A follow up to the comment

Comment from Terry:

"Does being cycnical really equate to being negative? Does negativity exist only in a void of hopelessness? I am not sure if they are or aren't the same thing. Toward the end of his trials, Job was pretty down and negative, but I am not sure he did not have hope.

Anyways, enough I am rambling.........."


I don't know that cynicism equates to negativity, but it is definitely embedded in the prose of a cynic. Recall that the there first has to be an established level/standard of honesty or morality that is held in contempt in order to identify a cynic. I think negativity then becomes a catalyst or method of dissengaging from those levels.

I mean when we were kids and played "tag" there was a standard of not wanting to be "it" because if you were "it" then it meant that the others were not "it" and you would have to tag them to pass along the title of being "it" (I think I just set back the English language 5 years back with that sentence). We all accepted the standard that things were better if you were not tagged. If you were it, then you single purpose was to change the existence of those around you and the only way to be safe was to pass the identity to those who ran from you. Then haul ass away and make the pathetic defense of "no tag backs." No matter, even if you were not it, you had to constantly be on watch of getting tagged.

What I really mean is this...You are right that in the moment of being hopeless, you have a choice. To bring perspective down to a lowered standard where you exist or raise the standard to the point that you experience despair. It is using the negativity to bring life down to being tagged "it" using the negativity to make it seem that unless you have achieved a status, then your current existence is the same as being "it." Try this, can you find a trace of sentiment with the following statements, "it is never so bad that it can't get worse" or "No matter what I do, it just doesn't ever seem to be enough." Sorry this is so depressing right now. It'll change for the better in moment.

In fact, let's introduce Job as you mentioned earlier. As my a Sunday school teacher once said about him, "Job had a bad day." How he explained the loss of Job and the level of grief was lost in my adolescence. However, one message was clear, he had a bad day and yet upheld the honor of God. Let's establish a few things like the standard.

"In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil." - Job 1:1

In the exchanges between God and satan, there was the positioning of why Job was the way he was. We get a glimpse into the fact that Job was the man he was because of his relationship with God. That was the identity that did not waver in the midst of loss in the worst way. Even as his body was afflicted and even his wife bid him to curse God and die. Even his friends did not get it, but in the end fell in the level of doing what they thought was right in their eyes and were held accountable for those things.

"⁷ After the LORD had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, "I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. ⁸ So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has." ⁹ So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them; and the LORD accepted Job's prayer." - Job 42: 7-9

In the end, Job knew that one thing was crucial, his identity in God. Still, he did not wane, but had the integrity to uphold the honor of God as it was being challenged. In doing so, God blessed him and raised the level to a new standard. In that sense of it, I feel like Job never considered everything to be about himself and exclude God. So he was never "it" though we see him as the central characted in this story. To Job, this was still about God and so I don't know that he took the negativity and surrendered to despair. To be a cynic would have been an admission of doubt in God and compromising his own integrity of who he was in God.

That last line just brought my thought process to a halt.

Hope for the cynic

The following inspired line came up during a reflection moment in House Church.

"It would be my prayer request that we would rediscover the beauty of simple hope instead of
life through a cynical lens."

It was based from a consideration of the past year and the days ahead. We asked about prayer for those very things. Much was mentioned for the leaders of our country and church and the direction. But remember those who comprise a nation, in the words of John Mellencamp:

"From the east coast to the west coast, down the dixie highway back home...this is ourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr country."

Sorry, take the time to get another song in your head and come back when you are ready. OK, I meant to bring the point that it is the people. Yet, from the common people there is a mental stasis that exists in our status quo. That was a lot of words. Basically, what is the temperament or tendencies of the average? I have a buddy named Ryan who is one of the nicest guys in the world. He is one who makes me feel bad at how cynical I am. It is just that I tend to see the negative aspects or how every silver lining has a cloud, but I don't think I am alone in this. If anything, I see my friend in the minority. Another example is from Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update. There is a segment in that skit called "Really" where they track and make light of outcomes from mental lapses of people. They'll report about a situation and then mock the fact that there was a clear and obvious thought process that was clearly ignored that would have avoided an embarrassing situation. It basically says, "Really? Are you that stupid that simple common sense was so elusive?" Maybe I should take the Snuggie's value at face value, and not as a marketing ploy to make money from putting on a bathrobe backwards.

Getting back to it, what is the pulse of the the above prayer request? What comprises the elements of beauty in hope that needs rediscovering? Where lays the convexness of a cynical lens?

Here are some root pieces.
Hope: In Ephesians 1:18, we have been called by hope.
A certain life. A called life. A way to live. A beautiful life.

Cynical: howing contempt for accepted standards of honesty or morality by one's actions, esp. by actions that exploit the scruples of others.

In the ancient times, you could see 2 ways of life, those who did right in their own eyes (Judges 21:25) and those who did right in the eyes of the Lord (II Chronicles 34). A nation that went under years of strife from their own accord and the other was a time of restoration under eight year old King Josiah, who followed close to the God's teachings. I am starting to believe that the issue has to do with Christ being King and that He is calling us to a life of hope. Yet, life lived under what is right in our eyes seems to be the antithesis of that calling. Is that it? Is it really that simple?

Really?

Jesus and Bigfoot

So here is the follow up question.

During lunch one time with one of Terry's friend, Lucas. He convinced me that his personal belief of Bigfoot had been challenged after watching a documentary and doing some self research. He claimed an innocence to fact that he had never considered a truth simply because of the perceived notion of non-existence from the masses. Still, the masses have never delved or truthfully inquired to the mystery of Bigfoot. I was challenged that I had no empirical proof of Bigfoot, but acquiesced to the fact that no empirical proof exists to prove Bigfoot true. Then I thought about proof, perhaps if I saw Bigfoot in the zoo? Maybe if there was a reality show were Bigfoot has to live in a combination of Real World/Survivor/Surreal Life/Big Brother. Ok, where am I? Not sure I've asked a question yet.

Oh yeah, what I am getting at is I wonder if we keep approaching belief and relationships from a general consensus of the masses and not a context of discovery. Not discovery by conquering, but discovery of a shared life. Where you are invited to see the difference in how the sun rises and sets in the other lands and what happens in between those times. I think we want Jesus to be on Real World so that we can get an understanding of Him from a context we understand, yet somehow depreciating the invitation in scripture to live with Him. I understand who the people were expecting in a King as described in the Bible and why they didn't recognize Jesus at first. Maybe we are not much different in that we are missing so much more in discovering Him outside the context of how He fits in our world. I need to get a hold of this otherwise, it will be Bigfoot and Jesus in the next cast of Real World in my head.

So, can this form of counter-intuitiveness be traced to the fact that we want our Faith and elements of Passion, Truth and Joy to be cogs that operate in our world? I wonder if the reality of faith in God is that we need to collapse our world and step into His Kingdom? Perhaps going back to the point Amanda made about our upbringing. How does this change the "why we view the world how we do" conjecture?

There! Finally the actual follow up questions!

"If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary-wise; what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?" - Alice / Alice in Wonderland

Beyond Flushing

I should start with a disclaimer that I'm a bit of a poser traveler. I've done my fair share and try to engage the culture as much as possible for a single female out and about alone. But until I quit my job and head out with little plan other than to see life elsewhere, I consider myself a wanna be at best. Still, I've made some observations along the way, some of them mildly interesting just for the sheer novelty and others personally challenging, not because they pushed me out of my comfort zone, but because I was motivated to live life more fully. But none are simple as suggested!

A bit of background on where I draw my lessons - grew up in a small midwestern town, moved to a fairly small city for college and now life, "studied" in Australia for 5 months, spent a week at an orphanage in Jamaica, backpacked around the UK for a month, and spent a week in Nepal learning as much as possible.

I've encountered some surprises along the way. The PB and chocolate combination sounds repulsive to many people outside of the US (seriously, I found Reese Cups at a Target in Australia once and bought the whole box to make everyone try them - not one person was impressed). Outside North America people can't tell the difference between Canadians and Americans, but they will always go with Canadian as a first guess. I finally asked why - Canadians are offended if thought American, but Americans aren't bothered by being thought Canadian. Dinner time in a hostel is one of the most social events possible. People are fascinated by the prom - and yes, they believe it's just like the movies. Manpris (male version of the capri) are alive and well around the world. Blue jeans are not. And never, ever say "Fanny Pack" in Australia (not that you would ever have reason to) - trust me, it does not mean a convenient, albeit fashion risky, pouch for money and sunglasses there!

But these novelties fade. I often have to go back to my travel journals to remember them. Beyond the toilet swirling the opposite direction, there are cultural differences that have made a much deeper imprint on who I am. There are 3 I think of a regular basis, and this is my feeble attempt to describe them. I'll call them passion, truth and joy, and I see them all as facets of worship.

Passion - I have been privileged to meet people all over the world who are passionate about all sorts of things. Astronomy, the Titanic, and literature to name a few. And by passionate I mean they embrace the love of a very specific piece of life. Sure, I have interests - a lot of them. But I'm talking about a level of dedication beyond mere appreciation, moving toward fanaticism. Fanaticism in a good way that says, "I was made to appreciate (insert niche interest here), and I'm going to fully live into that!" I believe that God intends for our personalities to shape us, our relationship with Him and our ministry. What a cool way to worship our Creator. And I don't mean to imply that this level of dedication is a purely non-American trait. It just seems to me that the curse of "well-roundedness" can take away from the blessing that is nerdiness at its finest.

Truth - Until I left my bubble, I was never challenged to understand what I believe and why. I had never questioned how much of what I think about the world lies in my upbringing. The implications of that can be tackled elsewhere. But it is an interesting experience to visit a place where there is no pre-supposition about belief. Or where the pre-supposition is different than your own. Where the assumption is that people have real, tangible, experienced reasons for a way of life. Or where the way of life is interwoven with a cultural and belief system different than your own. If you had to start from square one in explaining to someone the basis for what you believe and your paradigm for life, where would you start? What's the foundation? When people start to ask you why it is that you view the world the way you do, you start to ask yourself.

Joy - This one has been less about geographical location and more about life placement. Meaning, it is always a shock to my system to encounter people who, by all worldly estimations, should be downtrodden and low. Yet there is a radiating joy in them that is beyond contagious. I will never forget the image of Jamaican orphans, living in deplorable conditions, singing and dancing as if the blessings they've received can't help but be expressed in worship. Or Nepali people with all odds stacked against them who start taking in orphans, because they can't stop thinking about it. These are the people that make me examine what in my life gets in the way of that kind of joy and gratitude. Maybe the better question is what gets in the way of the relationship that provides that kind of joy and gratitude. My mind understands that until I realize that my place in life is no different than theirs without Christ, I can't experience it, and my heart is trying to get in line with my mind.

And there it is. Definitely not comprehensive, definitely not completed. But more than the way water drains.

Flushing toilets

At times, I will watch the toilet flush and wonder what it feels like to flush a toilet somewhere else. Would I notice things like the way it drains clockwise in Australia? Although, I can't say I've had any revelations while flushing the toilet. Still, using the bathroom in a foreign country is always a different experience. I've heard that the toilet paper in Germany is narrower. In Japan some public women's restroom have a button you can push that mimics the sound of a flushing toilet to cover up any bodily noises (no worries, my sister informed me of this one).

Anyways, this is just a case in point. The point being that small things make the difference. The case being that culture dictates the small things...That made no sense. OK, what I mean is that even though I have traveled quite a bit, my perception is based from US standards. Germans might wonder at the extra width of US toilet paper and Japanese women may be more self conscious in the bathroom. Australians may consider the mysterious ways of the northern hemisphere. At least I find it be an enigmatic wonder.

To establish a little bit of a framework (cuz you always start on the borders when working on a puzzle). This is where we explore, time to find out what is out there. Go dig in the backyard or romp through the woods. Back in the day I would dig in the sandbox and find army men and toy cars that I buried a year earlier. Somehow an evergreen grew there and I always wondered if little green army men would sprout out...nevermind. So the hope here is to find where an interjection of culture might be competing with a life lived in faith. What challenges me is the way that faith gets lived out in other cultures. I read a book by a Swedish author one time and the manner in which he presented relational living was a little different than I would normally expect. It wasn't that it was another author writing another Christian living book, but a challenge of disciplines that were assumed by the writer from a different perspective of a different culture. This made me wonder about it. But first, let's discuss the intial encounters. It isn't always where the world feels round. It isn't till you encounter something so unique and different that you can't help but figure that it isn't just further down a linear measurement, but the other side of the globe.

I am asking my friend Amanda to help me. She is not only the giver of hunger satiating pop tarts to travelers, but a traveler herself. I visit places and take in the culture. She engages it. Backpacks and crossing borders are in her journeys. Plus she may agree with me when I say that peanut butter and chocolate should be considered a food group and that is close to validation as an expert on anything. As well, she's been to an underground jig. Yeah, that's pretty wicked sweet.

So Amanda, thanks for helping me sort out ponderous aspects of life that are elusive to me and simple to you and others. As part of an introduction, if you could delve a little into some of the surprising things that you have encountered in your travels and what you see as some of the bigger changes in your view of things. Then go with it and free style the rest :)