It is the best of times. It is the worst of times. If you’re like me, you are wondering what awaits us as a nation. Perhaps you ponder our future with a lot of fear and little hope. I find myself wondering and worrying so often these days that I can barely contain myself.
I worry about our world and our seemingly never ending quest to bring about our own extinction. I worry about our nation; we seem so hell bent on spending ourselves into third world squalor. I even worry about my friends in my church who seem so focused on the tiniest sins that they blind themselves to the gargantuan suffering in the world around them. Seriously, shouldn’t we be concerning ourselves with the bigger issues of our time, like starvation and calamity, instead of worrying about movie ratings and Victoria’s Secret posters? It is time to grow up as Christians. I think I’ll go into this further in a future post.
So what is a person to do, when the world around them seems to be falling apart?
I say that it is time to buck the system….just a little.
Here are some things I am going to do:
1. Eat a bowl of oatmeal every day. I cannot afford to go to the doctor; even though I have health insurance. Yup, I am for nationalized (socialized- the word doesn’t even scare me) health care and preventative medicine.
2. Go for a walk for 30 minutes a day, preferably in the desert. Again, I am a teacher; a visit to the doctors office can break me.
3. Repair my shtuff. Why buy new? Fixing is a dark art that brings healing. And screw this economy, it was built on sand.
4. Make my tiny house work for me. Again…screw this economy.
5. Build a rocket stove – I am going to cook stuff outside and that act alone will have a purifying effect on my well being. You know – a BBQ with meaning on a hand built stove, not the soulless contraption you bought to make your outdoor cooking “bigger and better.”
6. Do something illicit – I am tired of always toeing the line for a broken system devoid of meaning. Those of you in on this know what I am talking about.
7. Have recession parties. You bring the rice; I’ll have the ol’ lady cook some beans. Let’s jam out on some instruments and laugh and speak of deep things. It hardly costs anything and is more edifying than a night at Wal-mart.
What sorts of things are you doing to make life “real”
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"The road goes ever on and on." Tolkien
12 comments:
i'm with you, on many fronts.
i religiously devour a bowl of old fashioned quaker oats with honey every morning, and i have calculated the cost of my daily ritual at around 18 cents a meal. Purdy good...
My goal for this year has been to get back into craftsmanship--get back to my woodworking days when I was churning out quality products. i would be lucky now to be able to still craft a simple bookcase or chair, but with a little work i'll be back in the saddle.
i agree with most of your sentiment about modern Christianity losing some of its moorings, and also this idea to offer a counter discourse to the existing system. Christians often forget, but who was, in one context, the biggest 'troublemaker' of the common era? right...that Galilean.
good post, brutha
I am glad to see your baby developing so well.
I found your post to be heartfelt and full of wisdom. As you know based on our discussion Sunday evening, I feel the same way you do regarding this recession.
I particularly appreciated your comments on our role and failings as "Christians". I myself need to do more at being a true Christian and help those around me. I don't go out of my way to avoid helping others, but I could do more. While I don't worry about Victoria's Secret Posters or R rated movies, I don't do enough to help eradicate the common plagues of mankind.
As far as you bucking the system, I have a concern:
Oatmeal-I thought you had some type of allergy. I remember you going pale after eating oats and don't want to see you getting sick again.
As far as what I will do, I may do a response post on my own blog and cover some of the ideas we discussed the other day. Keep these posts coming to continue provoking my thoughts.
What about winning a soulless contraption. I dont mind using the thing since it was free. I for one am all about repairing things. The dark art lives within us. So far, Trooper, truck, tv antenna, bike trailer, numerous kids toys, jewelry, radio's, garden tractor and tools. What economy I ask you. I was thinking ours was just a theory anyway. Must of been misinformed. Big Jake
you are a wise man. this is my i like you. i guarantee it's not for your charm.
your ingenuity prowess is unmatched (reference to 3). i am still in awe that you got an xbox for pennies not to mention the McGiver move you did when we were on that business trip so we could play Halo instead of sitting through planning hell. this is something that i admire and am trying to adopt.
i am lazy so it could be a while...but i agree that you gain much more from a car you fix yourself than a fixed car. but it great to be tight with cash to have to find ways to make do with what we have rather than go and buy what we need. it is highly satisfying. i am amazed with how well we are doing with the small amount we brought with us...and i think about the massive storage unit we are renting to house all this junk that seems so important at the time but now i can't even remember what is in there. i have too much stuff, and i will for surely be having a garage sale when i get back. Henry David said it best: "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! We are happy in proportion to the things we can do without." amen brother Thoreau.
well said about being more christian. i was just chastised by a member of the stake presidency for not dressing nice enough for church and for having a beard. the entire berating, and in between all of my incredulous retorts, i thought to myself: there has GOT to be more important things for this man can worry about. oh well, not everyone can be as open minded and progressive as Jesus; he is just happy to see me at church and I swear he thinks and thinks my beard is (while admittedly not as holy as his) quite becoming.
a final Thoreau quote that your post made me think of:
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestioned ability of a man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor."
keep rawking that boat you old so and so.
Grifter -
A friend of mine and I once kept track of how cheaply one could eat. It was absolutely stunning, but a little bland. Mainly because we only ate oatmeal for every meal. Another cheap treat is cracked wheat. If you are buying bulk, is is super cheap.
I would really like to see pictures of your handiwork when you get around to it. It would make for a great blog post. Thanks for dropping by and thanks again for the Mogwai.
I`ve always admired you my boy, now more than ever. Forward! Into the breach fortified with oatmeal!
granpa idaho
WOW! This is exactly why I…LOVE YOU~
I am not going to tell you what I’m going to do. I’ll simply remind you of what I am doing: I’m standing by you hand in hand embracing “enoughness”, trying to lessen your worries, and moving forward.
I’m right here, always will be.
AG,
Yes my baby is developing well. Thanks for noticing. My wife and I are officially unveiling the Eureka Depression Days Festival. You’ll be one of the anointed, so watch for an invitation. It’ll be a great time; patchwork clothes, acoustic and homemade instruments, leg wrestling and cooking over and open fire with old construction material. Screw this made up recession!!
As far as oatmeal, I must have a little protein, or the ol’ blood sugars go berserk. I look forward to your response. Minar
JT,
Don’t be silly, winning is fine. My neighbor gave me a BBQ a few years ago. I have replaced the burners and rocks twice, they are amazingly simple contraptions. Yours should last a lifetime. Mine will. As far as the economy being a theory, I would like to know what you mean. I think our economy is important and will affect all of us. I just believe that it was artificially overheated in the first place and it must contract. Frankly, it will, with or without our help. What just chaps my ass about the whole affair is the powers that be, are trying to sustain the unsustainable. I think that they should be looking at ways to ease the contraction, but definitely not keep it overheated artificially.
Slow down America.
Ibid,
Thanks. I like old Thoreau. Maybe it is his influence or the faux Buddhist within me, but my path to peace is through quality and simple things. I have such good memories of scheming about Xbox stuff with you and the unforgettable Wendover movie-a-thon. You really need to get yours back. I might even give you a run for your money these days.
Sorry about the beard thing. The silliness seems never ending amongst some of our religious middle management. I recently read about a BYU student that carried around a 3 x 5 card with the simple word “beard” written on it. Whenever he was questioned whether or not he had a beard card, he would just say yes. They never really asked him to see it. Classic and telling.
Thanks Pop. What germ fields forever.
Thornock Family of Six,
You always have the nicest things to say when I least expect them. Let the Depression Days Festival commence.
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