The Story of Stuff

A friend posted this link on facebook - so I looked it up. 

2o minutes later, I had been taken through a brief summary of The Story of Stuff.

The information shared is a great introduction to understanding the history of consumerism in our society. There are many great points, but also some underlying theme which my wonderful fiance continually reminds me of.

1. The growing fear of death (particularly as a growing motivator for why we need to care about the environment) 

2. The "bad-ness" of everything that is manmade. I think there are more reasons than just to pollute our environment that "stuff" was made - perhaps having to do with the idea of "convenience" - making things easier.

3. The idea that changing the power structure in the government is possible... that we can take away the power from the big corporations is a wonderful idea - but (as a very uneducated non-economic minded young adult) seems (like to video says...) idealistic. This does not mean that we should not care about the things that the video proposes.

Contrarily, as Christians we should care about this even more than those who are not following Christ. Our approach to the issues surrounding injustice in the world ought to be centered in prayer. Perhaps we can learn from "another way" that Annie Leonard suggest, but learn even more from "another way" proclaimed by Jesus.

Fire!

The adventure began Saturday evening. We were relaxed on the hammock under the shade of a pine, with the creek running next to our campsite. There were no shouts, or people running to get away - but when a sheriff came by telling us of voluntary evacuations of the campsite, a decision had to be made. 

What do you do when you are in the middle of possibly the most beautiful place in California and black and orange clouds loom ominously overhead?

Evacuate. (voluntarily)

Vacation was over - and all hands were on deck.

Here are some shots Merrick and I took in the middle of the frenzy. After a police escort down the hill we were on our way home - sad but safe!

You can see all the fires that are going on around here.

American Culture: The Democratically Confused Christian

Disclaimer: This is a very touchy subject, that I pray I do not sound judgmental in presenting. I mentioned in my previous posts that these topics would come from daily observations. This is merely my developing opinion which is doing exactly that - developing.

I do not mean in any way that all of American society is like this, nor that it is the most prevalent thought - however people that fall under this category are out there.

Observations Day Two: The Democratically Confused Christian

Definition: A misunderstanding of the difference between identity as American and as a Christian. One with this perspective may tend to be elderly and reflect the worldview of previous generations. 

Often feels strongly about one or more of the following issues:

The supremacy of America

Immigration Issues

The defense system

Terrorists

Their chosen political party as the only logical choice

The defining feature of those that fall into this category is the claim to represent a part of the church with their views.  The identity as American is simultaneous with the identity as Christian.

Again, this is an invitation for additions, comments and questions.