"In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity" -Peter Meiderlin (1600s), a Lutheran pastor.
The above quote always appeared on the bulletin of the church I attended during my college years, and I've often appreciated it. I was reminded of the quote today listening to a conversation at work. On the surface, like the discussion I heard, the quote sounds very agreeable, yet it also can be so trite and noncommittal.
Don't hear me wrongly, I still do like the quote, and I think it can remind me of some important principles. But, I'm afraid that a main reason I like the quote is that I so often settle for the non-confrontational approach--the easy way and the surface agreement. It's a great quote if agreeing on the essentials was easy, but, of course, that's the most difficult part. And, stretching the quote and the analogy a bit, as I enjoy friendships with others, will I be happy to simply quote the easy lines for surface agreement and shallow friendship, or will I challenge myself, and them, to wrestle with those essentials.
(I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I've been thinking about this all day and finally decided I just had to write it out.)
Monday, September 24, 2007
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Art, pleasure, and purpose
There was a small news story last week highlighting that the coming fall TV schedule will contain more sexuality explicit scenes than in past seasons, and that in fact (no big surprise), TV shows and culture in general is significantly more explicit than it was 15 years ago. According to the story,
“This escalating emphasis on explicit scenes as well as themes is the result of seismic changes already rocking Hollywood and the larger society…the competition for market share in a spiraling world of entertainment choices, the mainstreaming of pornography, and the explosive growth of an unregulated Internet.”
Then, again later this week, as I’ve been mulling all this over, I saw another article similarly themed…
"I do think that general attitudes about nudity are becoming more relaxed, but these changes take time, which is why there's still mixed responses," said Paul Levinson, communication and media professor at Fordham University. “We as a society are finally growing up and it's a healthy thing," he said.
REALLY??
The stories bothered me because I was left wondering, where will this stop?” And, WILL it stop, or will TV and our culture simply become more and more explicit? As a man and as a father of children who are growing up in this world, I’m concerned. I feel strongly that this sex-hyped culture (it’s a worldwide-culture as far as I can tell) in which we live is wrong, yet I’m so often at a loss for how to put words to this.
There is a small book by Ravi Zacharias that I picked up several years ago, part of his “Great Conversations” series, that speaks to these issues of sensuality in culture. The book, titled, “Sense and Sensuality” is a (fictitious, need I say?) dialogue between Oscar Wilde, Jesus, and Blaise Pascal on the topic of art and the singular pursuit of pleasure.
As I re-read the short book, several quotations stood out clearly to me:
“Nothing profane can ever be beautiful”
“Beauty at its best is Holy”
“In seeking pleasure, you pursued the body and lost the person. You sought the sensation and sacrificed the individual. In pursuing the sacred, you exalt the person and the sensation will follow. In pursuing sensuality, you exalt the body and profane the person…
…living becomes senseless.”
“This escalating emphasis on explicit scenes as well as themes is the result of seismic changes already rocking Hollywood and the larger society…the competition for market share in a spiraling world of entertainment choices, the mainstreaming of pornography, and the explosive growth of an unregulated Internet.”
Then, again later this week, as I’ve been mulling all this over, I saw another article similarly themed…
"I do think that general attitudes about nudity are becoming more relaxed, but these changes take time, which is why there's still mixed responses," said Paul Levinson, communication and media professor at Fordham University. “We as a society are finally growing up and it's a healthy thing," he said.
REALLY??
The stories bothered me because I was left wondering, where will this stop?” And, WILL it stop, or will TV and our culture simply become more and more explicit? As a man and as a father of children who are growing up in this world, I’m concerned. I feel strongly that this sex-hyped culture (it’s a worldwide-culture as far as I can tell) in which we live is wrong, yet I’m so often at a loss for how to put words to this.
There is a small book by Ravi Zacharias that I picked up several years ago, part of his “Great Conversations” series, that speaks to these issues of sensuality in culture. The book, titled, “Sense and Sensuality” is a (fictitious, need I say?) dialogue between Oscar Wilde, Jesus, and Blaise Pascal on the topic of art and the singular pursuit of pleasure.
As I re-read the short book, several quotations stood out clearly to me:
“Nothing profane can ever be beautiful”
“Beauty at its best is Holy”
“In seeking pleasure, you pursued the body and lost the person. You sought the sensation and sacrificed the individual. In pursuing the sacred, you exalt the person and the sensation will follow. In pursuing sensuality, you exalt the body and profane the person…
…living becomes senseless.”
Sunday, September 9, 2007
A rich perspective....
This is a cross-post from the other blog that I keep (http://publichealth-faith.blogspot.com/). My apologies to those of you who read both, but since most do not and since this is relevant to this blog, I thought I'd paste this particular post here also. The post flows out of thoughts I have had that come from a recent series of messages I have heard at the church we attend....
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-Do you earn more than US$30 per month? In 2004, almost 1 billion people in the world lived below the international poverty line, earning less than US$1 per day ($365 per year). 19% of the people living in the world’s developing nations (Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe) were living on 1$ per day or less.
-Approximately 85% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (some of the most populous places on the globe) earn less than US$32,000 per year. 90% earn less that US$42,000 per year. ($32,000 and $42,000 are the median income of women and men, respectively, in the US).
-Do you have health insurance? In 2004, the vast majority, 80%, of people living in developing countries had to pay for health care out of their own pocket.-Do you have regular access to safe water? In 2006, 1 billion people did not have access to safe water.
-Do you regularly use the Internet? In 2005, 9% of people in developing countries had access to the Internet—15% of people in the world (all countries) had access.
-Do you have 2 days off of work each week?
-Do you get paid, at times, for doing nothing? (paid holidays, vacation time, sick leave)
-Do you spray drinking water on your lawn?
Many of us do not feel rich, but we are indeed rich in comparison to many/most people in the world. As I have been recently challenged by messages in the church I attend, if we are rich (and if you are reading this, you probably are), we need to be rich. To be rich toward others and to be rich in doing good.
And then this final verse (from 1 Tim. 6), ...."in this way (that is, by doing, by being rich in good deeds, by being generous)....they may take hold of the life that is truly life."
(The data above come from the United Nations' recent global health report entitled, "The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007." It's a worthwhile read and is essentially a report card on how the United Nations, and their partners, are doing at improving the health and well-being of people globally.)
---------------------
-Do you earn more than US$30 per month? In 2004, almost 1 billion people in the world lived below the international poverty line, earning less than US$1 per day ($365 per year). 19% of the people living in the world’s developing nations (Africa, Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe) were living on 1$ per day or less.
-Approximately 85% of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (some of the most populous places on the globe) earn less than US$32,000 per year. 90% earn less that US$42,000 per year. ($32,000 and $42,000 are the median income of women and men, respectively, in the US).
-Do you have health insurance? In 2004, the vast majority, 80%, of people living in developing countries had to pay for health care out of their own pocket.-Do you have regular access to safe water? In 2006, 1 billion people did not have access to safe water.
-Do you regularly use the Internet? In 2005, 9% of people in developing countries had access to the Internet—15% of people in the world (all countries) had access.
-Do you have 2 days off of work each week?
-Do you get paid, at times, for doing nothing? (paid holidays, vacation time, sick leave)
-Do you spray drinking water on your lawn?
Many of us do not feel rich, but we are indeed rich in comparison to many/most people in the world. As I have been recently challenged by messages in the church I attend, if we are rich (and if you are reading this, you probably are), we need to be rich. To be rich toward others and to be rich in doing good.
And then this final verse (from 1 Tim. 6), ...."in this way (that is, by doing, by being rich in good deeds, by being generous)....they may take hold of the life that is truly life."
(The data above come from the United Nations' recent global health report entitled, "The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007." It's a worthwhile read and is essentially a report card on how the United Nations, and their partners, are doing at improving the health and well-being of people globally.)
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