Effortless Effervescence

In the past few days, I’ve seen the following status update posted by a few of my Facebook friends:

America: the only country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed without eating, elderly going without needed meds, and mentally ill without treatment - yet we have a benefit for the people of Haiti on 12 TV stations. If you feel the same, copy and repost this.

My initial response was, “Amen! Isn’t it a shame that it takes a huge disaster in another country (or in the case of Hurricane Katrina or 9/11, another state) to mobilize Americans to help their fellow man? Why aren’t we doing more every single day?” But then I began thinking (my husband would say OVER-thinking) this issue of international generosity and how it relates to the problems in our own backyard, and I got a little worked up.

Yes, America is a hot mess, but I don’t think it’s because we’re so damn busy making life easier for everyone else on the planet. I think the problem is that we’re painfully stingy with our fellow citizens, often because we feel that they “deserve” the misfortune they’re experiencing. Most of us don’t agree with Pat Robertson’s they-made-a-pact-with-the-devil theory, and in our minds, the folks in Haiti were just in the wrong place at the wrong time and we should help them because they didn’t do anything to bring this on themselves. The less fortunate in America, though, are just suffering the consequences of their own stupidity, so why should we feel obligated to help them?

For instance, the hungry and homeless should just get a damn job already! They shouldn’t have been so stupid with their money. They should have saved more, and spent less on frivolous things. (You know, the same things we tell ourselves we deserve to have because we work so hard for OUR money.) They shouldn’t be too proud to ask family or friends for help, and shame on those friends and family for not having their doors open wide. Never mind that some of us would rather see our siblings sleep on the floor at the Union Mission before asking them into our home; our family situations are different, of course. And our house is much too small to open up to a friend in need! Our bank accounts are stretched too thin as it is putting food on our own table, so when the annual food bank drive gears up at our workplace, we donate the dented cans and expired boxes from the back of our pantries instead of buying a few things from the store that we’d actually consider giving our own children. We are careful not to make eye contact with the homeless man who hangs out at the supermarket around the corner, or better yet, we ask the police officer who lives down the street to do something about him, because he freaks our kids out. We protect and insulate ourselves from the very things we think someone should do something about, because we assume that “someone” can’t possibly be us.

If I had a nickel for every time someone told me that they’re tired of working hard so that their tax dollars could support some lazy good-for-nothing (because, after all, every person on welfare, unemployment or disability is actually a con artist working the system for a fixed income that’s well below poverty level), I would have… well, a lot of nickels. I am not saying that there isn’t such a thing as fraud, or that our government doesn’t need to reform many of our social assistance programs, or that I am exempt from the line of thinking I’ve described in this post. I’ve used the pronoun “we” because I’m guilty of this peculiar stinginess myself, of thinking that what separates me from those less fortunate than I is shrewdness, a good work ethic, or personal sacrifice. In reality, the only thing that makes me different from a woman sleeping in her car tonight is blind luck. Rain falls on the righteous and unrighteous, after all.

So yes, it is a shame that people in our country suffer every day, that they’re not getting the help they need. So what are we going to do about it, America?

What are you going to do about it, Emily?

Source: Camp Cocker, a Los Angeles based cocker rescue group who specializes in rescuing dogs from high kill shelters.

A friend on LiveJournal posted this sweet story. It made me cry (good tears!) and I think it will move you, too. I’m sharing it because I know folks often think that their little gifts are so insignificant. Making dinner for a family who’s lost a loved one, $5 to the local homeless shelter, a holiday card to a lonely neighbor - sometimes these small gestures are all we can give, and we feel as if it’s not enough. Perhaps we’re tempted to give nothing at all, because what difference will it make in the grand scheme of things? Well, this story will hopefully convince you that you don’t have to be Bono or Oprah to make a difference - those little gestures add up! So don’t wait until you’ve won the lottery to reach out. Give what little you can, out of the fullness of your heart, and be blessed by the good you do.

ETA: The fundraising goal was met in 18 hours. I dunno ’bout you, but I’m blown away. Feel free to give anyway - all funds over and above the original goal go to similar projects. Read the full story below (if you haven’t already).

From Jon Acuff at Stuff Christians Like*:

Out of nowhere, my daughters will say something that is punch you in the stomach profound and then do a ballet twirl and go play with dolls.

That’s just how they get down on a fairly regular basis, but one particular thing my oldest daughter said more than a year ago is refusing to let me go.

We were looking at a book on storms and came to a page about drought and famine. In the corner was a little boy who was starving. His ribs were sticking out and flies covered his small face. I kept flipping the pages but L.E. made me stop and return to that one. She asked, “What’s that?” I told her, “That’s a little boy who doesn’t have enough food to eat.” She thought for a few seconds and then responded, “That’s not real though. That’s pretend, right?”

Good lord. That’s one of those moments where parents get the depressing but altogether necessary job of crushing their child’s innocence. Yes, honey, it’s real.

When Jon’s daughter L.E. said that to him, he had something of an epiphany, and started thinking about what he could do to make things that shouldn’t be real… well, not real. Stuff Christians Like is an amazingly popular blog, and it occurred to him that maybe, instead of just using the internet to become quasi-famous and promote his new book, he could use his blog to do something really awesome for little kids who need some awesomeness.

Which is the short version of how Jon came to be raising $30,000 for a kindergarten in Vietnam. You can read about the project here and here, and you can donate here.

Just in case you’re wondering, Samaritan’s Purse, the organization through which Jon is raising this money and who will be doing the “real” work of building the orphanage, is a Charity Navigator 4-star organization, which means that they’re really efficient in using the money you give to do what they say they’re going to do. About 88 cents from every dollar donated goes directly to the project it’s earmarked for. So you can give to this project and know that you’re not actually donating money to the build-the-Acuffs-and-big-new-house fund or give-crazy-televangelists-more-dollars-for-annoying-telethons fund. Now that’s peace of mind.

And lastly, I just have to stand up and applaud Mr. Acuff for doing something so positive with his net-fame. Blogging is, in many ways, a totally self-interested occupation. We bloggers write posts about things that are important to us (and usually ONLY to us), and we welcome the accolades of strangers from around the globe telling us how clever and funny and thought-provoking we are. Some people actually make money from blogging (I have got to figure out how they do that, because honestly? Getting paid to talk about myself is my dream job). This is not to say that bloggers never write with a higher purpose in mind, such as raising awareness about certain issues, or encouraging people, or just making the noise on the net a little less negative. But this is the first time** that I’ve seen a blogger use his/her platform to do something big and awesome, and I’m real proud of this guy. Which is why I’m giving what little I can to this project.

What about you?

* Stuff Christians Like is a HILAAAAARIOUS blog about all the goofy crap that somehow came to be part of the churchy experience. If you’ve been part of a Protestant/Evangelical church for any amount of time, you’ll “get” SCL and you’ll LOVE it.
** Okay, that’s not true. Every year during Blogathon, bloggers the whole world over use their words to make a difference. However, this is the first time I’ve seen someone with real “blog-fame” use that fame for something so good. I’m sure others have done it before - this is just the first time I’m aware of it.

Pssssst! There’s more Quick Takes over at Conversion Diary. Check ‘em out!

Take 1: Today my company is having a fundraising picnic to benefit The ALS Association. For those of you that don’t know, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease) is “a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of … the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement.” I’ve personally known two different people who were diagnosed with ALS; one was an incredibly talented and kind man who passed away two years ago and the other is a young husband and father - my age! with two little kids! - who is still battling the disease. It sounds trite to say that these two wonderful people don’t deserve such horrible suffering, but it’s true.

The ALS Association’s mission includes not just medical research but support and assistance for ALS patients and their families. If you have the resources, would you consider donating to the ALS Association?

Take 2: A church in a bar? Yes, Virginia, it does exist:

[Kathy] Price, who grew up in her father’s street ministry and coffee house, said she watched her dad minister to the homeless and the lost, joking that the “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” A few years ago, Price said she became obsessed with the Catholic Saint Katherine of Sienna, a 14th Century figure known for preaching in pubs, and felt moved by the Holy Spirit do to the same thing.

I think it’s brilliant. I have often said that Jesus met people where THEY were. He didn’t sit in a tidy building with mauve carpet and oak pews, waiting for folksto show up at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning, in their best clothes with their hair combed just so. It’s become clear in the past, oh, half a century, that lots of people are interested in God and spirituality but totally disgusted with organized religion. Now, we could argue about how it’s unfair of these people to judge all Christians based on the bad behavior of a few priests and pastors and televangelists, and we could say that following Jesus is all about going outside of your comfort zone, and good golly, if people can’t be bothered to get up early on a weekend, how will they ever “die to sin” and “pick up their cross”? Those arguments ignore the reality that some people have been so damaged by religion that they just CAN’T meet God within the four walls of a local church - but they want to meet God. I believe that God “gets” that, that he’s providing new and different ways for people to get to know him.

Take 3: Has anyone read The Lost Symbol yet? Is it any good? I really enjoyed The Da Vinci Code (though the movie was a bit of a disappointment) and I thought Angels and Demons was really good, too (though slow at parts). I’m not sure I’m willing to pay full hardcover prices for the next installment in the saga, but if someone tells me that The Lost Symbol rocks like a Geo Metro driving 70 mph through a Nor’easter, I might be persuaded.

Take 4: On Tuesday, Jen at Conversion Diary posted an open call for folks who don’t celebrate Halloween to explain why. This is a touchy subject for me, because I was the daughter of someone who didn’t celebrate Halloween, and at age 30, I’m STILL a little annoyed about it. (Yes, I know I have issues, thank you.) I left a looooong comment about what it was like for me to be the only kid in my public school class to come in to school on November 1 without a big bag of candy, and it got me thinking about how parents sometimes make the mistake of expecting their children to become defenders of a faith that the kids don’t fully embrace or even understand.

Stay with me here: Becoming a person of faith (no matter what faith that is) requires a lot of thought, suffering through crises and recovering from crises, spending time on the mountain, communing with God, examining arguments, cycling through belief and disbelief, and eventually coming to a place where you feel like maybe you kind of know who you are and what you stand for. I think that some Christian parents (I can’t speak for other religions, as I haven’t discussed childrearing and religious instruction with very many Buddhist or Hindu parents) want to raise children who are “strong in their faith” but the parents’ interpretation of that is “never, ever questioning the dogma I’ve given them or straying from the path I’ve laid out for them.”

The problem is that no child will ever truly have a strong faith in ANYTHING if he doesn’t get a chance to question EVERYTHING. Questioning is hard for the questioner; how much harder it must be for the questioner’s mom and dad. We don’t want our kids to make bad choices. We don’t want them to reject the faith that means everything to us. But we have to let them dissect that faith and think about it critically if we want them to be able to believe it, and someday, defend it.

I don’t think I’m done thinking about this. I’m a little bit fascinated. Your thoughts?

Take 5: Remember how cute and teeny little Miss Anastasia was? Well, I took her to the vet last night and she now weighs 26.8 lbs. In the ten weeks we’ve had her, she’s more than quadrupled in size! The kicker is that I had her in the vet’s office LAST Thursday to be weighed so I knew which level of heartworm preventive to get for her, and at that time she only weighed 22.3 lbs. That’s right, y’all, she gained four and a half pounds in seven days.

She’s still cute as a button, though. And I found out something last night: those no-pull harnesses? I thought they were a gimmick, but they’re NOT. Ana was soooooo much easier to walk in her harness… though getting the harness ON her was a challenge

Take 6: To prove once again that not-so-old adage, “If you can think of it, it’s on the internet,” I present to you the crochet pattern for a bunny rabbit beer cozy. No, I am not lying to you.

Take 7: I’m having a baby! I debated about whether I should share this news on a public blog post. I mean, I’m only six weeks in, and I wondered if the entire internet needed to know my reproductive updates just yet. I thought, “What if something happens?” Well, if something happened I’d be really sad but I’d probably learn a few things and knowing me, I’d want to share those lessons with… well, the entire internet. And I want to share things with you now, like all the nifty baby websites I’ve found and the cool products I can’t wait to try out. Most of all, I just want to say: WOW. I’m going to be a mom. That thought is so big and so wonderful that I can’t keep it to just myself. It’s so wonderful that I kinda have to tell… the entire internet.

Photo credit: take 4 and take 7.