Further thoughts on femininity (see Anne Frank post)...

I was putzing around a bit on the net today on a little break time from paper-writing and on the Resurgence blog, I found the thoughts of a certain Rebecca Jones entitled "Does Christianity Squash Women?" I could quibble a bit with her here and there, but she's giving voice to a lot of what I've been feeling recently as I wrestle with this issue. Here's an excerpt from her thoughts:

"In my own experience with women in the thirty years since I graduated from college, I have found that most of them--whether Christian or atheist, single or married, aged twenty or seventy--long for the same things. In their relationships with men, they want faithful fathers, brothers, husbands and sons who love and respect them, rather than mocking, ignoring, or hurting them. They want fun, but meaningful sexual relationships. In their relationships with women, they want honesty, and true sisterhood, as well as older women who can mentor them. They want the satisfaction of bearing and rearing children well. They want a place to call home--not simply an apartment, but an affectionate, safe "sit by the fire" home where they can be themselves without fear and where others can come to receive something from them. They want a sense of significance, of doing something that really counts in the world. Something only they can offer. "

Read the rest here. This is a loooooooong article, but full of nuggets of the good stuff. Gold, I mean. Not Jack's nuggets.

Memories of a life...

Today marks the 59th anniversary of the death of a great pioneer of non-violence: Mohandas K. Gandhi. And I admire him for several reasons:

1) He had the courage to stand and lay his life on the line for something he believed in. No matter what that might be in someone's life (or how flawed what they believe in might be), investing the whole of one's life in something is admirable in principle.

2) He recognized the use of weaponry to achieve political purposes may win a battle (or series of battles), but in choosing to extinguish other human life to protect one's own, we have already lost the war.

3) This may be the most important to me, because like MLK in America, we have reduced Gandhi to a sugary-sweet nice guy and neglected to pay attention to the fact that both of these men endured great adversity in living for what they stood for. They didn't just pop up and say a little something, only to shrink away or shut up when others disagreed with them. They forcefully shoved the injustice of their present situation in the faces of their societies, and simply. would. not. let. up. in their pursuit of justice. And they both paid the ultimate price for their actions through assassination. Now, I believe MLK's definition of justice was much more far-reaching and comprehensive than Gandhi's, which leads me to my fourth thing I admire about Gandhi.

4) This one may also be the most important to me, because I believe the vision of life given by Jesus to his followers is so comprehensive, so life-altering, so demanding in its scope that it is the highest ethical standard this world has ever seen. And the thing that much of Christianity had become in Gandhi's day (and still is today) was disgusting to him. He famously said,

"It is a first class human tragedy that people of the earth who claim to believe in the message of Jesus, whom they describe as the Prince of Peace, show little of that belief in actual practice."

and

"Do not flatter yourselves with the belief that a mere recital of that celebrated verse in St. John makes a man a Christian."

Even though Gandhi is ultimately accountable for his lifestyle and who or what belief system he submitted himself to, I think his point stands as a necessary reminder. It should be appalling to Christians that one who is not a follower of Jesus could live in such a heroic fashion while we often claim to "believe" and turn around and jump with both feet into the systems of capitalism, materialism, self-preservation, and nationalism as if they were the best definition of reality offered to us...neglecting to see those the systems leave wounded and broken in their wake.

I agree with Gandhi. We're a pretty gutless bunch, that if you scratched a little below our surface platitudes, smiles, and fun little quotes of Scripture verses; you wouldn't find much. And I include myself in that reality too.

I'm starting to think that the life we were called to as Christians demands heroism every single day of the week in ways that our secular friends (with the exception of the Gandhis of the world) couldn't sniff at. And if we settle for less than this full development of our character and being in the image of Christ, we are failing the world and spitting in the face of God.

A thought or two...

Each time a man stands up for an ideal,
or acts to improve the lot of others,
or strikes out against injustice,
he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope,
and crossing each other from a million
different centers of energy and daring,
those ripples build a current which can sweep down
the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
- rfk

I like this quote...as long as there's serious thinking done about the ideal, what it means to "improve the lot of others," what is truly "injustice," "oppression," and "resistance."

I'm knee-deep in Alasdair MacIntyre right now, who through offering a disquieting suggestion of the state of morality (the fact that you're probably thinking about the Religious Right or some Bible-beating fundamentalist has something to say about the fall of the pursuit of morality), as well as suggesting a compelling alternative, is driving me to realize I have much to unlearn and relearn.

Probably most centrally the product of my society that the center of meaning in my life is ME...GLORIOUS ME. This is beyond untrue. I don't want to hear it, but the world doesn't revolve around the perpetuation of my life, my opinions, my desires, and my accomplishments. I must become smaller. My ego must shrink. My pride must die.

Richard Foster's doing the best he can to knock me down a notch too. I've walked around telling people Celebration of Discipline "ruined me in the best way possible" far too much now for me not to seek a systematic commitment to applying these disciplines to my life. As Foster says, "With discipline comes freedom."

I think (emphasis on "I think" because I often believe I have grasped something, only to fall down flat on my face time and time again with the same issue that I "thought' I had "grasped" or "beaten" or "moved beyond") I'm finally starting to get my grimy fingers around the truth that my life has been lived at a very surface level and will remain there if I'm not willing to make the sacrifices to go deeper. This has many implications for my life. I'm a big fan of what God is doing in my life, and this growing hunger to go deeper in that life-defining area. I'm a big fan of some sections of my life opening up into greater clarity: my relationship with Bethany, a growing calling and responsibility in my local church family, my role in the world, a bigger and more expansive definition of love (the range from tough discipline to scandalous mercy), things like that.

We'll see how things pan out. I'm workin' hard at this life, and figuring out the role I'm to play in this unfolding drama of humanity that's been taking place for a long time; the world existed before me and will exist after. I CAN affect the world for good; not mainly through my own effort, but through participation and citizenship in God's kingdom. I ALSO CAN affect the world in a negative manner; I did it in college on a consistent basis...it's hopefully less consistent now.

Just a couple thoughts.

Anne Frank's perspective on femininity (did I spell that right?)

"One of the many question that have often bothered me is why women have been, and still are, thought to be so inferior to men. It's easy to say it's unfair, but that's not enough for me; I'd really like to know the reason for this great injustice!

Men presumably dominated women from the very beginning because of their greater physical strength; it's men who earn a living, beget children, and do as they please...until recently, women silently went along with this, which was stupid, since the longer it's kept up, the more deeply entrenched it becomes. Fortunately, education, work and progress have opened women's eyes. In many countries they've been granted equal rights; many women...now realize how wrong it was to tolerate this state of affairs for so long. Modern women want the right to be completely independent!

But that's not all. Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn't women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are honored and commemorated, explorers are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers?

In the book Men Against Death I was greatly struck by the fact that in childbirth alone, women commonly suffer more pain, illness, and misery than any war hero ever does. And what's her reward for enduring all that pain? She gets pushed aside when she's disfigured by birth, her children soon leave, her beauty is gone. Women , who struggle and suffer pain to ensure the continuation of the human race, make much tougher and more courageous soldiers than all those big-mouthed freedom-fighting heroes put together!

I don't mean to imply that women should stop having children; on the contrary, nature intended them to, and that's the way it should be. What I condemn are our system of values and the men who don't acknowledge how great, difficult, but ultimately beautiful women's share in society is...

I believe that in the course of the next century the notion that it's a woman's duty to have children will change and make way for the respect and admiration of all women, who bear their burdens without complaint or a lot of pompous words!"


I had a conversation with Bethany the other day about this very thing Anne Frank is talking about, and Bethany (I hope she's ok with me sharing this) shared her great frustration with one of the results of the modern feminist movement, and it is this: in the push for equality, the feminist movement in many ways has become reactionary instead of balanced justice-seeking. Instead of seeking to be recognized for their femininity that is in many ways very different from masculinity, many females have sought to be like men: play the same sports, do the same jobs...and that's not necessarily bad...that is, until some of the more traditional aspects of femininity are devalued and even forgotten in the pursuit of equality.

Simple example: Two women talking in a supermarket...move beyond the pleasantries and into deeper questions of identity.
One asks the other, "So what do you do?"
The other proceeds to talk about her successful career in marketing, her six-figure income, etc, then asks back, "What do you do?"
The first women answers, "I'm a homemaker with two children."

What do you think would be the typical response of the marketer female, and what might that say about our society's lack of focus on diversity in equality?

Either way, Anne Frank's words seem to be accurate and necessary today. In the pursuit of equality for women, we should not twist the quest into one of uniformity...though it often becomes a push for the latter.

this is RICH!

I don't normally read Steve Rushin's column in SI because his writing style annoys and frustrates me. I don't really know why. He's probably a great guy. I just don't like his writing. I'm allowed to NOT read his column and still care about him, right? Anyways, in an article talking about a guy who's midway through a plan to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks in the October 2, 2006 SI, Steve says this:

"(Dane Rauschenberg) is just one more varietal in marathoning's can of mixed nuts. Ultra-marathon legend Dean Karnazes is one-third of the way through his 50 runs of marathon distance in 50 states over 50 consecutive days. Karnazes has been known, during exceptionally long runs, to eat a pizza and even to fall asleep, a feat few elite athletes have attained in competition, unless you count the Kansas City Royals."

Oh, now that one made my stomach knot up I laughed so hard!! And maybe I'm the only one that got cracked between the eyes by that quip, but it was worth it....ohhhh....so funny.

Good stuff from the Maestro...Mr. John Piper

"Christians have access to God’s law in a more clear and authoritative way in the Bible, and we should shape our political convictions and actions by what we read there.

I will mention only two ways that the scriptures shape our involvement in politics.

First, we should use the Bible to guide us in what behaviors we seek to put into law. I would say it like this: Behaviors revealed in Scripture as essential to the common good—essential to the survival of a society—should be aggressively commended by Christians for enactment as law by every means of persuasion possible—with both biblical arguments and natural arguments.

One example. This would be true, I believe, for the present controversy over the nature of marriage and whether it can be redefined as a relationship between two men or two women. Marriage between a man and a woman is so fundamental to the survival of society that Christians should work for its legal protection.

If someone says that we are legislating our morality we should respond: Laws protecting marriage are in the same category with laws protecting life and property and contracts. But no one complains that the prohibition of murder and stealing and perjury is the legislation of morality. So no one should complain that the protection of marriage is the legislation of morality. Marriage between a man and a woman is a moral and natural reality so profoundly woven into fabric of human life and society that to undo it will probably be the undoing of our nation.

Other examples could be given. There are behaviors that destroy children. We call it abortion. There are behaviors that destroy the environment. And Christians should make a case from Scripture that God means for us not to burn the house down that he gave us to live in..."

A crushing, yet liberating enlightenment (paradox, anyone?)

John Howard Yoder's book The Politics of Jesus is breaking me. Shredding me. There are times in reading where I nod along with what he saying, there are times where I feel myself about to fall apart in a mess of tears and conviction, there are times I don't understand what the crap he's saying because he drops ridiculous vocabulary, there are times I'm angry because he's Biblically and consistently showing me that I hold many of my views in opposition to God's expectations for how I would view and interact with others, and there are times my jaw drops because what he's suggesting is so revolutionary, so paradigm-shattering, that if Christians grasped it and lived by it, our witness in the world would be transformed.

In other words, when the world thought of "Christian", they wouldn't think "homophobic and judgmental," they'd think "radical love and commitment to their God."

Politics of Jesus is breathtaking in its scope, and I'm only now beginning to grasp it after reading large parts over a year ago. I cannot claim ignorance or justify my inaction in so many areas of my life.

I'm not just called to care about my friends and enemies. I'm called to actively give my life for them.

I'm not just called to be aware of God's being and expectations for my life. I'm called to stand in awe of Him and quake in his Presence, giving deep respect to Him as I recognize I am creation and He is creator.

I'm not just called to give intellectual assent to what God has done (and is doing). I'm called to line up my life in its entirety: intellect, emotions, thoughts, actions, and speech with a commitment to being transformed into the image of Christ.

My first and primary allegiance is not to liberalism or conservatism or democracy or moralism or judgmentalism: it's to a King and a Kingdom. Much thanks to Derek Webb for continuing to radically shape my thoughts as well.

In-shape?

"The Padres and David Wells have agreed in principle on a one-year deal, pending a physical exam, club general manager Kevin Towers said on Friday.

The contract is for $3 million guaranteed with incentives that can add another $4 million. He'll earn $1 million based on staying healthy, and he'll make about $176,500 per start from starts 11-27.

"I think this gives us a rotation that stacks up with any in our division and our league," Towers said. "When I saw Boomer on Thursday, he looked like he was in good shape -- and more than that, I think he really wants to pitch and contribute."

From an article on mlb.com here.

Are you kidding me? This guy in "good shape"?

This is sad...

When David Beckham visited Nelson Mandela some years ago, a British newspaper covered the summit in this fashion:

"One is an icon of his generation, adored by millions across the globe, who has brought hope to his nation where once there was despair. The other is Nelson Mandela."

From Frank Deford's SI article here.

In the words of Josh Brown, "that's a tad bit on the convicting side"

"I am certain that many frustrations pastors feel come from a lack of discipline. Not only can regular devotional life and serious Bible study easily go by the wayside, but days can be frittered away fiddling on the insignificant and the little nothings. Without a pattern and discipline of meditation and prayer, study, sermon preparation, visitation, and relaxation the minister will accomplish little and become shallow and sluggish."
- John Drescher.

Maybe this quote means little to you after reading it, sort of light and airy, fluffy and meaningless like a vast majority of Ralph Waldo Emerson's flaky quote-writing (Hitch your wagon to a star...). But this quote carries meaning for me because this simple, humble man came to my seminary last year and through a simple, humble message tore me from limb to limb inside. I promise I'm not exaggerating this. His 45 minutes in my life was the most hard 45 minutes I've ever experienced.

Why? He loved God. He knew God. His presence that day was not unlike Gandalf in the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring, when he had to use that shadow trick with the booming voice to get Bilbo to give up the ring...but much less scary. There are very few people I've had the benefit of being exposed to in my life who have carried the presence Drescher carried. A presence cultivated through simple, pure (as pure as possible) commitment to Jesus. Not complex at all, but most folks don't have the stones to discipline their lives to structure them around the pursuit of God consistently. I'd put myself in that category at this point. Time will tell if I emerge to embrace and pursue this discipline.

Time will tell.