Back by popular demand: UNEXPERTING!
One year ago today, I arrived in Brazil. I was hauling way too much stuff, probably, and felt both tired and terrified, definitely.
There are so many good things that have happened because of my presence in Brazil, and I mean to say that I have been the surprising recipient of most of those, not that I made such an impact myself. I did not go to save or rescue anyone, because that wasn't my job in the first place. In fact, it never has been, because I would be at a grand total of 0 if it had. The act of saving and rescuing in the Christian tradition is something I depend on God for, and while I do as I feel called in order to help, I recognize that, ultimately, God has the power to do it with or without me, and that my actions are never the true tipping point.
Brazil is an amazing place, where I learned and loved and received so much friendship and lessons on what a response to the Gospel looks like. Not to mention I found it to be beautiful. However, for those Americans who speak of wanting to leave the country after this most recent election, I can tell you, for all its beauty, Brazil is not known for an excellent political atmosphere at the moment either.
Another surprising thing has been the number of folks continuing to ask me to post on this blog. I'm pretty much an expert on nothing, so now that I'm home, I have really been feeling at a loss of what to say, because I am no longer experiencing different things than "the folks back home." So, while I do know a bit about religion, the bible, my faith, economics (not that my degree in it seems to amount to much for me at this point), and a few other random odds and ends here and there, I am a proud nobody when it comes to real things I guess, so I'll just have to write about my opinions. So, here are a few:
Stereotypes are bad. That was something my father really cared about teaching me as a kid, like often, and passionately. This, I believe, was correct and good. We were a military family, and the places and people we were surrounded by gave us very necessary reasons to not hold with the stereotypes of the world or of prior generations. But in an evolutionary psychology research project, I learned that having a brain that was quick to categorize and sort incoming information was exactly what helped keep early humankind alive. Stereotype: things that look like tigers are bad because they will likely hurt or eat me, therefore run away (or whatever). Except...
Now that picture of a tiger on my television is not dangerous, and a pet cat dressed as a tiger for halloween is probably just kinda pissed at being in a costume and not looking for a Rachel-snack, and Winnie-the-Pooh's bestie in stuffed animal form is clearly no threat.
So the point is, my dad (and I dread the look on his face when he sees me after reading this post) was right, because stereotypes in the modern age are often just as faulty as they might be accurate...which is one of my biggest issues with current American news/media/political marketing.
This one comes from a course with one of my top 2 favorite econ professors in college, and if you ask me about them I'll laugh because they were about as wildly different in their opinions as it is possible to be. But here's what my research for his term project brought me to see:
You (and me, and everyone else) are not the consumer in the flow chart of you to the news.
You are what is attempting to be consumed; you are the product that they want to sell to others. Just like facebook, the news industry makes money to sustain its existence, and to make that money, they need you. They use whatever tactic is legal (because they are NOT all ethical tactics by any means) to collect viewer numbers which helps them make money off comercial sales. They want your number, and they want it at the expense of a competitor, and there are very few rules about what they can do to get it. Conveniently edited quotes, re-covering a simple story from a multitude of angles to avoid other stories, and even flat. out. lying. are used to fill the 24 hours of each day when they can make money from us watching, and, as I said, there's very little, legally speaking, to stop them. So if the lack of facts, the over-sensationalizing of the truly trivial (because even the E! network has programs called E!News), and the divisiveness of your brand loyalty have caused you to cease talking with former friends and family about even non-news things, then they've succeeded in their goal.
I don't often like when people make money off me while giving me none. Therefore, I pay attention to news when I seek it out, fact check what I can, and usually this involves almost completely ignoring US news and social media publishing. (I have also found myself much happier when I choose to care about people and not about "stories" or "facts")
Finally, I suppose we could easily sit here and find a way to assign all blame or issues to these, or some other aspects, of the secular world, but I had to, in the process of my time serving in Brazil, bite the bullet and accept that it really isn't always so. While it does not apply solely to Americans, there is clearly (at least to me) a very different fundamental view of the purpose of the Christian religion when I was outside the US. I'd like to say it is the "fault" of some denomination in particular or a specific political/social/economic/whatever demographic, but it isn't. It's all of us. It was me, too.
Hell, it is me still, if I don't fight against it. It's not hard to prove, or to see. Anyone who looks at social media: facebook, instagram, twitter, pinterest, or even just random memes; at commercials, billboards, or slogans for churches; or pretty much anything related to the holidays of Christian affiliation this time of year (obviously Christmas, but also Thanksgiving and New Years too); and any number of other things can probably see this repeated trend. I know, once I realized it, I cannot escape it and it's driving me crazy(...er. crazier, since the first part is fairly non-debatable).
We have a version of Christianity that is entirely based in our own comfort.
(and now I'll say ouch, because I'm not exempt from having done this)
And, because I'm helpful (and apparently masochistic enough to want to publish something that might get a lot of folks mad at me) I'll give a couple examples:
1. Many people who have self-identified to me as Christians state the political view that the USA should give tax cuts to "job creators" or the more wealthy, because they will use that extra money to create more jobs which benefits everyone eventually (also known as "trickle down economic theory"). To this, I call bullshit. When, in Mark, Jesus is directly speaking to a rich man, he does not say "Go, take your wealth and create jobs for the poorer folks, and feel free to drug test them or ask them to conform to your personal faith guidelines to earn their wage, so that all may be better off."
In fact, when I read Mark 10:17-21, Jesus actually asks the man to, no-holds-barred give everything away, live with no retirement plan, safety net, or government assistance, and to leave everything behind to follow Jesus' way. I can say, I understand why this is hard. One, it's flat out terrifying to most of us who haven't ever had nothing, literally nothing. Two, most of us like our stuff more than people we don't know, and it'd be pretty much impossible to give away everything to strangers and never look back. I'm just as sad as this rich dude about this, and I've never in my adult life earned an annual income over the poverty line, not even close, and I still have stuff I don't wanna give away, but I have yet to have a year where I didn't give 10% or more of my pre-tax income in charitable donations. There are plenty of self-labeled Christians that give little to nothing, for whom a real tithe is a dream goal or not even acknowledged, and while I'm absolutely far from perfect, I do find myself rolling my eyes at this ridiculous hypocrisy. Following Jesus' way is hard. Just like Jesus said. But I have to try, and I personally find that there are minimums to which I cannot fail to uphold, even though they do make me uncomfortable sometimes.
2. Many others, often on the other "side" of things (and I use that term with extreme eye-rolling, because from my vantage point these sides are rather arbitrary and human-made), want to generally raise taxes (right now, specifically on the rich, but sometimes in general), for the funding of government programs to help those in need. While I can appreciate the sentiment and hold no disagreements with wanting to help, I'm calling a bit of bullshit here too. Here's what I'm not arguing: feeding the hungry, quenching the thirst of the parched, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the prisoner = GOOD THINGS. I am by no means saying that we should not be looking out for the disenfranchised or needy among us. What I AM saying is that I believe that our government is not where we should put that responsibility. In Matthew 25, starting around verse 34, Jesus talks specifically about each and every one of those things. However, what is not said is that "I was hungry, and your government gave me food stamps. I was a stranger, and I made it through the government's green card process to earn the right to start a new life in your land. I was in prison, and the state granted me an appointed attorney to advocate for me." Not a one. In every point, Jesus uses the word YOU. Again, this is hard stuff to do, because it's uncomfortable, and involves a lot of effort sometimes, but Jesus has called us to work for these things personally, not with a governmental system. It's hard because humanity is messy. Sometimes humanity is mean, and difficult, and rude, and dirty, and heartbreaking. I totally don't want to deal with people on quite the number of occasions (read: Mondays), and yet, God, who completely didn't even have to, got right on into our mess to make sure we knew that we are loved, that that love can make us better, maybe not less messy, but better, and that is a pretty big sacrifice, if you ask me; and then God spoke those words in Matthew 25 (well...they weren't the English version, but yeah) to tell us that it matters that we follow that lead individually, even though God obviously knew exactly how messy and sometimes awful that can get.
So while the world (and memes on my Pinterest page) tell me that "Jesus loves me" and "God has a plan for my life to bless me", I will keep scrolling. Because those images make the act of following my faith only about me and for me, when the truth is, Jesus' example and love call me to a life that is not comfortable or easy or aligned with the "American Dream". So, I'm pretty much done responding "God Bless America". God did, and we got greedy, so now I'm more about "God help America" because we need help more than blessings, and the blessings we already had we owe to each other and all humankind. And more than anything, I'm about the prayer of "God help me to help" because I'm rather wussy when it comes to the hard stuff. I'm not sure I could withstand water cannons in 27 degree weather to protect what I love and what gives me life. I am not certain that I'd take a bullet for anyone, although I'd like to think I'd might, to save one I love or to uphold justice. I can't say I'd have no suspicion while allowing a stranger into my home. I know from experience that I am not strong enough to let a child I care for return into an abusive home, but I hope to one day be able to be a foster parent anyways. While I know I have friends, role models, and heroes to look up to who actively do these things, I'm not sure about myself all the time. But I do know I recognize my comfort, and I know that I will work to live up to these goals, and I am absolutely certain that no amount of success will be because of me. It will only come when I choose to make a small portion of the exact same sacrifice God did; when I give up my comfort zone to let God's love be made known to his creations on earth.
Also, if you made it all the way through this, and happen to find yourself in the Tampa area next week, I will be speaking at Holy Innocents' Episcopal Church at 604 N Valrico Rd on Wednesday, November 30th. There's a give-as-you're-able Brazilian(ish) dinner starting at 6pm, and then they'll let me talk. Feel free to submit questions you'd like a more thoughtful answer to in advance by using the "Get in Touch" part of this blog, or I think there's a survey form on the church website main page if you'd prefer. And as I always tell my youth: ask a silly question, you'll certainly get a very silly answer from me.
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| The suitcases before Brazil |
Brazil is an amazing place, where I learned and loved and received so much friendship and lessons on what a response to the Gospel looks like. Not to mention I found it to be beautiful. However, for those Americans who speak of wanting to leave the country after this most recent election, I can tell you, for all its beauty, Brazil is not known for an excellent political atmosphere at the moment either.
Another surprising thing has been the number of folks continuing to ask me to post on this blog. I'm pretty much an expert on nothing, so now that I'm home, I have really been feeling at a loss of what to say, because I am no longer experiencing different things than "the folks back home." So, while I do know a bit about religion, the bible, my faith, economics (not that my degree in it seems to amount to much for me at this point), and a few other random odds and ends here and there, I am a proud nobody when it comes to real things I guess, so I'll just have to write about my opinions. So, here are a few:
Stereotypes are bad. That was something my father really cared about teaching me as a kid, like often, and passionately. This, I believe, was correct and good. We were a military family, and the places and people we were surrounded by gave us very necessary reasons to not hold with the stereotypes of the world or of prior generations. But in an evolutionary psychology research project, I learned that having a brain that was quick to categorize and sort incoming information was exactly what helped keep early humankind alive. Stereotype: things that look like tigers are bad because they will likely hurt or eat me, therefore run away (or whatever). Except...
Now that picture of a tiger on my television is not dangerous, and a pet cat dressed as a tiger for halloween is probably just kinda pissed at being in a costume and not looking for a Rachel-snack, and Winnie-the-Pooh's bestie in stuffed animal form is clearly no threat.
So the point is, my dad (and I dread the look on his face when he sees me after reading this post) was right, because stereotypes in the modern age are often just as faulty as they might be accurate...which is one of my biggest issues with current American news/media/political marketing.
This one comes from a course with one of my top 2 favorite econ professors in college, and if you ask me about them I'll laugh because they were about as wildly different in their opinions as it is possible to be. But here's what my research for his term project brought me to see:
You (and me, and everyone else) are not the consumer in the flow chart of you to the news.
You are what is attempting to be consumed; you are the product that they want to sell to others. Just like facebook, the news industry makes money to sustain its existence, and to make that money, they need you. They use whatever tactic is legal (because they are NOT all ethical tactics by any means) to collect viewer numbers which helps them make money off comercial sales. They want your number, and they want it at the expense of a competitor, and there are very few rules about what they can do to get it. Conveniently edited quotes, re-covering a simple story from a multitude of angles to avoid other stories, and even flat. out. lying. are used to fill the 24 hours of each day when they can make money from us watching, and, as I said, there's very little, legally speaking, to stop them. So if the lack of facts, the over-sensationalizing of the truly trivial (because even the E! network has programs called E!News), and the divisiveness of your brand loyalty have caused you to cease talking with former friends and family about even non-news things, then they've succeeded in their goal.
I don't often like when people make money off me while giving me none. Therefore, I pay attention to news when I seek it out, fact check what I can, and usually this involves almost completely ignoring US news and social media publishing. (I have also found myself much happier when I choose to care about people and not about "stories" or "facts")
Finally, I suppose we could easily sit here and find a way to assign all blame or issues to these, or some other aspects, of the secular world, but I had to, in the process of my time serving in Brazil, bite the bullet and accept that it really isn't always so. While it does not apply solely to Americans, there is clearly (at least to me) a very different fundamental view of the purpose of the Christian religion when I was outside the US. I'd like to say it is the "fault" of some denomination in particular or a specific political/social/economic/whatever demographic, but it isn't. It's all of us. It was me, too.
Hell, it is me still, if I don't fight against it. It's not hard to prove, or to see. Anyone who looks at social media: facebook, instagram, twitter, pinterest, or even just random memes; at commercials, billboards, or slogans for churches; or pretty much anything related to the holidays of Christian affiliation this time of year (obviously Christmas, but also Thanksgiving and New Years too); and any number of other things can probably see this repeated trend. I know, once I realized it, I cannot escape it and it's driving me crazy(...er. crazier, since the first part is fairly non-debatable).
We have a version of Christianity that is entirely based in our own comfort.
(and now I'll say ouch, because I'm not exempt from having done this)
And, because I'm helpful (and apparently masochistic enough to want to publish something that might get a lot of folks mad at me) I'll give a couple examples:
1. Many people who have self-identified to me as Christians state the political view that the USA should give tax cuts to "job creators" or the more wealthy, because they will use that extra money to create more jobs which benefits everyone eventually (also known as "trickle down economic theory"). To this, I call bullshit. When, in Mark, Jesus is directly speaking to a rich man, he does not say "Go, take your wealth and create jobs for the poorer folks, and feel free to drug test them or ask them to conform to your personal faith guidelines to earn their wage, so that all may be better off."
In fact, when I read Mark 10:17-21, Jesus actually asks the man to, no-holds-barred give everything away, live with no retirement plan, safety net, or government assistance, and to leave everything behind to follow Jesus' way. I can say, I understand why this is hard. One, it's flat out terrifying to most of us who haven't ever had nothing, literally nothing. Two, most of us like our stuff more than people we don't know, and it'd be pretty much impossible to give away everything to strangers and never look back. I'm just as sad as this rich dude about this, and I've never in my adult life earned an annual income over the poverty line, not even close, and I still have stuff I don't wanna give away, but I have yet to have a year where I didn't give 10% or more of my pre-tax income in charitable donations. There are plenty of self-labeled Christians that give little to nothing, for whom a real tithe is a dream goal or not even acknowledged, and while I'm absolutely far from perfect, I do find myself rolling my eyes at this ridiculous hypocrisy. Following Jesus' way is hard. Just like Jesus said. But I have to try, and I personally find that there are minimums to which I cannot fail to uphold, even though they do make me uncomfortable sometimes.
2. Many others, often on the other "side" of things (and I use that term with extreme eye-rolling, because from my vantage point these sides are rather arbitrary and human-made), want to generally raise taxes (right now, specifically on the rich, but sometimes in general), for the funding of government programs to help those in need. While I can appreciate the sentiment and hold no disagreements with wanting to help, I'm calling a bit of bullshit here too. Here's what I'm not arguing: feeding the hungry, quenching the thirst of the parched, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, and visiting the prisoner = GOOD THINGS. I am by no means saying that we should not be looking out for the disenfranchised or needy among us. What I AM saying is that I believe that our government is not where we should put that responsibility. In Matthew 25, starting around verse 34, Jesus talks specifically about each and every one of those things. However, what is not said is that "I was hungry, and your government gave me food stamps. I was a stranger, and I made it through the government's green card process to earn the right to start a new life in your land. I was in prison, and the state granted me an appointed attorney to advocate for me." Not a one. In every point, Jesus uses the word YOU. Again, this is hard stuff to do, because it's uncomfortable, and involves a lot of effort sometimes, but Jesus has called us to work for these things personally, not with a governmental system. It's hard because humanity is messy. Sometimes humanity is mean, and difficult, and rude, and dirty, and heartbreaking. I totally don't want to deal with people on quite the number of occasions (read: Mondays), and yet, God, who completely didn't even have to, got right on into our mess to make sure we knew that we are loved, that that love can make us better, maybe not less messy, but better, and that is a pretty big sacrifice, if you ask me; and then God spoke those words in Matthew 25 (well...they weren't the English version, but yeah) to tell us that it matters that we follow that lead individually, even though God obviously knew exactly how messy and sometimes awful that can get.
So while the world (and memes on my Pinterest page) tell me that "Jesus loves me" and "God has a plan for my life to bless me", I will keep scrolling. Because those images make the act of following my faith only about me and for me, when the truth is, Jesus' example and love call me to a life that is not comfortable or easy or aligned with the "American Dream". So, I'm pretty much done responding "God Bless America". God did, and we got greedy, so now I'm more about "God help America" because we need help more than blessings, and the blessings we already had we owe to each other and all humankind. And more than anything, I'm about the prayer of "God help me to help" because I'm rather wussy when it comes to the hard stuff. I'm not sure I could withstand water cannons in 27 degree weather to protect what I love and what gives me life. I am not certain that I'd take a bullet for anyone, although I'd like to think I'd might, to save one I love or to uphold justice. I can't say I'd have no suspicion while allowing a stranger into my home. I know from experience that I am not strong enough to let a child I care for return into an abusive home, but I hope to one day be able to be a foster parent anyways. While I know I have friends, role models, and heroes to look up to who actively do these things, I'm not sure about myself all the time. But I do know I recognize my comfort, and I know that I will work to live up to these goals, and I am absolutely certain that no amount of success will be because of me. It will only come when I choose to make a small portion of the exact same sacrifice God did; when I give up my comfort zone to let God's love be made known to his creations on earth.
Every last little messy one of us. No exceptions.
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