The Age of Entitlement

It seems that every day there is something that is upgraded, new and improved, or just new and we must have it.  In fact, we deserve to have it; it’s our right, forget about the cost.  We feel we are missing out if we don’t have that thing.  But as soon as we get it, we are already coveting the next one.  We have all kinds of excuses; it will help me work more effectively, it will help me keep in touch better, etc.: and we love our toys and gadgets.  1Corinthians 29-31 was translated particularly well (I think) in the New Living Translation “those in frequent contact with the things of this world should make good use of them without becoming too attached to them.  For this world and everything in it will soon pass away.”  I’m not saying that many of these things aren’t good or useful, just that they distract our attention and desires from what is truly important.

We have a lot of concern about rights, but not much it seems with responsibilities.  I may or may not have a right to basic food, shelter, and clothing.  I don’t have RIGHT to all the newest gadgets.  One of my high school socials teachers said “the right of your fist ends where the right of my nose begins”.  In other words, your rights end when mine start.  But what happens when they clash?  That’s responsibility time.  I have a responsibility to help maintain your rights and you have a responsibility to help maintain mine.  I have the responsibility to not misuse my rights.

While the bible says that those who don’t work shouldn’t eat, it also says to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for the sick, those in prison, widows and orphans.  When Jesus healed the 10 lepers, only one came back to thank him and was told “your faith has made you well”.  What of the others?  Was he speaking of a spiritual healing rather than the physical?  Did they perhaps feel they deserved to be healed and therefore were not thankful?

I’m not a big fan of Sheryl Crow, but her song Soak up the Sun has one line I love “it’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you have”.  Satisfaction.

I know what an I-phone is capable of, but I’m quite happy (usually) with my flip phone that doesn’t even have a camera.

There is much of this theme in Timothy Keller’s latest book “King’s Cross”. Am I living a self centered life focused on rights or an other centered life focused on responsibilities?  And who is the other in the centre?  There is nothing inherently wrong with stuff, just how we treat it and what we do with it.  I almost said it was a means to an end.  I suppose it could be,  but not in a positive way.  Jesus is the means and the goal.

What defines a Christian Band?

Is it the faith of its members?  Is it the lyrics of its songs?  Is it what record label it’s on, or who its target audience is?  Take U2 for instance – three of the four members are professing Christians and Christian themes are in many of their songs.  Their upcoming album is apparently to be titled ‘Songs of Ascent’ – a title direct from the book of Psalms.  They close every concert with the song 40, which IS Psalm 40.  I know a church music leader who was criticized for leading the congregation in a U2 song, but never heard a word of complaint several months later when he did the same song and listed Paul Hewson and David Evans as the writers.    Yet you will likely never hear their music on a Christian radio station unless someone else is performing it.  And what about Anberlin?  They started with Tooth and Nail records as “Soldiers after God’s Own Heart” but get much more mainstream airplay than Christian.  Some of their songs have very Christian themes; others are at best a far cry from the sex and drug messages of much pop music.  I could say the same for groups like Lifehouse, or Switchfoot, or Need-to-Breathe (or many others, but these are just some of my favorite bands).  Does a band cease to be Christian if it signs with a mainstream record label?

And then there is Carrie Underwood.  She had a massive hit with ‘Before He Cheats’ about vandalizing to an extreme extent the truck of a cheating boyfriend/lover/husband and on the same album had ‘Jesus take the Wheel’ which won gospel music awards.   This seems a bit incongruous to me.

And there are others.  While Mumford and Sons may drop too many F-bombs in “Little Lion Man” (one is too many in most songs), there are other songs on the album that take their entire message from biblical sources.  ‘You’ve got the Love’ by Florence and the Machine is another example.  There is no question about who the You is she is singing about.

A Christian message by a band that is not labeled is far more likely to reach the unchurched.  Sometimes the message is more clouded than others.  As Andrea just read to me from an interview with Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman, many of Jesus’ hearers did not understand either.

If we believe that all gifts come from God, then maybe we should throw away the labels.  Lets enjoy the songs and artists that praise God and avoid the ones that displease Him.  That’s actually still leaving it very subjective; style notwithstanding.  Of course if I take my own advice, there may be a couple songs I need to remove from my I-pod.

Books

If you know me well or even a little), you know I love to read. I wish I had more time to do it.  I sually have two or three books on the go at once, typically one fiction, one on, and one that I can only handle a few pages at a sitting.  Over time, some of my tastes have changed – I don’t read too many westerns any more – but I brought along a couple of old friends to Oliver this year for spending time with at the beach.  I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed (and still do enjoy) Louis L’amour.  I read Sitka again; I’m not sure if it was the third or fourth time.  Not only did it rekindle the L’amour bug, but I also pulled my copy of Mitchner’s Alaska from deep within my ‘to read’ pile into the top ten.  I also spent some time with Robert Heinlein for the first time in over 20 years.  Like Clarke, and Asimov, he truly wrote science fiction.  The facts in the stories make the fiction plausible.  The other book I brought was ‘Press Enter’ by John Varley.  It was so much like classic Philip K Dick (another old friend) that I had trouble putting it down.  The problem is that there are too many books to read, and new ones are coming out all the time.  I just counted 56 books in the ‘to read’ pile.  I own most of them.  A few are borrowed, but I don’t know if mom wants them back or not.  A couple are from the library and have priority – I don’t need the late fees.  There are a couple in the kid’s rooms too.  There are so many good youth fiction books out now – as well as a lot of junk.  Many of the books I buy for them, I end up reading too.  One of my favorites that we don’t own (The Invention of Hugo Cabret) is in the process of being made into a movie.  I think I have a list of at least a dozen more that I would like to own and at least that many that I would like to borrow.  Those just end up bumping the downstairs pile.  There are books that I have owned for over 20 years that I have not yet read.  I still intend to or I would get rid of them – honestly.  I have no plan to buy an e-reader either.  I appreciate what they offer, thousands of books in less space than would be taken up by one print book at a great saving in cost, but there is something about the feel of a book in the hand,  and the smell of the paper and ink, and especially the slightly musty smell of old books and used book stores.  I would miss that.  I have books in boxes that need more shelves.  Perhaps in this area I am a hoarder.  C.S. Lewis was once asked if he thought there would be personal libraries in heaven.  He said he expected there would be, but they would only contain books that you had given away or leant out without expecting back.

Perhaps another time I’ll list some of my favorites.

Roadside Shrine

I remember when I was 18, driving with my parents in Arizona, noticing occasional white crosses on the side of the road, marking locations where there had been fatalities.  The message was good in its simplicity – be careful and note that someone died here because someone wasn’t careful.  Lately though it seems that whenever someone dies in a car accident there is a tendency to build a shrine to that person.  Please don’t get me wrong, it is important for every person to mourn in their own way, and even in their own time.  I can understand and respect a temporary memorial of flowers and perhaps a cross or other appropriate religious symbol, maybe even other things that are representative of the lost loved one.  There comes a time though, when the flowers are dead and the stuffed animals are dirty and moldy, that perhaps it’s time to remove it.  I don’t think it should be the responsibility of the municipality to remove them – perhaps the family should.  A simple appropriate reminder could stay.  There seem to be some, where for months, candles are lit every night.  I really hope that none of the money that is going into ‘trust funds’ is being used for that.  I would be quite upset if I had donated toward the support of the survivors and the money was being used for shrine maintenance.

I’ve discussed this with my family.  If I were to die in a car accident, whether tomorrow, or 40 years from now, they can find other ways to mourn me.  The money could certainly be better spent going to MCC or other charity.  Maybe I feel this way because I have hope.  They say the only two things that are certain in life are death and taxes; life is a terminal condition.  We don’t know when and we don’t know how, but it will end.  Jesus said he came to bring life to the full.  I am accepting that promise.  Perhaps those who mourn the most and fear the most, fear the eternal death that comes from not knowing Christ.  After all, God has placed eternity in each of our hearts.  I know when I die that I will be in heaven.  All that will be left here is an empty shell that is free to rot away.  I have confidence that most of my loved ones will have the same experience and I pray for those whom I am not sure of.

Remember me fondly, shed an occasional tear (of joy for where I am), but please don’t build me a shrine.

Words

While we often hear of people who are DISgruntled, especially if they are in the middle of a labour dispute, we never hear of someone who is gruntled.  Is that even a word?  It wasn’t in our home dictionary.  There seems to be some confusion about it.  I found it in one crossword dictionary defined as “in a good humour” and several online sources as “in a bad humour” with the dis- intensifying rather than negating.  There are other words that come to mind too, where the common form is negative; have you ever heard of someone being prived, or praved?  You can be depraved (I hope you are not), or you can be deprived of things you feel are rightly yours.  Why is this?  Shouldn’t a negative presuppose a positive?  Do the common words express the common condition?  Are we all depraved, deprived, and disgruntled?

Many of the words used to describe God are intensified words; omniscient, omnipotent, and holy.   He is awesome, wonderful, and great.  There are a lot of negative too; immortal, invisible, infinite, and incomparable.  One negative He is not is incredible.  To call Him incredible would be atheistic.  I consider Him to be very credible.