Monday Morning Mentations
Why our children are educated at home:
5 Incredible and Unique Benefits of Homeschooling
1. Freedom to enjoy the process. Pressure is everywhere to be smarter, faster, earn more money, get independent, grow up, win, win, win. There is a perpetual push to strive for what we’re going to have tomorrow, and the sooner the better, because it’s tomorrow that will finally bring us happiness. That is total and complete baloney on Wonder bread. Homeschoolers can discover the joy that comes from not being in a huge rush to attain a goal, and be comfortable in the process. Life is a process. Getting the goal isn’t the good part, it’s the experience of working towards it that is exhilarating.
Why I don’t shop at Walmart:
Why Wal-Mart does not Strengthen our Economy
With its low price focus, Wal-Mart may appear to help the U.S. economy. But, the reality is that with its poor wages and benefits, massive China sourcing and tax avoidance, Wal-Mart makes its workers and the communities where it operates poorer.
As our nation’s largest employer and most financially-successful company, Wal-Mart is a singular American institution. It occupies a unique position in our world by virtue of its size, reach and responsibility for the livelihoods of millions of workers and the needs of billions of consumers. And with such overwhelming influence comes certain moral responsibilities. It is the acceptance or rejection of those responsibilities that determines greatness.
For the time being, Wal-Mart has rejected those responsibilities and because of that choice, the money spent there does nothing of what it could to strengthen our economy. Higher salaries, quality affordable healthcare and paying what they owe like any good American, are just three things Wal-Mart can do tomorrow that will make them a company worthy of our money.
Why I have dreads:
When You Find yourself having a Bad Hair Life, what do you do? You get yourself a new one.
They’re so cool: each dreadlock is different, has its own configuration, its own breadth and feel. It’s like having very safe multiple personalities.
Why I love NT Wright:
Trevin Wax interview with N.T. Wright on Surprised by Hope
Trevin Wax: In Surprised by Hope, you make a clear distinction between the terminology of “building the kingdom of God” and “building for the kingdom of God.” Why is it so important that we maintain this distinction?
N.T. Wright: The old social gospel from 100 years ago (though its best exponents were better than this) communicated to people a wrong message that went something like this: Okay, we’ve got to build God’s kingdom. The social gospel is a type of sociological Pelagianism, an attempt to pull society up by its own bootstraps. Of course, those efforts often colluded with a Western post-Enlightenment idea that said: Now that we have got modern science and technology and medicine, we are going to make the world a better place! We’ve had to learn painfully that “that ain’t necessarily so.”
Granted that, speaking of “building for the kingdom” is a way of saying what Jesus talks about when you give someone a cup of cold water. Good works will not go unnoticed, unrewarded. The deeds that one does in Christ and by the Spirit are not wasted.
The example I use in the book is about the stonemason who builds for the cathedral. The architect and the builder have the great design for the cathredal. The stonemason is just told, “You’ve got to carve this bit of stone in this way.” And the stonemason does that and then later looks up and sees his stone halfway up in the cathedral and thinks, “Wow! That’s my little bit up there! And look, I now see how it fits into the greater pattern.” We are building, like the stonemason, for the kingdom rather than us actually doing the building itself.
We don’t know how the kingdom works. Take Jesus’ parables about seeds growing secretly and small seeds becoming mustard bushes and so on. The kingdom is always a surprise to us, which keeps us humble. The danger with “building the kingdom” language can make us very proud. “Building for the kingdom” keeps you humble. It says, “These are your tasks; you’ve got to get on with them. How God puts them into the eventual construct is completely his business.”
I started to leave a comment and then my screen flipped out on me. Perhaps you got the first part so I’ll continue with my thoughts here.
Walmart: I agree with you 100%. I’ve been trying to spend more of my dollars in places that will benefit individuals rather than corporations.
Dreads: Probably not for me but yours are adorable!!!
Have a wonderful day!
Now I see that my first comment did NOT go through so I’ll try again.
Homeschooling: I am grandmother of three and my daughter recently told me she was considering homeschooling her two children when it is time for them to start school. Her reasons are that she is fearful that the outside world will have a negative influence on her children. I used to think that homeschooling was the way to go for Christian parents, now I’m not so sure. Like you said, I’m having lots of thoughts and lots of questions with very few answers these days. I think that’s why I’ve been enjoying your blog so much. I am so fearful of the exclusionary thinking some of the conservative churches encourage. For me, it had serious consequences in that I gave up my right and my ability to have my own thoughts and opinions about issues. But that, of course, is a personal issue and I will support whatever decision my daughter makes.
Peace to you!
I like your dreads a lot, I think they are the cutest one’s I’ve ever seen.