The Unguy and Sports

Last night millions of Americans watched one of the annual rituals of the sports world unfold—the NCAA men's basketball tournament championship. And I watched too. I saw most of the game and in the process exceeded the combined number of minutes I had spent watching basketball throughout the rest of the season. Yes, the unguy enjoys sports. You might say it's one of the areas in which I am more typically “male.” 


The funny thing is that for most of my adult life the majority of men around me have not been sports-oriented, which has led to something of a dilemma. I struggle to converse about many topics men commonly talk about, like cars or guns, and on other topics I often hold a minority opinion, partiuclarly regarding women. But when I want to talk sports, most of the men I know aren't interested or don't know or care enough to carry on a conversation on the topic. What's an unguy to do? Thankfully one couple in our home group are sports fans and I can almost always engage with them on this topic. The husband and I even went to a local MLS (that would be Major League Soccer for the non-fans) double-header exhibition game in February.


I don't know why I enjoy sports so much. I have never been particularly talented in this area. I remember all too well my final season in Little League baseball, the one in which I got on base once all season—after being hit by the pitch. The coach offered to sub in a runner. I refused because I wasn't about to give up my first (and only, as it turned out) chance to actually be on base! In my elementary years and again in high school I played soccer and enjoyed it, although I will make no claim to being a great soccer player. I tried to run cross-country in high school but realized after several weeks of training that I hated it with a purple passion and saw no point in running just for the sake of running. That's when I switched back to soccer, where at least we had the focus of chasing that silly ball around. If I were to base my self-esteem on my athletic prowess, I'd be in sorry shape indeed.


I also don't like the ridiculous salaries professional athletes are paid. I don't like the way our culture worships sports heroes with almost god-like adoration. Every so often I swear that I will stop watching sports because of these reasons. But eventually I come back to watch again anyway. Could this be considered a thorn-in-the-flesh issue?


I will watch many different sports, even when I don't have a particular interest in the teams or individuals playing. I watched the basketball game last night mostly out of curiousity. Basketball itself ranks fairly low on my ranking of sports-of-interest. Many years ago when we lived in Seattle I was a passionate fan of the Seattle Supersonics. Alas, they are no more and my basketball passion has gone the same way. I enjoy American football, baseball and hockey and will watch any of them on television. I do draw the line at golf. Golf may be enjoyable to play (I've only tried once, so I'm not a good judge) but it bores me to tears watching it on television.


Above all, I am passionate about soccer, or football as most of the world calls it. This probably stems from the fact that I played it when I was younger and it was one of the few sports I felt like I could play with any level of enjoyment. I am not so passionate that I can name the roster of any team—even those I consider my favorites. But I do have favorite teams, I can name some of the top players in the game and I do follow several leagues with some degree of interest. On the other hand, I've never tried my hand at any fantasy league in any sport, probably because I have a deep-seated fear of losing.


When it comes to favorite teams I have a strong inclination to support underdogs. Maybe that comes from being a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs, Seattle Mariners and Arizona Cardinals for many years. Losing can get in the blood, I suppose. But I think there's something more to it than that. Even when watching a match in which I have no preferred side, I will tend to cheer for the team that has a less-successful record. I love to see the unheralded player or team pull out a great game or a great season and surprise the powerful and mighty. That would explain why I detest with a passion the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys, among others. 


I like to think that my fondness for the underdog has spiritual implications. I'd like to think that it reflects my identification with Jesus, who did side with the outcasts, the marginalized and the oppressed. Although that is certainly true regarding Jesus, I have to admit that the connection to cheering for the less-favored team remains pretty weak. Would Jesus wear a Seattle Mariner's jersey over a NY Yankees jersey? Or would he eschew both of them and go find the truly marginalized and outcast to hang with?


I'll continue cheering for my underdogs. I'll continue to get excited when my team unexpectedly pulls off a big win. But I will also keep in mind what I've slowly taken to heart over the years: none of it matters in the end. As someone once said about board games: in the end all the pieces go back in the box. At the end of the season, game or tournament, the trophies are awarded, the victors are lauded and then the whole process starts all over again. I don't think it's sinful to enjoy sports, but I don't want them to become an idol to me.


How do you view sports? What role does sports play in your life?

Praying the Lord's Prayer -- Part 3

Give us this day our daily bread.

This phrase seems so simple, so straightforward. We ask God to provide that which we need for our sustenance today. Of course one can debate what exactly is necessary. I think that most of us Americans really have no idea what we need to survive. But maybe that's not the core issue here. Jesus invites us to ask the Father for what we need. He tells us that we shouldn't be ashamed or afraid to bring our concerns and our needs (perceived or real) before him. So as annoying as I find it, all those prayers in the home group, Bible study or Sunday School class for Uncle John's health or Cousin Joan's dog matter. They matter to God. He is not inattentive or indifferent to them. He may not choose to answer them the way Uncle John or Cousin Joan or anyone else desires, but that does not mean he doesn't care or that he doesn't hear. As N.T. Wright says in his book The Lord and His Prayer:


“To turn then to the specific things we honestly need right now is not trivial. Is is precisely what children do when they love and trust the one they call 'Father.'”

I need to hear this message, because sometimes I get into a hyper-spiritual mode where I think it is a sign of spiritual immaturity to pray for mundane, concrete needs, especially for myself. I feel that I should turn my prayer focus toward more lofty, weighty matters, such as those who are spiritually lost or those who are suffering real hunger, or injustice or oppression. But if God is my Father, then I should be comfortable and free to come to him with anything that's on my mind. That's what Paul tells the Philippians when he writes that they should not be anxious about anything, but instead pray about everything. As we do, he asserts: “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” How badly do I need to hear that word. I worry and fret so much about so many things, when Jesus would have me lay those things before the Father, asking him to provide my daily bread and then rest in the peace of knowing that I have a heavenly Father who will not abandon me.


N.T. Wright acknowledges this aspect of the phrase “Give us our daily bread,” the aspect that addresses our needs, as I cited above. “The Kingdom-prayer isn't a prayer, such as some religions advocate, for our desires to be taken away or annihilated.” Rather, as we pray them within the greater context of hungering for God's kingdom and will to be done, “it asks for our desires to be satisfied in God's way and God's time. And, since God himself is most truly the deepest object of our hunger, this clause asks that we may be fed with God himself.” When we pray these words we seek not only for God to meet our immediate and real earthly needs, but to satisfy our hunger for the in-breaking of His Kingdom in our lives and in our world.


This leads us to recognize that, even as we pray for ourselves, our needs and the needs of those we know and love, we must not forget the larger picture.


“It is impossible truly to pray for our daily bread, or for tomorrow's bread today, without being horribly aware of the millions who didn't have bread yesterday, don't have any today, and in human terms are unlikely to have any tomorrow either.”


The needs of the world can overwhelm us. People speak of compassion-fatigue and no wonder, given the level of need in the world and the ability we now have to be aware of it.  How can our prayers engage with the real need of the world? Wright suggests “we should be praying this prayer not just for the hungry, but with the hungry.” He elaborates on this by saying:


“We offer ourselves, in this prayer, as representatives of this world...turning into words the unspoken prayer from thousands of hungry folk in our own country and millions around the world, turning it into words that plead with our heavenly Father to feed the hungry, to care for the desperate. And when we have prayed in that fashion, the test of whether we were sincere will of course be whether we are prepared to stand physically alongside those for whom we have claimed to speak.” (emphasis mine)


As I pray these words, I can freely bring my own needs and the needs of those closest to me before our heavenly Father without feeling shame that these needs are somehow too trivial or insignificant for the attention of Almighty God. At the same time, even as I pray for those needs, I do not want to forget the needs of the wider world. I think for each of us God can and will help us focus our prayers on specific areas of need, so that we can avoid feeling overwhelmed by the needs confronting the world. As we pray for those needs, we can also ask God to speak to us and help us to take concrete steps to be a part of bring the Kingdom to fulfillment precisely in those areas. Our part may be small, but we can still play a part if we will ask and listen and be ready to serve.

What We Eat

A friend of mine sent me a link to this video yesterday. I found it powerfully disturbing. Rather than comment further, I'll let you watch it.

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

How does this video make you feel? What response can we have as believers living in one of the wealthiest countries on earth?

Small Steps to a Healthier World

Over the past two days I've shared about my growing understanding of the impact our lifestyle choices make upon our environment and our own health and raised questions about the response (or lack thereof) on the part of a significant portion of the Christian community. Today I want to tell about some of the steps my family and I have taken in response to what we are learning.


Before I do that, I want to state clearly that I do not intend our responses to be prescriptive for others. Each family and individual lives in a unique set of circumstances and what is a reasonable and wise step for one person may not be possible or reasonable for another. I do encourage each person to consider what changes she or he may make that would change the negative impact of our lifestyles on ourselves and our planets. No single one of us can change everything, but each of us can take concrete steps that together can have a significant influence.


After reading about the damage chemicals do to our environment and our bodies, we decided to look for alternatives to using toxic chemicals around our home. We do this in order to have a positive impact on the larger environment, but even more so because we don't want our home to be a place that poisons us. My son and I both suffer fairly strongly from sinus allergies. If we can change things in our home to reduce those effects, that alone would make it worthwhile.


This past month we started replacing our household cleaning products with products from a company I am very excited about: Seventh Generation. (www.seventhgeneration.com) At the moment I am very enamored with this company. I love that they strive to make products that are naturally-derived and which reduce or eliminate the toxic impact on the environment. I like that their products allow me to not worry about touching any residue left behind after cleaning. I also like that they are seeking to develop sustainability throughout their supply chain. They aren't perfect yet, by their own admission, but they are starting with the right goal in mind. We currently use their bathroom cleaning supplies, their dish detergent (both for hand-washing and dishwasher) and their laundry soap. Given our son's negative reaction to many ingredients in most laundry detergents, we are very hopeful and optimistic that Seventh Generation's “Free and Clear” line of products, free of all dyes, perfumes and masking agents, will work well for us. In addition to ordering on-line through the company's website or through Soap.com, I've found their products at our local Target, a local whole-foods grocery store and I've even heard that some of their products are available at Wal-mart! We are also using their recycled paper products for our bathroom and cleaning.


Before sharing the next step, I must confess that I have Prius envy. More accurately I should say I had Prius envy. I really wanted to buy a Prius so that I could have a more environmentally-friendly car. This desire arose not only from a concern about greenhouse gases, but even more from a simple economic reason—with the price of gas climbing steadily, I want a car that's going to get good mileage. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, even a used-Prius was beyond our price range, so we settled for the most fuel-efficient vehicle we could reasonably afford—a Ford Focus. I look forward to the day when I can improve on its fuel efficiency, but I'm grateful for what it has. In the meantime, after some discussion with my brother, who is a resource economist, and with others, I've lost my shine on the Prius and other electric vehicles. I love the idea of getting away from petroleum-based internal combustion engines, but when I looked at the Prius and other such vehicles in terms of their life-cycle impact on the environment, I realized that they are not nearly the environmental champions they are marketed to be. The production and disposal of their batteries raises significant environmental concerns, concerns that the companies do not yet seem to be addressing. So the current electric car model does not strike me as being a sustainable, long-term option, although it may be a step in the right direction.


One of the biggest challenges is responding to the flood of plastics in our world. I would, in my idealistic perspective, like to rid my life of all plastics. But this is not really feasible. Even the director of the film I referenced doesn't claim that it is. So I must ask myself how and where I can eliminate plastics from my life. One small step I took was to stop buying beverages in disposable plastic containers. (Though even this is not a hard-and-fast rule. If I have no other viable option in a particular situation I will drink from such a container. But I will do all I can to put it in the recycling stream afterwards.) Each member of our family now has a stainless steel water bottle for taking drinking water with them. These bottles should last far longer than plastic, are safer for our health and can be more easily recycled at the end of their lifespan. It's not a world-changer, but it's a small step in the right direction.


I don't really think of myself as an environmentalist. I don't live off the fruit of the land. I don't even grow my own garden. I'm not terribly inclined in that direction anyway and living in southern Arizona gardening is a particularly tough challenge. I enjoy a good can of cola/pop/soda (pick your regional variant) and yes, I do even eat at McDonald's or other fast food places sometimes. I will continue to look at ways I can live with a smaller, healthier impact on my environment, but as I said at the outset, we cannot change everything.


How about you? What steps have you taken or could you take to reduce your impact on the environment and create a healthier world for yourself and others?

What's Our Responsibility?

Yesterday I raised the question:


What if the way we live is killing us and destroying the future of our planet?


I asked this question of myself in light of watching the film Plastic Planet and reading the book Silent Spring. These two media items address two specific areas of how our lifestyle and behaviour affects our environment and ultimately ourselves. I know that there are many more perspectives from which my question could be addressed. The whole issue of climate change comes to mind. Quite some time ago I shared some thoughts on that specific topic after watching the film An Inconvenient Truth. I wrote:


"Some argue that God has given us dominion over creation and interpret this to mean that we can do whatever we want with it. I don’t think that is sound biblical theology. God has given us responsibility to be good stewards of creation. Precisely because we are made uniquely in God’s image we bear the burden of making wise and responsible decisions about how we will live, especially as it impacts other humans and the rest of the natural world. The inconvenient and uncomfortable truth is that we, particularly as Americans, have chosen a lifestyle that is making the continuation of life increasingly difficult and which deprives a large portion of the inhabitants of this planet of the opportunity to meet even the basic needs of life. Why are we as believers so resistant to altering our lifestyle in order to be both better stewards of God’s creation and to be better servants towards those in the world whose situation is far worse than our own?"


When I listen to the conversations going on around me at my church, on Facebook and in other venues, I hear two basic responses. The first is apathy and ignorance. People don't know about the impact of their lifestyles and do not want to know. I can understand this because it takes time and effort to become an informed consumer and, worse still, it takes a willingness to make changes based on what one learns. 


I am troubled still more by the other basic response, the one that denies that our lifestyle has such a negative impact and that I am responsible to change my behavior to mitigate that impact. As I mentioned in that earlier post, I think this response comes from a faulty or inadequate theology, one that equates dominion with the right to exploit and destroy the earth in pursuit of our own perceived well-being. The theology behind this views this earth as a temporary place, a way-station on the way to heaven. Our goal is not to shepherd this earth with a view toward the future, but to make use of it to sustain us until we can get out of here and move on to heaven. I used to have a similar view, but as I shared in Monday's post, I'm beginning to see things from a different perspective, one that desires and works for the fulfillment of God's Kingdom on this earth, working toward the time when earth and heaven shall be one and the created order shall be restored and redeemed to the full beauty that God intended it to have. When we take this perspective, then we become not users and dominators of the earth, but care-takers and shepherds.


Kathy Escobar's post, which I commented on in my Tuesday post, points out another flaw with treating our environment as disposable. When we act this way, we do so because we want to keep what we have. We want to protect our power and privilege, regardless of the impact it may have on others on our planet, either in the present or the future. When I dump chemicals on my lawn so it can be beautiful I'm doing it for my present, temporary pleasure. When I choose to buy disposable products because they are cheaper or more convenient to me, I am thinking of myself and my convenience. I'm not taking into account the impact my actions will have on my own self down the road, or on my children, or their children, or on the people across the globe who are also impacted by my decisions.


What if we began to think about our lifestyle from a different perspective; from a perspective that doesn't look primarily at the short-term cost-benefit to myself, but at the long-term impact on not only myself but on others? Would that fit better with a Jesus-centered life?


Tomorrow I will share a few changes I along with my family have made to live differently in light of what we're learning.

Are We Poisoning Ourselves?

I came across two items over the last few months that have challenged the way I think about the way I live. The first is a documentary that I watched on Netflix entitled Plastic Planet, directed by Werner Boote. The second is a book that my wife picked up out of curiosity one day at the library: Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. These have both left me asking myself the following question:


What if the way we live is killing us and destroying the future of our planet?


In Plastic Planet director Boote explores the impact that the production, consumption and disposal of petroleum-based products has on our environment, including our very bodies. We have become dependent on these products but the chemicals they are made of enter the environment, poison our food chain and eventually ourselves. His efforts to raise questions about this with the petroleum and plastics industry are met with glib assurances about the benefits and safety of plastic and, as he continues to push the issue, with stony silence and closed doors. He also shows how easily we accept the benefits of technology without questioning their effects, simply because we are reassured by those who want us to consume their product. This documentary opened my eyes.


I'm still reading Silent Spring and, quite frankly, may not finish it. It is not an easy read, but it wasn't meant to be. Many credit Carson and her book with initiating the environmental movement. Reading the book I understand why. Carson explores the impact of the widespread use of insecticides and herbicides to keep our gardens, fields and cities pest free. A statement she makes early in the book struck me quite powerfully:


“It is ironic to think that man might determine his own future by something so seemingly trivial as the choice of an insect spray.”


But this, she argues and illustrates through examples, is precisely what we are doing. Although her book resulted in some legislation and civic action to curb the use of certain pesticides, Americans continue to use millions of pounds of them every year. We have poisoned our soil, our air and our water in our efforts to rid ourselves of various plants and animals considered to be pests. This is not to say that some plants, insects and animals may be undesirable in certain contexts. But Carson would argue that there is a better way that mass spraying of pesticides. Ideally one utilizes natural controls, although Carson seems to allow for limited, focused use of pesticides in certain situations.


Both of these items make me wonder about what appears to be a growing incidence of illnesses that we hardly encountered even a generation or two ago. I'm not a scientist and will make no claim to a direct causal link, but after watching the film and reading the book, I cannot but question whether the cumulative effect of all the plastics and poisons in our world have sickened us. In fact they may be slowly killing us. Both the film and the book present evidence to this effect. I consider my own situation. I suffer from sinus allergies fairly severely, though not as severely as could be. Since the pollens and such that trigger my allergies have always existed, what is it that makes myself and so many others respond to them now with such severity? Could it be an effect of the chemicals that have damaged our environment and my own body? Those who advocate maintaining the status quo, or are enamored with the power we have to control our environment through chemicals and plastics, will strongly answer “No.” But I'm sceptical, highly sceptical. I think that, while the links may not be clearly established throughout the chain, it is highly plausible that our modern way of life has in fact contributed to the damage of our bodies and our planets.


I'll return to this topic tomorrow, but I invite your thoughts on this important issue. What do you think, is our way of life and our use of plastics and pesticides damaging our environment, ourselves and our future? 

What Love Looks Like in Public

I recently encountered the blog written by Kathy Escobar (listed in my blog list as "the circus in my mind" because for some reason my blog engine will not allow me to change the title). Last week she wrote a great piece on feminism and how people can get hung up on the word rather than understanding the core issue of restoring dignity. I was planning to comment on that post, until I read what she posted yesterday. 


She describes how earlier in her life she transitioned from being a passionate advocate for equal rights and social change into focusing on more conservative issues: "the erosion of morality in America, the horrors of public education, and making sure tax money wasn't spent on things I disagreed with." At some point though she realized:


"I was not hungering and thirsting for justice. I was hungering and thirsting for a false feeling of safety and protection that I felt entitled to as a Christ-follower."


In other words, as she admits, "It was all about me."


What's more, she says, "It didn't satisfy....It was for [sic] more focused on being 'right' than being kind, on distrust than love, on self than others, on division than unity."


Her words and her experience spoke powerfully to me. When I think about the conservative Christian agenda for this country, I see exactly what she speaks of. I see people afraid of losing power and control and in their efforts to hold on to those things acting out of anger, fear, distrust and, yes, selfishness. I do not see the attitude of Christ, who gave up his position, his power, his authority and became a servant to show God's love. He didn't try to defend a status quo, or even to return society to some perceived earlier Golden Era. He demonstrated love to the broken and outcast and he challenged the power and abusive behavior of those in positions of control and authority.


I have to ask myself, as Kathy says of herself, whether my efforts to protect myself, my family and even my culture do not reflect Jesus, but reflect only a particular cultural view. And if I'm honest, the answer must be yes.


"Self-protection, culture-protection will never satisfy, will never quench our thirst."


Read Kathy's article and tell her or me what you think. Are we as Christ-followers in America more focused on pursuing our own self-protection than thirsting for God's justice and righteousness? What does love look like in public, particularly in a multicultural society?