Captainwow

Monday, June 30, 2008

Rant

I doubt God is a republican or a democrat, but I bet God is a "greeny".
It's just a hunch, but that's what I think.

I doubt God really gives a flying flip if we have to drive our cars less to care for creation more. Many christian friends of mine have adopted a "Live simply, so that others may simply live." attitude. I think they may be on to something. Regardless of where we should or should not drill for more stinking OIL, or who we may or may not have killed for it.... Isn't it remotely possible that maybe we are just a teensy bit out of control with our overall consumption? One might also call it greed or gluttony, but that's beside the point. Maybe the OIL problem is just the tip of the zit, so to speak? The real problem is underneath.......

I read somewhere that the line between good and evil does not run between us, it runs right down the middle of me and you. This is the painful part of growing up and learning about paradox and complexity and nuance. Things are not exactly black and white or Them and Us. I'm part of the problem, and so are you... and no GOVERNMENT is going to take care of it for us. God help us if we really think that. A Savior is not waiting in the wings to drill more oil for us or grow more corn for us or figure out how we can continue to consume more...
Quite to the contrary Jesus said something like "When you fast, keep your mouth shut about it." He assumed people fasted, but he pointed out that it's nothing to brag about.

Most, if not all faith traditions embrace some sort of aesthetic self denial. Most people, when pressed for the inner truth will agree that having everything we want is not good for our souls, though it may take some time to cut through the crap and get to that point. It took me a long time to fully recognize that and I suspect I still don't recognize it as much as I will in another 10 years.

These days, I think of sin less in terms of breaking the rules and more as something that harms or causes suffering for myself or others. In this light the idea of overconsumption becomes very uncomfortable for me personally. For instance, I have been thinking about the "deadly sin" called gluttony. I never understood how eating too much would be a sin. Though it is hard on the body, and obesity can lead to all kinds of disease, I used to think "What is the big deal?" Isn't that my problem, if I'm overweight or eat too much? The devil is in the details. When I require large amounts of food - or any other resource - I also want it to be cheap. I don't want to get poorer, I want to get richer. So, I need my food and my oil and my clothes to be cheap. How do we get cheap goods? You probably know what road I'm going down now... (especially if you read my post about chocolate and slavery) Someone out there has to work for very little or maybe even nothing so that I don't have to pay too much for my supper.

Who am I hurting when I eat too much habitually? Who am I hurting when I demand more cheap oil? Who am I hurting when I always require more? That bottomless pit of More.
Now, multiply this by the population of an entire culture that lives this way and the ripple effect is absolutely sickening. Deadly sin? I do think so.

So I guess if we asked God if we should drill for more oil - wherever - there might be some different questions asked of us than we might expect.

Just sayin....

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Butting In

I don't think anyone tagged me, but I'm going to do a MEME.

The deal is, pick up the closest book to you, turn to pg 123 and quote the 5th sentence in your blog. Then tag five more people.

"Cooperation is alien to the ego, except when there is a secondary motive." - Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life's Purpose

My ego says that since there is nothing in it for me, I must not tag 5 other people.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Favrit Frazes

There you go go go go go!

Kitty bye bye bye!

You OKAY??

Nice tree. Awwwww Nice Tree....

These are some phrases that Sam likes to say a lot right now. Also, he says buh BYE to everything and everyone!!

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Stuck Up

Yesterday I superglued my fingers together. This is the second time I have done this in the past year! That little tube leaked all over my hand when I wasn't paying attention. I was repairing a book of Sam's when it must have sprung a leak out the back end and peed glue all over my pinky and my ring finger. Stuck together they were, and right quick.

What is it with repeating my stupid mistakes lately?


(This website was helpful......)

Monday, June 02, 2008

Forgetful

How is it that I can buy something and eat it and say to myself "Self, do not buy this again because it tastes nasty." And then later, I forget all about that and buy it again.

I did this today. I saw a certain type of whole grain cracker and thought it might be good. So I bought it and took it home. I remembered immediately that I had repeated my mistake for behold, it tasted of cardboard and dogfood. With ranch powder on it.

HOW did I FORGET THAT?????

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Stop Traffik

I don't jump on bandwagons very often, but I did sign this declaration.... We heard Steve Chalke speak in church this AM. (read more about him here if you want: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Chalke)

What he had to say was both inspiring and sobering. Listening to him talk reminded me of how William Wilberforce, an 18th-century English politician, fought for the abolition of slavery. Despite widespread public ingnorance and enormous opposition, Wilberforce used boycotts, petitions and slogans in his fight for the abolition of slavery.

Steve Chalke is talking about 20th century human trafficking and taking 1 million signatures to the U.N. in a similar fashion. Stop The Traffik is part of that.

This morning, hearing specifically how children are bought and sold to harvest the cocoa beans on farms in Cote D'Ivoire, which is where a good percentage of our chocolate comes from, added to my growing pile of discomfort with discovering what a high price the rest of the world pays for our demand of cheap goods. I'm new to some of this but I'm finally catching on that what I buy to eat or wear or use affects countless others, and it can be overwhelming to think about changing my ways. Buying chocolate that's traffik free seems a small and easy step.

Here's a website that can tell you a little about it. I sense it is important to pass this on. We are all created in the image of God.... http://www.stopthetraffik.org/chocolatecampaign/ Click on HOME if you want to know more about the movement as a whole or to sign the declaration.

In case you don't have time to get to the website, here is a list of places selling traffik free chocolate:

This is your easy guide on where to go to buy chocolate that has a "TRAFFIK FREE GUARANTEE" (Chocolate that can guarantee noinvolvement by trafficked people in the harvesting of the cocoa beans).
Shops that sell
Trader Joe's
Target
Whole Foods
Wild Oats
Ten Thousand Villages

CHOCOLATE TO LOOK FOR
Green & Black's
Green & Black's Maya Gold Organic Dark Chocolate Bar
Divine Bars
Divine Milk
Divine Dark
Divine Milk with Hazelnut
Trader Joe's
Trader Joe's Swiss 71% Dark Chocolate
Trader Joe's Swiss Milk Chocolate.
Equal Exchange
Organic Very Dark Chocolate
Organic Dark Chocolate with Almonds
Organic Chocolate Espresso Bean

Peace