Archive for September, 2007
a note to the dead and dieing
hear it goes…
If the goal in life was to maintain personal growth and individualistic gain then maybe we have all ready won.
The US is the icon for individuality and I am convinced community is the answer. You would think that technology and the Internet would make us a diverse understanding nation, however our value of individuality trumps all. We want too much, expect too much and demand too much of the each other and ourselves. There are to many glorified individuals who have some how reached the ultimate in success in this country. WE care too much about people who look good and make a lot of money. Like a bunch of little children during window-shopping for what looks the best we approach life from a distance.
“Ouch that hurts,” when we get to close to each other. Why? Cause we care too much about our own comfort.
I think it is time to mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice. I think it is time to sit on the side of the losers of this world and invite them in for dinner. I think it is time to sit with someone who is dieing and ask them what they will miss, ask them what they regret, ask them what they want to remember.
If our reality is made up of memories and relationships are made up of experiences then it is time to enter a new reality. Force our selves to view our circumstances from another perspective.
For example:
IF I have a friend who is gay, it will be harder for me to hate someone who is gay.
If I have a friend who is being persecuted and is Muslim it will be harder for me to hate Muslims.
If I have a friend who is poor it will be harder for me to rely on wealth.
If I am in real relationship with people I will not be the same as I was yesterday.
We have to become acutely aware of our selfishness and our desire for more. We have to challenge our beliefs that God wants what we want for ourselves and we have to ask the question what is right for the ones who are poor. And we have to ask them…
Life is fleeting, it is short and it is a gift. What if there is no heaven, what if there is no hell, what will we have done with this gift of life if all we did was for our own good.
All I know is, what I have scene and I am limited by my own perspective, but here is what I see.
I see churches becoming more homogeneous. I see people becoming more scared. I see the look of terror, like we might have lost control of our own destiny…
And my encouragement for all of us is this…
Let go, it has all ready be lost, we can not take over the control that has not been given, we are not the ones in charge, there is more going on than the pain we feel and the world we see.
I have felt a lot of pain over the past several months and what I have realized is that the pain I am feeling is the pain of loosing control, loosing identity and loosing hope, but gaining salvation. Salvation for a dead religion and a dead faith. Salvation for an ideal of the American dream.
This is my note to the dead and dieing
And1 the clothing brand
Tomorrow I will meet with the gentlemen who started And1 for 1/2 hour in a cafe outside of Whole Foods. Normally, I would be nervous or think this was my big break.
But what comes to me know are questions about why…
Why would someone like him want to meet with me?
The answer is simple: business or is it? www.bcorperation.net, this is what he would like us to join.
This past month has been a formation of growth, chaos, and team work. At OVC (www.onevillagecoffee.com) we are “orbiting the giant hairball.” (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/12/hairball.html)
So anyway the point of this is we never know when our creative genius will come forth causing an energetic pull toward the direction of space and time.
My dream is to help support people doing work that goes beyond the realm of possibility. it is in that space of human behavior where I see God. I see a realm where people can partake in the “dream of God” (Dale Ibson).
Allow yourself to dream, and when you dream, dream not of wealth and fame, which will only block you from the realm of possibility, but dream of people who are given opportunity to join society in such a way, change happens. When the power of a voice is given to the voices there is peace. When the grace of normalcy is given in a common meal there is freedom. when people step outside their world view and look at the context of other people cast a side in the waist land of not yet, there is justice. there will be an end to all this madness and when the world as we know it is silence where will you be and will all of your toil and work be worth it? I hope my life matters, so I will believe it as such.
peace be with you.
somewhere between Haiti and Hondorus
I found myself in the eyes of the unknowns
People forgotten by the rest of the world
Communities left, picking up pieces of memories
Relationships founded on survival.
There is a desire for the world to be a better place.
People are turning “green”, because they care
Identifiable to the rest of the world as responsible
But are we becoming more responsible to each other…
Every time I hear someone say, “is this organic?” A thought goes through my mind wondering why they care. I get it, people do not want any unwanted chemicals in their system, they heard Oprah talk about her “favorite things” and now they are looking into organic cookies and vegan rice.
I think the American movement toward a caring lifestyle is a great shift in our society, but who are the ones able to make this move.
From my standpoint it is upper middle class Americans who are predominately white. These are the market I am after. The ones with the money to burn.
The only problem with the world turn is poor people can not afford to be green. Or at least to consume the market share of green products. Sure they can recycle and make a composed pile. But they will not shop at an all organic boutique on a Saturday afternoon just for the Hell it.
These are the people I care about. the overlooked, under appreciated and under developed. the eyes of people stereotyped as lazy and worthy of the grave they have dug through drugs and poor money management. They didn’t go to the write schools and they never found the right network to climb a ladder.
Not to romanticize the poor, but if this venture I am apart of goes up in flames, i may have no other option than to become one of them.
check out what people are saying
This is Tim and his blog speaks of a perspective called missional. The desire to be apart of what God is doing in this world.
http://beingekklesia.wordpress.com/2007/09/13/one-village-coffee-its-different/#respond or click on the title
have fun
One Village tour
Tonight I could not sleep, because I keep seeing the faces of the children I have met in undeveloped over looked regions of the world. The faces that speak to me about the need for hope and care.
If this life is a gift, then why do so many go with out food and water?
The questions I ask drive me to believe.
I want to participate in what God is doing in this world. As I participate in creating a organization based on the simple idea of “one at a time” there is a hint of doubt creeping in.
Was I too hasty in taking this jump, this leap into the abyss of the unknown?
Did I start something I could not sustain?
Will I be able to focus now when choices feel urgent and the need for focus is clear?
YES, yes, no..
Do I want to quite? NO!
Do I want to do anything else? NO!
The question i asked ten months ago is still the question that comes back to me when I am faced with an important decision. “what can I do?” It is one thing and on march first 2007 it was start a coffee roasting business with a cause. Provide fresh craft roasted coffee with a cause. support sustainable development in the overlooked regions of the world through strategic partnerships. Change the world one village at a time.
Lofty, weird, sometimes confusing… Yes, but it is what I wake up with and when i fall asleep this is on my mind.
I hear the voices and I see the faces. i do not expect people to feel what I feel, but I can not ride myself of this burden, so i will gracefully carry it and I will do everything in my power to do one thing to make a difference.
S
