practice (that's true knowledge, remember?).  In addition to considering these activities, seek out mentors and models in person and in books and other media who can help you continue to learn about the goodness of God's Kingdom.  And if you get a chance, stop by our office and say 'hi' sometime.  Thanks for a great experience!

Good food

Someone asked for more details about the snacks we had in class yesterday, so here's a listing in case any of you wants to learn more.  Everything came from The Green Life Market or the Family Fare two blocks from where Rob and I live:

• El Matador corn chips (made in Grand Rapids)
  
• Herdez salsa (made in Mexico without preservatives or additives)
  
• Raisin bread from Little Rooster Bread Company (here in Grand Rapids)
  
• Organic apple butter and natural peanut butter from The Green Life Market
  
• Cookies from Back to Nature and Newman's Own
  
• Apple Cider from Aseltine's Cider Mill in Comstock Park, Michigan
  
• Milk from Moo-ville dairy (regular 2% and non-homogenized whole)
  

We went to the places that were closest to our  house, but here are some other sources where we could have found local and/or organic foods:

• Horrock's Market
  
• The Fulton Street Farmer's Market (open May-December)
  
• Harvest Health Foods
  
• Trillium Haven Farm (where Rob and I participate in CSA--they take summer interns! :)
  
• Mud Lake Farm (we get greens delivered from them on a regular basis--a greens-only CSA)
  
• Global Infusion (fair trade coffee, chocolate, chocolate chips, hot cocoa, baking cocoa and very unique looseleaf teas that combine Michigan fruits and flowers with fair trade green and black teas)

If you want to try restaurants that incorporate local and organic foods, here are a few (certainly not exhaustive):

• Marie Catrib's
• The Green Well
• Restaurant Bloom
• Electric Cheetah (opening soon--the owner has been taking his time finding as many local sources as possible for his ingredients)

Let me know if you have any other questions about locally grown (or other kinds of) foods.  I love a good food mystery and would be happy to help you find answers!

Heaven is not my home

Several of you seemed surprised and intrigued yesterday by the idea that heaven is coming to earth some day and that the Kingdom of God will be embodied here, in this tangible place.  I'm going to try to put together a bible study time on this idea for those who are interested.  Until then (and beyond that), here are some books you might like to check out if you want to learn more:

• Heaven is Not My Home:Living in the Now of God's Creation by Paul Marshall--Doesn't go into the theological ideas very deeply or academically, but explores examples of how God is redeeming specific areas of life, such as rest, play, work, imagination, learning and more.
  
• Heaven is a Place on Earth: Why Everything You Do Matters to God by Michael E. Wittmer--A good introduction with well-explained theological ideas, lots of scripture references and pop culture examples.  Includes a discussion guide with questions.
• Bringing Heaven Down to Earth: Connecting This Life to the Next by Nathan Bierma--Author works at Calvin in the Worship Institute and has taught a DCM course on his book.  Check out the slide shows his students put together illustrating ideas from the book.
• Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, The Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church by N.T. Wright: Wright is a friend of Walsh & Keesmaat's and there's definitely a congruity and influence in their ideas.  This relatively new book has been getting rave reviews.  Check out the author on Stephen Colbert.

Heaven has in some ways been hijacked by ideas that have little merit when held up against the arc of scripture.  For myself, understanding that the eternal Kingdom of God will have something to do with the earthly creatures we are now makes it a much more exciting reality.  It also helps balance my sense of urgency ("I need to change the world and experience everything it has to offer NOW!  Before I die!") with a sense of trust and rest ("I can honor my limitations and the call to Sabbath in the hope of eternity on a renewed, restored earth").

GQ Magazine

GQ Magazine is a magazine made for men who want to better themselves in their appearance. In the magazine there are pictures to show off new trends in clothing and accessories. They also have articles explaining why people should wear certain clothing. Some articles are just random and talk about a certain issue or event that has happened. Appearance is key when giving a first impression. Clothing is one of the first things that people look at when they see you. What you wear is key to show who you are and what you stand for. GQ magazine also shows men how to dress themselves for professional occupations, as well as just wearing something causually. What you wear with your clothing such as watches, belts, hats, shoes, is also explained in some of GQ's articles. Most of the clothing in this magazine are particularly expensive, and directed toward people with high income. There are many pictures of models showing off clothing, as well as just random advertisements of different products.

What you wear, or fashion, is important because it expresses who we are and how we present ourselves to other people. Not only for ourselves or for other people, but how we present ourselves in Gods eyes. I don't think that spending alot of money on clothing is a bad thing because if you work really hard and receive alot of money, why not spend it on what we want? However if you are greedy and only care about money and status, and spend tons of money on clothing one week, and throw away clothing the next week to buy other clothes, then to me that is wrong. This would not bring any glory to God and is very selfish. However having alot of money and spending it on useful things to me, isn't a bad thing. People should spend money on what they want as well as what they need because they have worked hard to get all that money, and some people might have inherited alot of money, however the way you percieve money is a big part of determining whether money could be evil.

The Guide by Borne

For once in my life I seePure love staring right backRight back at meAt meI played you a sweet song and you sang,You sang along.In your heart, your eyes and soul,Soul.You are my angel.You are my diamond.You are my guiding light,Yeah.I've seen the future.I've been to the bottom,But you keep my head above,Above.You are my Jesus,You are my savior,You are all that is love,Yeah.You're all that is loveYou're all that is loveYou're all that is loveYou are my diamond.You are my angel.You are my guiding light,Yeah.You're my guiding light

One of my favorite things about music is that every once in a while you stumble across a really amazing song that speaks to you on so many levels. “The Guide” by the Australian band, Borne, became one of those songs for me. This song became part of my music selection completely by coincidence. About two years ago I was on a trip with my youth group and my friend played this song for the whole car. I was immediately struck by the beautiful opening of the song and the unique voice of the lead singer. I didn’t really analyze the lyrics until about a week later when iTunes was offering it as a free download. The lyrics spoke to me even more than the music itself had and it has been a favorite of mine ever since.

Borne is an Australian band. The lead singer, Cam, writes all of the lyrics. “The Guide” is from an album entitled Loss of Signal. Cam explains that many of the songs were written “after a breakdown of a close relationship, the intense feelings of loss were a microcosm of the state of the world he found himself in, both personally but also on a global, environmental and socio-economic scale”. The song “The Guide” mentions a “pure love” the artist has who is his “diamond … guiding light …savior”. From what I can gather, they are not a Christian band. Given what the previous quote from the artist I think it is fair to infer that the artist is voicing his feelings for a specific person on this earth.

Though I can find the beauty in the fact that the song is about another person, the song speaks to me, personally, on a more spiritual level. I might even describe it as a song of worship for me. The artist finds his “guiding light” in this certain person. I find my “guiding light” to be Jesus himself. For me, Jesus is “my angel … my diamond … my savior”. For me, Jesus is “all that is love”. It creates a longing in me to know more about Jesus and experience his pure love. I think this song exquisitely illustrates the fact that even those who don’t know Jesus on a personal level, like the artist, have a desire, a longing, for a savior. It is just a shame that sometimes people look for a savior in other people rather than the one, true savior.

Pop Empire & Empire Remixed

Hey, folks.  There's a link to our class blog from the official Empire Remixed blog within a post about a question I e-mailed to Sylvia Keesmaat a while back.  Check it out.

Extreme Makeover

Over the weekend I watched the TV show "Extreme Makeover," which I personally find incredibly boring and repetitive, but to some it's fairly polarizing and promotes self-improvement. This show, hosted originally by ABC, involves individuals who volunteer to receive a full body makeover. This includes major plastic surgery, workouts sessions, new hair and make-up, as well as a whole new wardrobe. Basically if chosen for this show, you come out a completely different person. People love this type of television because they see it as motivating and inspiring, and often overlook the negative and superficial values that it reinforces. At the end of the show their "new self" is presented to their spouses, families, and friends and the joy of the participants seems quite apparent. But what goes on off air is all of the negative side effects there so called makeovers have on not only the candidate, but their family and friends as well. I did some research after watching this show and a research group following similar television programs show that complete makeovers such as this result in 1 in 2 casual dating relationships end as well as 1 in 4 married couples get a divorce, because of jealousy issues of not feeling like an adequate spouse to their newly transformed partner. Not only do shows like this have negative effects on the candidate's family, but it can also affect anyone who takes part in watching these shows. This show may boost someone's self-esteem but it is a disgrace to the Kingdom of God by portraying that the appearance of the average American is not good enough, as well as it has devastating results for the families involved. If maybe shows like this started to show the after effects to such extreme transformations then maybe the amount of Americans getting plastic surgery would decrease. 

Swiss Family Robinson

This past weekend, some of my buddies and I watched the 1960 Disney classic, Swiss Family Robinson. We had all seen it in our childhoods but thought it was time to see it once again. The premise revolves around a family who is traveling to New Guinea with their captain and crew but is stranded on an island after being caught in a storm while being chased by pirates. The family settles on an island where they soon call home and create a beautiful tree house that I myself dream to build some day. After a girl and her grandfather are captured by the pirates near where the family is living, Fritz and Ernst, the two eldest sons grab the girl, Roberta, and bring her back to their home. After several days pass, the family decides to have a race with some of their captured animals. The mother fires a gun to signal the start of the race and the pirates hear the gunshot and encircle the family. The pirate’s attack, but being prepared, the family set up booby-traps to fend them off. Finally, a ship comes to the rescue captained by Roberta’s grandfather. Ernst decides to leave with him to pursue an education, and the rest of the family including Roberta stay on the island to call it home.

Now one might wonder how any of this could connect to our discussions in class. Well, we’ve recently been discussing how we can follow the path in the Kingdom of God. Things such as buying your produce from farmers markets, or subscribing to a farm where you support local farmers and receive fresher produce. Or perhaps shopping at thrift shops where you are in support for breaking down the vicious cycle of child labor. If we look at the story of Swiss Family Robinson, even though they lived in a time with much less innovation and technology, they still had to make a living on an island in the middle of nowhere. They received water through a mill, eliminating the need for electricity. They got their whole food supply directly from the Earth. They even wrapped their Christmas gifts in huge leaves rather than paper! And as you find out in the end, they are satisfied with these conditions and choose to stay on the island. In a way, I think the pirates symbolize the empire. They try and keep them from living this new life and try to kill the happiness they have found. This film also portrays a lot about human character and purpose. With everything they create like the tree house, booby traps, and coconut bombs, we can see how creative we are and the imagination that resides in us. With what the family did on this uncivilized island tells us the creativity and imagination we can use to worship the Kingdom of God and release ourselves from the wrath of the empire!

I personally grew up with this film, and have yet to meet anyone that doesn’t like it. This of course means I recommend seeing it and urge you to give it a watch!

The Great American Past Time-Channel Surfing

On Sunday night, I decided to surf channels on TV and take notes on the many different advertisements and commercials that I saw.  I was amazed by what I found.  The sheer volume of commercials that viewers are exposed to is incredible, and this became clear to me when I sought out the commercials rather than just waiting for them to pass.  With my new knowledge and insight gained from The Persuaders, I was able to take the commercials at face value rather than remaining in my usual consumer mindset.  As wave upon wave of ads poured over me, I started to write down the slogans or techniques that commercials so often use.  A few different techniques began to emerge as commonplace and I saw many similar patterns for the advertisements.  Commercials will often try to personally try to appeal to their audiences with word or phrases like: “Your choice”, ”How you need it”, “freedom”, “discover for yourself” and many, many others.  This technique of personally appealing to potential consumers is a great method, as people want things that will help them, that are meant for them, rather than the general public.  When you step back, however, it becomes clear that these “personal ads” are just ploys to get people to buy products and are quite impersonal.  The next technique that I saw was the use of superlatives to compare a product to those from different companies.  Words like “better”, “faster”, “(superlative) than the next leading brand” and endless others.  This technique is very interesting to me because it does not necessarily give its viewers an accurate description of the product, but rather compares to another company.  If both companies are selling unadulterated crap,  what difference is there if one is slightly lighter, faster, sleeker etc.  Still another technique is to fool consumers into thinking that there is no risk at all to the consumer to buy the product/s.  This almost always is deceptive and there are often hidden costs or fees for returns or exchanges.   While this is disturbing, it is not that unexpected after viewing The Persuaders.  Companies will appeal to almost whatever they can to sell products and often delve into the nature of the empire to do so.  Empty promises, deceit, and embellishments are all obvious elements of an imperial society rather than one that follows the guidelines of a truly good life in the Kingdom.  I would strongly encourage anyone who reads this post to take a little time out of your day and simply view commercials as you flip through the channels on television.  In the right mindset, you will be amazed by the advertisements that you see.

Pink

I recently read an interview in the Seventeen Magazine with Pink discussing her relationship and divorce from her husband Carey as well as her music. After just two years of marriage, they mutually decided to end it. As the daughter of recently divorced parents, I immediately became interested in what Pink had to say about this topic. Following their separation, Pink started writing a new album about the breakup. Strangely enough, Pink’s first number one song came out of this situation. When asked how she feels about that, she said “It’s a testament to how often people break up, because everyone can relate to what I’m saying.” As I continued reading the article I was surprised at some of Pink’s comments although I suppose that it should be expected. It seems that her view of marriage is much different than that of the Kingdom. When asked if she thought they would be “together forever,” she replied “No. I don’t know if I ever really believed in the institution of marriage.” She went on to explain how their childhood homes were full of conflict and that neither of them had positive examples of marriage. Pink adds “Our idea of marriage…was more like, ‘We really like each other—we should just try, see what happens.’” Reading that last sentence was disappointing—just to see this widely shared empire view of marriage spelled out in one of the most popular teenage girl magazines. In a way, it degrades the sacred value of marriage as seen in the Kingdom. For me, it was really heartbreaking to read about yet another relationship broken and to read about the warped ideas that surround it. Pink goes on to say “I don’t regret a minute of it…I’ll do it a thousand more times, even though I don’t really think marriage is necessary.” This really illuminates the empire view that if things are not going as expected, it is okay to get out of the situation and resort to other options. It is more about happiness than holiness. It’s just overwhelming to think that in the empire today, people get married all the time, making vows till death do us part, even though they know that they do not plan on staying together forever. In the United States today, there is a 50% divorce rate and it is devastating to realize that it is becoming expected and not a big deal. It is particularly unfortunate to consider the lack of successful marriages for people to look to as examples, especially those of college age. It upsets me that this is now so common and being portrayed to young women, and our society as a whole, in this way.