treasures in heaven

I was at the Veritas leadership meeting today and we were reading in Luke 6 about something or other and there was about half a verse about us being rewarded in the afterlife for things we do here. It struck me how very odd this idea is, both from the perspective of our current culture and (from what little I know of the) Buddhist perspective.

I generally tend towards the (wrong view) of us not having any right to protest against any wrongs done to us in this life because we have done so much wrong and therefore deserve what ever is coming to us. I am in the (very long and drawn out) process of Christ changing my mind to want justice in the world. As in, wrongs done to us are still wrong (and should be punished) even though we are guilty as well.

Okay, to get to the point. The idea that we are rewarded is possibly absurd. God promises us a reward for our striving. We don't just do things because they are right and the very rightness is self-rewarding. But God pours even more blessing on top. Maybe. This sounds right, but I have just started thinking about this and honestly have no idea.

But one other thing that goes along with this idea: I was talking to Andy Patton on Wednesday and he has been reading By Demonstration: God by Wade Bradshaw (you can read about his thoughts here at his blog). Wade Bradshaw used to be a worker at English L'Abri - where I was for a semester this time last year, and the book was born out of his experiences there. I tried to read the book while I was at L'Abri but got distracted.

But anyway, Andy said that one thing that he's gotten out of the book is the idea that our current culture looks at Christianity and Biblical values as somewhat beneath their own. Like it would almost be a downgrade morally to adhere to Christian values. Traditional Christian moral standpoints such as being pro-life, womens roles in the church and home, and views of other religions seem almost archaic.

This all relates back to treasures in Heaven, I promise. The idea of us getting rewarded for our strivings and faith by some kind of reward almost seems archaic. Morality should be done for morality's sake, right? To be rewarded for faith-acts seems absurd and greedy.

But God knows us, He made us. He engages with our desires and works with us. It's not just Him in the clouds making demands. He lets us see the fruit of our labors. He gives us hope. He's a good God.

p.s. - my Dad has that picture somewhere up in his office at home. i like it.

The Guy on the Vintage Vinyl Sticker

My professor a couple weeks ago told our class that the guy on the Vintage Vinyl stickers is the famous blind saxophonist Rahsaan Roland Kirk. I felt like a total poser for having the sticker on my notebook and not even knowing who the guy was. He was famous for playing three saxophones at the same time. Amazing.

Capitalism: Root of All Evil

In my never-ending and constantly evolving journey to figure out what is wrong with the world (besides the obvious Sin), I'm beginning to look to Capitalism.

When my brother Steve was in college (or just out) we were talking about something like American culture around the dinner table (I can still remember where he was sitting) and I said something or other that I thought was a pretty original idea about American culture and he said "Well, that's because American culture is completely formed by Capitalism." I had never heard of this idea before and only had a vague notion of what Capitalism was in the first place and so just became quiet and still thought I was right.

Well, it turns out that I think Steve's right. At least I think so. I'm not completely sure, but here's a oft-quoted passage from Marx and Engel's The Communist Manifesto:

"Constant revolutionizing of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober sense, his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind."

The last part is bolded for effect; mostly because it's so dang powerful. I think what is so relevant is the phrase "...all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify." I think it speaks to the sense of temporariness in our current culture - especially in personal relationships.

So maybe our culture has just come out of our relationship with money. After all, that is where our hearts are. Jesus said: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Also, in the process of figuring out all of this I have seen more and more in my life how I actively participate in capitalism/postmodernism/etc.. What is this? Is it bad? Understandable? More on this later, but I've begun to read a book my mom gave to me a year ago while they were visiting me at L'Abri in England called Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence and which I haven't had an interest in picking up until last night. In the introduction it talks briefly about how part of taking a break from the world is to engage in Spiritual Discipline because it aligns ourselves with a different style of living. Interesting.

Stupid WordPerfect

No one uses WordPerfect anymore. No one. My professor of Social Change and Trends (irony? yes.) still uses it, however, and I've had the worst time ever trying to download stuff from Microsoft.com that will convert it for my Office Word XP.

But then I found Zamzar.com, which converts the file for you and emails the new version to you. Wunderbar!

David Bowie at Target

While Date Night was at Six Flags around a month ago I saw some pretty stylish guys in line in front of us for Mr. Freeze and I started thinking. Target offers pretty cheap fashionable eclectic clothing for females, do they do the same for males? None of the rest of Date Night had had much experience in the men's section of Target and didn't know.

Well, I saw an ad yesterday for Keanan Duffty for Target. He designed a line for guys that is inspired by David Bowie. Yes. I love it. It's full of skinny ties and tuxedo shirts. About time that guys started dressing in weird and wonderful ways on a mass level.

It seems like Target really likes the whole idea of a generalized "Euro-chic" with tons of Union Jacks and odd patterns thrown together. I always wonder what the designer thinks when Target approaches them. "yes, it will put my designs in a place where lots of people can wear them (cool) but also it's going to be crappy quality (shoot) and in sizes not made for creepy heroin-chic models (distorted?). Oh well, why not."

He has really creepy models (see Fall 2006 here).

Weekends With Awesome

Sigur Ros - Heima

Thanks to Claire for this - Sigur Ros is putting out kind of a film called Heima about them going back to Iceland and touring all over the country. I know next to nothing about Iceland, besides that Bjork is from there and that the Vikings played a trick, naming Iceland (which can actually sustain life) Iceland and Greenland (which is extremely cold) Greenland. People in the trailer look remarkably normal. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe these exotic fairy looking people who stare eerily into the camera.

The trailer is absolutely beautiful. Check it out here.

Kind of unrelated to this: I always wanted bands to actually do something creative with their music videos, apart from some kind of stupid guy chasing girl through the song type of music video like that one about the umbrella ("Had a Bad Day" - here). I saw a Decemberists video yesterday that's kind of different and cool (O Valencia - here). But what I think would be really sweet is if the musicians just hired filmmakers to do an abstract on the song and create some kind of side-by-side piece to go with the music that didn't even have the band members in it. That would be worth watching.