Si has a post with some reflections on justice and mission. It got me thinking. In it he mentions Greg’s question regarding the story of the leper from Mark2 Who brought whom to Jesus? Was it the four who brought the one or the one who brought the four?”

He’s tired, confused, and lonely. He’s not much older than 30.
No where else to go. He has six months to live.
A life of intoxication, maybe drugs, numbing his senses to the pain and rejection of this world… of his lifestyle.
Late nights? Women’s clothes. Transvestite.
He’s dying. There’s no where else to go. He has six months to live.
He can’t sleep. The haunting of death. The comfort of mom.
Delirium and tremors. Alcohol withdraw. Valium.
They comfort him. They love him. They change him.
He runs away for a drink. They lead him back. He has six months to live.
He’s gentle. He has a kind heart. He has a beautiful smile.
He receives the sacrament. They anoint his head with oil. He falls into their arms.
They carry him. They mourn him. He receives him.

After my crude attempts to put this to words, I think it is both. Thanks for the encouragement and the reflection Si. Keep writing.

It is the holiday season. I’m not feeling so festive this year. In the past couple of days I have witnessed more anxiety on the street, more road rage, and in general less consideration for others when out and about in public.

One day this week while headed home on 101 after work, I saw someone trying hard to prevent someone from merging into the lane ahead of them. Granted, this is nothing new in the bay area, but there was something slightly more aggressive about the behaviour.

Yesterday while lining up to get gas at a station just off of 101, I noticed some strange behaviour that may also have been related to holiday rush and anxiety. The station was full and people where waiting to get to a pump. There were a few of us lined up on one edge of the station lot. As soon as someone filling up left their pump, we witnessed someone come directly off the street and take the pump that several people were waiting for. In general, I don’t think you typically see this kind of behaviour out here. What made it unique, other than the disregard for the line that was forming, was the individuals apparent lack of awareness that a line was even present. Based on their behaviour, I don’t think they even noticed the line existed. Once they pulled in, they retrieved some items from the trunk and proceeded to study them for 4-5 minutes while sitting at the pump. To make a long story short, they didn’t end up pumping any gas. They just pulled into an empty spot at the station, put some thought into something, and then left without using the pump. All the while, I don’t think they were really aware of the people around them.

Was this just coincidental and strange behaviour? Perhaps. I think most would agree though that this is a hectic and stressful time of the year.

Is it worth it? Isn’t there another way? We Americans spend a lot of money this time of year buying things for people who really don’t need any more. How many of us have over stuffed closets and garages?

There are about 40 million people living below the poverty line here in America. There are roughly 1 billion people (or 1/5th of the worlds population) that live in abject poverty on less than $1 a day.

Isn’t there another way? It is estimated that ~$17 billion was spent on holiday shopping during the 3 day weekend after thanksgiving. If we say that Americans will spend around $100 billion or more this holiday season, imagine what would happen if we decided to give that as a gift to the poorest of the poor this holiday season?

Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:32-34

What if all of the followers and apprentices of Jesus were to give that money to the poorest of the poor this holiday season? What would that add up to? Maybe $10 billion? Maybe $20 billion?

I think instead of giving any gifts this year, I’m going to give money to the poorest of the poor in the name of my family and friends. Here are some ways we can give:

• Supply a village in Africa with some livestock or clean water. See the worldvision catalog.
• Help end world hunger at heifer.org.
• Help American families.
• Help hungry families in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties through Second Harvest.
• The red cross.
• Quake fund for Pakistan.
• National AIDS fund.

Maybe this will result in a little less anxiety on the streets and in the malls and little more consideration at the pump. What do you think? Will you join me?

This weekend, we kicked off a brainstorming session on creating a common life as apprentices in the way of Jesus. It was a fun beginning to what will probably be a lengthy process of both individual and corporate spiritual formation.

The discussions centered mostly around coming up with common, multi-layered rhythms that will be practiced by the community. The rhythms of the community will be inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus and fall more or less into six buckets or streams: centeredness, generosity, community, restoration, integrity, and creativity.

The rhythms of these streams will be practiced daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, etc. We will start off by focusing on a stream for 1-2 months like we did with the have2give1 project. As we focus on the stream for a few months and allow the project to challenge and shape us we hope to come up with daily, weekly, or monthly practices that can be incorporated into our daily lives. These practices will ultimately shape the vows of the community– the values and practices we commit to in seeking to be apprentices of the master.

We also took this opportunity to dive into a creative chemistry project– soap making. Ever since I saw fight club, I’ve had a passive interest in making soap. I also think it could be a interesting and creative way to make some money on the side. Imagine coming up with a funky concoction and convincing some swanky department store to sell it for $20.

Anyway, Lisa was telling me a few weeks prior to this trip that she has done it and that a friend gave her some supplies for making soap before leaving the area. She offered to guide us through the process using some of the materials she had left over. You just need some water, lye (sodium hydroxide), fats/oils, a fragrance and or texture, and about an hour. The recipe that Lisa was drawing from called for a cup of coffee grinds that had been sitting in vodka for 24 hrs as the fragrance/texture. Textured it will be. The coffee grinds are still intact in the semi-finished product.

One catch is that you need to wait for about 6 weeks before you use it. I’m assuming that the six weeks allows the lye to break down some so you don’t burn your skin.

I’m thinking about making this a series to collect and share my thoughts on each of the streams. If you have any thoughts on monasticism, intentional community, or soap making let me know. I’d like to hear about it.