This World of Hate

I just got done watching Crash and I am stunned.  I can't tell you the last time I saw a film that made me this mad, sad, worried and redeemed all within 2 hours.  Let me explain my emotions.

Mad--  This one is pretty easy.  Seeing the cop treat black women the way that he did made me want to get out of my seat and find a way to do something about it. The way that people can hate someone just because of the color of their skin, is frightening.   That we are more worried about self preservation and climbing the corporate ladder ( what my dad would call "the golden hand cuffs") than doing what is right, what we are called to do.

Sad-- Sad that we live in world with so much hate that, we only make worse by hating.  It makes my soul hurt when I think of raising a child in a place that they have to worry about gun shots coming through the windows at all time of the night.  That we still have avenues for human trafficking.  Not only do we have the ability, but that we still have the desire to buy people.

Worried--  That if we, as a global community, don't see the problem of racism and hate then we can never begin to change. I was pointed to a clip today of woman whose church is actually glad for 9/11, AIDS, and soldiers coming home in coffins.  It opened a new light as to why the world is afraid of the word "church".  I know that this movie and this clip are taking to things to the extreme, but we have to realize that we are part of the problems.  I know that when Don Cheadle walked into his mother's house and picked up the spoon I thought, "bet that is for heroin".  Please make a point to examine what part and role you play in this.

Redeemed--  When Michael Peña told the story of the invisible cloak to his baby girl it made we want to cry.  When she ran out to save her father I did cry.  The love the he showed for her is how we can turn this world around.  This is the type of love that Christ teaches.  When Ludacris does the right thing in the end is how we can turn this world around. Whether or not you agree with a person's opinions or beliefs you have no right to treat him as less than you.  If anything you should learn his beliefs, understand his beliefs and then examine his beliefs for yourself.  Help us set this world back to the way that it was designed.  Help us bring the loving nature and compassionate touch of Christ.

If you haven't seen this movie, buy it!

The search continues

So I still haven't heard from any of the people that I submitted resumes to. I know that it hasn't been that long but soon we are going to need a pay check. Now I know that there a lot of ways to make money but still a steady job would be nice.

With my newly found free time I am reading a lot. I am currently reading Generous Orthodoxy and there is some big stuff in there. The main idea of the book is to step back and look at different ways to see who God is. It goes thru many different Christian sects and points out the good parts of what they see and challenges the reader to not adopt them but to experience them.

A concept that the new church ( whatever you want to call it, ie emerging, organic, etc) will have to spend time examining is discipleship. Let me share with you McLaren's view:

"...it will empower 'lay' people, realizing that baptism itself is a kind of ordination to ministry and that the purpose of discipleship is to train and deploy everyday apostles. And like the earliest Methodists, it will see discipleship as a process of reaching ahead with one hand to find the hand of a mentor a few steps up the hill, while reaching back with the other to help the next brother or sister in line who is also on the upward path of discipleship.

May God save us from forgetting to reach back."

The only way that this can ever be achieved is in a church where daily community is occurring. I don't mean that we have a church service every night, but that the church body live in a way that allows them to be in contact and fellowship with each other. I know that with all that I am recently decided I wish I could of talked with a man that has made a similar decision. Not that the advice from my friend was bad or lacking in any way, there is just wisdom in experience.

Starting a new Journey

Well, today I officially quit my job. A good job that most people would love to have. Not only was it a good job, but it was the family business. So my whole family is involved in this decision.

As I look at this and reflect, this decision wasn't difficult. Don't get me wrong, I am worried about how I am going to pay rent but the actual choice to leave came easy. I guess it was because I knew the whole time I was there that this isn't where I wanted to be for the rest of my life. Like I was hanging out in holding pattern. I wasn't doing things that I enjoy or were passionate about. I mean I know it would be fun to launch this new CherryBomb muffler line and watch it grow, but something just hit home when they asked me to sign a $500,000 print advertising contract. I know it is the right thing to do for the business but still I just kept thinking, "man that could be a lot of rice."

I WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD.

I want to make a global impact. Is that too much to dream of? I know, the best way to do that is to make that impact in your own neighborhood today and let that go global. I truly believe that. I can't tell you how many times I have run Gandhi's quote "be the change in the world that you want to see" through my head in the last two weeks.

I have to say thank you to my wife most of all. A man can only dream of a woman that will truly support him in everything that he does. I know that by me giving up what I did, she gave it up as well.

Where does this leave me? Well tomorrow I will wake up and start looking for a job. Not my dream job, but just a job, and I will wait for that dream job to present itself. I know it is there, I just don't see it yet. I must begin to follow my dreams at some point so I guess today it is.