Quick Thoughts: Brain Dumping...

Some more random thoughts to get you (read: me) through the day (night)...

So if I had a wish-list of books, included among them would be:

1) http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=3626
Which, if you don't like clicking links, is "Love Is an Orientation: Elevating the Conversation with the Gay Community" by Andrew Marin.

     Withought going into too much detail for this post, homosexuality, sexuality, and other commonly believed "sins of the flesh" are of huge focus and thought and, well, hand-wringing importance to me. Having a gay brother and many gay friends,
I want to understand to the fullest what conclusions my faith dictates that I draw about something as fundamental about people as their sexual preferences and desires.
     I actually am intrigued and prayerful about this as well for my own sexual sin and tendencies. Out of all possible sins, the one I struggle with the most is of sexual nature. Again an extended discussion for another day. But the point here is that I think Andrew Marin is onto something beautiful and appropriate and hopeful and uplifting. And thus, this book I think would soothe my soul in ways inexpressable with words.

2) An Etymological Dictionary. Or just a book of etymology.

     This may be the dorkiest suggestion on this list of books, but I love, love, LOVE finding out how words made their way into popular usage and to be attached to their common meanings and definitions. Having a quick reference book may seem superfluous with the interwebs existing and all, but I think it actually would inspire me to discover more words and more meanings than knowing that it exists online.

3) "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

     I've already read about 3 of his books, and so I may as well read this one too to complete my collection. His books are fascinating AND useful in many ways, and they provide great fodder for conversation with people. It's interesting... I don't read his books and think "oh, that's a new and revolutionary idea" all that often. Or, at all, really. There may be one or two moments in each chapter that I chuckle to myself as he makes the connections that I hadn't yet made in my experiences.
     Yet aside from the Bible, his books have been the most influential in my life over the past two years. Or really year and a half. They have shaped the way I look at my personal relationships, effected the way I purchase things, changed the way that I look at organizations as a whole, and even challenged the way that I think about conscious and subconscious thinking. In essence, Gladwell has given me a whole lot of ammo for the future, that I have been putting to use and will be shortly putting to use. Thus, Outliers promises to provide the same sort of impact.

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Shifting gears from that short wish list (there are a plethora more, but that'll do for now.) I have some other thoughts.

Entertainment
    
     SO I had some thoughts about this today as I reflected on the "what do people do with their free time?" question. You know that question. Okay maybe you don't. See, I guess I should just jump right in with the thought and its origin.

    I was reflecting upon my current list of hobbies and all of the "things" that I want to cram into my life and get better at and have involved in my future. That includes, but is not limited to, music recording and editing and playing and writing, singing; being an EMT; guiding; hiking, camping, canoeing; building, construction, woodworking; writing; silk-screening; being a good/better friend; reading; and I suppose even more that escape my mind.
    I realize this every time I start canvassing, but when people work 9-5 or 10-6 jobs full-time, it can be exhausting. And if they're doing something that they do not enjoy doing, then they start looking for escape from their work-day. Yet typically by the end of the work-day, they are just exhausted. So what have we done in America? We have created many forms of entertainment that don't require us to leave our homes. Sadly, this means we've created forms of entertainment that limit our human to human contact. But we are entertained, and therefore "happy", at the end of the day, no?
   There are a lot more ways I can take this conversation, but I'm going to shift it from the "I work a full-time job and I am too tired to do anything else during the day" line of thinking towards a more macroscopic thing, with historical perspective.
   Look. Until the past two centuries, most people alive worked for much of their day doing some sort of labor that they either didn't enjoy or had to do in order to survive. Meaning, throughout most of human history we have been preoccupied with working on just our survival. As technology develops and evolves, however, the processes that used to consume our daily lives become streamlined, automated, and made simpler. That, and we extend our waking hours with the invention of electricity and light.
    BAM!!! Hours upon hours of free-er time! And yet, what do we do with our extra free time? Figure out ways in which to acquire more "stuff". For the most part, at least that's what the capitalist system dictates. And beyond that, I find it to be true with a lot of people I talk to. They want to just put in their full-time work and then be allowed to play however they darn well please.
   But no! Here's the part where I start railing against the prevailing wisdom. Now that our basic needs are met due to sophisticated technology, why the heck do we need to be so selfish? Why do we think "Phew, I'm taken care of, now how can I go out and enjoy the heck out of life?" Look, as soon as we skimmed off time from providing for ourselves (food, shelter, clothing), we should have then taken that free time to turn around and help out those who could NOT provide for themselves, or who had not yet developed the technology. But in the course of human history, we thought "meh, I'm more important, and more stuff is more fun for me, but to get more stuff I need more workers to get the resources to then work on the resources to then produce the places and things and services that are going to make me feel good."
    And we still do this today, even if it's not something that is enslaving millions of people to build a huge palace in your name. It is for this "guilty" reason that I don't watch TV, and I am not big on movies, and I stopped playing most if not all video games on any sort of regular basis. Look, I'm totally understanding in the need to engage in mind-freeing activity. I love me some fantasy reading, or some hiking and relaxing and quiet time. And clearly I love me some hobbies.
    But my immediate thought has become "okay, I love doing this, how can I use that to help other people?" So, I love music, does me creating and producing (etc.) help other people? In some ways, yes! If I make it happen. Same with most if not all of the "hobbies" I listed. But the real thing is to find the vocation that allows me to help people who cannot help themselves.
    Except my mind and my ambition are focused on much higher goals than something like "social worker" or "camp counselor" or "local carpenter"... maybe I should relax on the ambition and aims, but I want to be in a position where I can literally help millions of people in the most God-honoring and loving ways possible. This, then, is my preoccupation whenever it comes to thinking about my future and praying about it.

It looks like this, the prayer that I occasionally think and pray and reflect upon:

God, you have made me the man that I am with the talents, skills, abilities that I have, and the priveleges that I have been given, and the challenges and downfalls and faults of character that are within me. Who do you want me to be, and how can I get there? God please give me the humility to see if I have reached a place in life that you want me to be in, or to recognize when there are others who are better than I at whatever it is I am pursuing, and to either work with them or to support them as best as possible. Please give me the wisdom to know when to rest and reflect and pray, and the wisdom to know when to push hard towards these passions and visions you have placed before me. And God, when you open doors, please give me the strength and conviction of faith to drop what I am doing and follow You through them. Oh, and please, God, send your Spirit to put a stop to my stubbornness in rebellion to You and your Will, allow it to reveal to me when I should stop trying to push through the doors and the obstacles that are between me and a vision or passion that I have attributed to you.

Basically, the biggest thing to take from that is that I am passionately pursuing these things in my life because I feel that God has put them there for me to pursue. Yet, I am the type of person who would stop dwelling on God and focus merely on those visions and passions, even if God is throwing up warning signs and beckoning me elsewhere.

So, if you're reading this as a friend or brother or sister in Christ (or just brother or sister), or even a random stranger, I ask that you please give me honest feedback, even if it is unsolicited. Does it seem as though I am pushing too hard? Basically I am saying this: If I ever present to you unrealistic notions of reality, I need you to shake me out of them! Or at the very least, ask me about them. But sometimes that is not enough, because, as much as Kevin Matthews knows, I (and he) am very good at convincing myself and others that what I am doing is good and rational.

Ooookay I'm done with my quick thoughts. Sorry if that dragged on. I'll be lighter tomorrow or the next day or something soon. :-)

Peace, love, and God y'all!

~Sean-E-Matthews