The Highest Form of Hope

Labels: musings

The following was sent to The Sheaf in response to the article "Homemakers have it Made".

In a recent article in The Sheaf, the plush lifestyles of homemakers are exposed! Now, I understand that The Sheaf is not exactly an expression of balanced and thoughtful journalism. For all I know the article "Homemakers have it made" was a joke. But as a current homemaker (mom of a three year old and a one month-er) and a former student (grad 2006), I was offended. Perhaps it was the suggestion that the only value attatched to my occupation is its equivalent cost in child care. Or maybe it was the opinion that homemakers leech off the income of their spouses - you know, because their job is so easy. Apparently, according to the author, babies sleep all the time and, by the time children are school aged, the schools basically raise them anyway. So if this was a joke, I write the following in the spirit of fun. But if it wasn't a joke, I hope you find the following offensive.

"Career Students have it Made"

They are leeching off our economy. Collectively accumulating billions of dollars in loans and returning nothing to society. No, they are not gambling addicts, con artists or politicians - they are students.

Today students have it pretty good. A full time student only attends about 15 hours of classes a week. What do they do with the other 153 hours? Some take up social or political causes that make them look engaged and intelligent. Others spend their time trying to look as cool as possible by blowing student loan money on ipods and lulu lemon yoga pants. Some students spend their time sleeping in the library - "Oh, I'm so tired from studying all night" - well maybe you aren't cut out for English 110 or maybe you're just lazy. But I find that most students spend their time complaining about how hard it is being a student; yeah, it is hard being a white upper-middle class kid.

The truth is students basically get free ride because of low-interest, easily accessible, government student loans. The debt load is no where as bad as student activists make it out to be. Apparently these "poor" students still have enough cash to enjoy a tall latte ever 10:00 am class, get sufficiently drunk every Thursday through Sunday, have two cell phones, and look like a poster child for "Abercrombie and Fitch". Seriously, the amount of money that Commerce students spend on their wardrobe is ridiculous. I guess dressing like you have an important job is just as good as actually contributing to society.

You may be asking, "But don't students have to repay their loans once their completed their degree?" Not if they never stop going to school. Some students insist on living a prolonged adolescence, well into their thirties, still chasing a degree in Sociology, wracking up ten of thousands of dollars in tax payer’s money. Eventually, when the debt load becomes too heavy they'll graduate with a useless degree, become an assistant manager at "Future Shop" and continue their lifestyle of leeching by moving in with their parents.

Thank you students. Thank you for contributing to society.
And thank you Sheaf, for consistently making students look like complete imbeciles.

Labels: debates, politics, women

Oh my God, look around this place
Your fingers reach around the bone
You set the break and set the tone
Flights of grace, and future falls
In present pain
All fools say, "Oh my God"

Oh my God, Why are we so afraid?
We make it worse when we don't bleed
There is no cure for our disease
Turn a phrase, and rise again
Or fake your death and only tell your closest friend
Oh my God.

Oh my God, can I complain?
You take away my firm belief and graft my soul upon your grief
Weddings, boats and alibis
All drift away, and a mother cries

Liars and fools; sons and failures
Thieves will always say
Lost and found; ailing wanderers
Healers always say
Whores and angels; men with problems
Leavers always say
Broken hearted; separated
Orphans always say
War creators; racial haters
Preachers always say
Distant fathers; fallen warriors
Givers always say
Pilgrim saints; lonely widows
Users always say
Fearful mothers; watchful doubters
Saviors always say

Sometimes I cannot forgive
And these days, mercy cuts so deep
If the world was how it should be, maybe I could get some sleep
While I lay, I dream we're better,
Scales were gone and faces light
When we wake, we hate our brother
We still move to hurt each other
Sometimes I can close my eyes,
And all the fear that keeps me silent falls below my heavy breathing,
What makes me so badly bent?
We all have a chance to murder
We all feel the need for wonder
We still want to be reminded that the pain is worth the thunder

Sometimes when I lose my grip, I wonder what to make of heaven
All the times I thought to reach up
All the times I had to give
Babies underneath their beds
Hospitals that cannot treat all the wounds that money causes,
All the comforts of cathedrals
All the cries of thirsty children - this is our inheritance
All the rage of watching mothers - this is our greatest offense

Oh my God
Oh my God
Oh my God

- Jars of Clay Good Monsters

Labels: musings

Labels: family

Culture wars. The term has been thrown around a lot south of the border to describe the "red state blue state" divide that has defined the last few years in American politics. But the culture wars have also effect us in Canada. Increasingly people are defining themselves as either "conservative" or "liberal" minded (not in terms of the political parties necessarily). These terms are particularly pertinant in the common battlefronts of the culture wars: gay marriage, abortion, foreign policy etc. Christians, both defining themselves as liberal and conservative, have insisted that God is somehow more pleased by their side than the side of the other - that somehow their culture is the "Christian" culture.

What a rediculous notion.

It's time Christians stopped defining themselves by these terms. The battle is a false one because both sides define themselves according to how they disagree with the other side. Their arguments and actions are based only on countering and tearing down the other side. Gregory Wolfe likens it to a farmer constantly spraying his fields with pesticide but neglecting to water or fertilize his crop. Both so-called liberals and conservatives are contributing nothing to North American culture. If Christians are meant to be a redemptive force in society, we will need to actually live out the gospel - which is much harder than signing petitions, voting for a particular party, writing our MP, or even withdrawing completely from our culture.

Labels: aesthetics, church, faith

"Legalism fails miserably at the one thing it is supposed to do: encourage obedience." - Phillip Yancey

Recently I shared my testimony with I students I am mentoring this year. Like every time I share my testimony one on one, it was disorganized, not always chronological (not always logical) and I ended up talking way more than I should have. I have strong doubts that my testimony was very helpful to this student. But for me, it brought up some memories and questions about my days at Briercrest.
Remember the student handbook? It contained the written rules of Bible College life. Some of the rules were self-explanatory - like the academic code. Some were a little more puzzling - like dress codes, curfew, and rule pertaining to dating couples. Even more puzzling was the enforcement of these rules. Enforcement would depend on the temperament of your RA, whether you were male or female, which dorm you lived in and who your friends were.
Now I understand that parents send their kids off to college with the expectation that they will be safe and treated well. Certainly rules of this nature are important because of emotional and physical safety, but I question the validity of many of the rules Briercrest had (in my day - I have no idea what they do now). As a young adult, having to adhere to rules that were much more strict than the rules of my parents, and on top of it seeing the discrepancies in enforcement, the ridiculous amount of time and energy given to demerits and fines, and the feeling on being judged by the appearance of things rather than the reality, really turned me off to the whole Bible College experience - and, of course , I felt like rebelling.
Fast forward two years. Paul and I are married, we're still at Briercrest and the rules no longer apply to us (for some reason I guess being married makes you an adult). But something else has changed. We found a community. Every week we meet at least once with about five other young couples. We have small group, we make meals together and we share our meager resources. We didn't need rules to govern our behavior because our community keeps us accountable. This doesn't mean we behaved perfectly, but we wanted to behave in a godly manner because our relationships with other Christians called us to such behavior.

The point of this rambling is not to change the way Christian institutions govern behavior (although they might want to think about treating adults like adults). The reality is that some of the "rules" in place are for the approval of donors rather than the health and well-being of students (a little cynical I know). What I am saying is that I missed a big lesson from my four years living in Caronport that I didn't get until I spoke my testimony the other day.
The difference between legalism and honest obedience is key. Obedience requires relationship - with love and responsibility. It can't be forced, but it is always real. When we try to enforce obedience there will always be injustice, shame and guilt which causes us to hide our shortcomings. When there is relationship there is accountability, grace and forgiveness.

Labels: church, faith