Packaging the Project (Part II)

I’m pondering all this because I’m trying to “name and frame” an outreach effort that’s in the building stage.  It combines perspectives from authors/experts like Wendell Berry, Michael Pollan, Matthew Crawford, E.F. Schumacher, Aldo Leopold, and John Leeke.  I guess where Jesus comes in is that these writers have been, for me, key influences in the questioning of Post-war cultural imperatives:  more, bigger, faster, cheaper.  By releasing us from the urgency of this concept of “progress”, they allow us to question our assumptions.  There are a lot of bad ideas that can be accepted in the name of a vague concept like progress.  Holding the concept and goals of “progress” at arms length opens up some new perspectives.  There’s an implication in the writings of each that there’s a better alternative that does not require the machinery of more, bigger, faster, cheaper.  It’s one thing to innovate and solve problems, but it’s another to think that those innovations define progress or generate fulfillment.  They will generate a temporary sense of fulfillment actually, if we listen to the explicit and implicit supporting messages, and that’s the problem.  There’s something about buying into that kind of fulfillment that keeps people from staying or getting connected with God.  It seems that the further we are from God’s provisions, or the more we focus on man’s capabilities or innovations, the less we connect with the Creator.

The ironic good news is that it seems like we live more sustainably, with better stewardship, as we learn to enjoy food and the existing beauty (natural and man-made) more; and at the same time we are drawn closer to God.  Win, win, win.  But I think we could have more Christians offering this to society so that the connection to God is clearer.  In the earlier post “There’s Gold in this God Thing”, I made the point that the demand seems to be strong enough to financially support this effort on the part of more Christians.

From my daily scolding by Oswald Chambers (he’s my favorite, but some of you know what I mean) we’re supposed to be about much more than meeting the physical needs of people.  We’re to be looking for obstacles to the Gospel message.  Times have changed since the New Testament was written.  Mention the usual Christianese, and not only do most not understand, they are turned off because of other societal issues.  So, we can’t just feed the hungry, and we can’t even feed the hungry plus “share the Gospel” in the usual way, at least in my mind.  But we do need to make disciples.  How do we cut through the obstacles or undo the damage?  We’re not seen as “good” because we don’t have the right political views.  “How can they be good if they believe that…”  Hmm.  I’m not really frustrated by this, and I know that we’re not alone in the battle : ).   I’m just thinking.  I realize I haven’t answered my question from Part I yet, but I’m getting close.

Packaging the Project (Part I)

I’ve been intrigued by the implications for saner living ever since the food movement started. It’s not that all fans of the food movement want simpler, less materialistic living, but it has shown the potential for providing temporal fulfillment in a simpler way.   And it’s not that I’m suggesting that it’s a “make the world a better place” revolution, I just think it has important spiritual benefits for many people, along with stewardship benefits.  It’s not just the food movement, and it’s not just the intentional “voluntary simplicity” crowd.  Preservation, repair, farm stays, the beer movement, general entrepreneurship, etc. -all seem to be related.   In my mind, it’s a trend that’s been growing for the last five years or so.  It’s not for everybody, but it’s a stable trend it seems, and it provides opportunities for Christians I think.
By this I mean:

1.  The alternative, too much focus on market offerings, keeping up with the Jones’, etc., steals time and focus from more important things -in our minds and in our physical actions.  A common sermon topic, I know.

2.  It also, thanks to social intuition and marketing, makes us distort our sense of well-being to the world’s tastes.

3.  “The world’s tastes” at the moment (slow movement/food movement), are actually helping many people pare down.  Some hipper types are even “keeping down with the Jones’” it seems.  This crowd includes hipsters to yuppies, at least.  This is why I think there’s an opportunity for Christians.  It’s a little like the opportunity/goodness I see in yupsters’ embracing folk music.  Even this hipster-folk has an acknowledgement of a need and search for meaning.  That’s not usually a strong element in popular music, and I’m glad to see it.  I don’t have the post right now, but I also read an essay on marketing trends a year or so ago relating to people’s growing desire for “things that matter” in the way of decorating.  The trend is toward things that have meaning through historical connections, family, method of manufacture, etc.  “Stuff that means stuff” I would joke -but it’s true.

4.  The opportunity is partly just that it’s popular to look for something to do that “matters”, but it’s not the doing that strikes me, it’s the fact that more people think they should -and this leads to “why” and “what is our purpose” type conversations and thoughts, which is great.  This is a two-edged sword though.  On one hand, these thoughts can lead to God (as opposed to being distracted by keeping up all the time).  On the other hand, “believers of atheism” are happy to prove that they can be wonderful and nice and meaningful without the baggage of the Christian faith, i.e. constraints and unpopular political positions.

So, I see this period as an opportunity but also an obligation.  Yupsters see a hurting world and they see that they can do something positive.  They sense or buy that rampant materialism has had negative consequences on people and the environment, and that the “philosophy” of wealth accumulation via Ayn Rand is not as satisfying as it’s been touted to be -that there must be more to philosophy.

So for a distinctive Christian mission/outreach, it’s not just feeding the hungry, although that’s a fine cause.  It’s not any one or combination of feeding/clothing/sustainable living/educating children/etc. partly because all those things are done by nice and responsible atheists.    My point is that it would be nice if this desire to “make the world a better place” led people to Christianity, and it used to for many.  But as the desire to help has become popularized, so have the opportunities to fulfill that desire become more secular. An updated “Screwtape Letters” might include this phenomenon.  It would be easier if a serious consideration of the Gospel message and need was brought on by a sensed need to serve the needy.  The two are completely separated now it seems.  And for youth with media-assimilated sensibilities, why choose to serve through a “backward” Christendom when one can serve through a “more tolerant, more enlightened”, organization?

“There’s Gold in this God Thing”

Sort of a Homer Simpsonian way of expressing the opportunity I referred to in the first post.  The point of it is that it seems like this window of opportunity is perceptible even from an unspiritual point of view –implying that there’s an even more compelling pull, or duty even, to the spiritually minded.  I hesitate to use the word duty, but that’s the way it strikes me, for me, and not necessarily for others

The opportunity I referred to in the first post has to do with the larger culture’s growing interest in creation oriented enjoyment.  Examples of this range from the increasing popularity of farm stays, to hiking, to the food movement.  So many of these new appreciations represent a turning away from the more/newer-is-better compulsion in favor of a “deeper” experience.  Sure, some of it is simply trend following, but I think there’s been a genuine healthy shift in our collective subconscious for several years.  And the “gold” is that, I think, believers interested in a sort of ministry (intentional or casual) that caters to this can now make a sustainable living.  We can now earn a living while promoting the beauty and health and wholeness (along with some God-given human creativity) of the agrarian life -integrated with a thoughtful, compelling faith.  A large crowd is interested in both.  Faith has often come from the meeting of perceived need(s) and appetites, and there’s a helpful one out there today.

I refer to the shift as healthy from a few different perspectives, but I’d better get into what I think our opportunity is, and that is hospitality-oriented endeavors connected to creation-oriented “leisure” or enjoyment.  Full service God-honoring restaurants, B&B’s, campgrounds of various themes, farm camps, etc.  In the past, the demand for these establishments wasn’t strong enough to justify the economic risk, but I think that has changed.  Some will see the trend as dependent on what the larger economy provides in the way of disposable income, but I don’t think that’s the case, because there’s a deeper, less-is-more sentiment that’s weakening our 80+ year old paradigms about progress and need.

I should add that I have an aversion to the politicized and standardized Christianity and its “platforms” in the culture war, which I do believe exists (although Andy Crouch’s Culture Making uses a much better approach and metaphor).  This is relevant because the greatest opportunity doesn’t seem to be in a down-home, good-enough-for-Grandpa attitude, which is what I sense in politicized Christianity at times.  That’s a whole other topic, and while it is related to this post, I’m not going to develop the thoughts on that this time.  Let me just leave it at the observation that while simple faith is fine and healthy at some point and for many people, St. Paul among others, seemed to sense the need for a more thought-provoking appeal.  The days of spreading the Gospel by quoting Bible verses and repeating Christian jargon are over, if they ever existed –again, IMHO.  Boy, I’ve gotten into it now –maybe more on that later.  Thanks for reading.

Retreats!

It struck me last summer that our culture seems to be in a unique place.  There’s been a wave of renewed appreciation of “the outdoors”, simple pleasures, natural beauty, and a sort of wholesomeness that those things bring.  I’m amazed that, once again, my growing interest in this area (which seemed to be my own little thing several years ago), was actually part of that “collective subconscious”  -what I used to call “spores” of a new trend.  A lot of credit has to go to writers like Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry, and Joel Salatin, among others of course. Rod Dreher made me aware of the strength of the movement even in conservative families with “Crunchy Cons: ……”   I believe it was Rod’s book (maybe his first blog?) where I first saw the term “Distributism” as suggested by G.K. Chesterton and others about 100 years ago -and there’s wide interest in that now, though I’m reluctant to give OWS credit for anything.  Incidentally, I thought the movement was more of a “trad-con” thing than a “liberal” thing, maybe based on some of the key authors and from reading Rod’s blog around 2007(?).  We seem to be strengthening our connection to the E.F. Schumacher “Small is Beautiful” prescription -and that’s wonderful for both large and small towns (and those living between the towns).

Where do retreats come in?  Well, whether the perspective is from a Christian point of view, humanitarian, environmental, or economic development (I sort of wince at that term, but it’s not always bad), this movement (food, sustainable ag, simple living,…) provides opportunities that I don’t think we’ve seen before.  Vacation time isn’t just spent on the traditional “resort” anymore.  So many people are looking for experiences -immersion in this new sub-culture.  The trend has provided a new value to the basic but integrated farm and rural area around it.  The trend has also made it attractive to come out to God’s creation and love it -maybe developing an openness to God.  I started trying to develop a retreat a few years ago based on this -maybe it will finally open next year.  The site is at what some of us call “The Green Spot” south of Chicago about 80 miles (and very prominent on Chicago weather maps as we’ve seen!) That’s what much of this blog is going to be about.  I apologize for the rambling, lack of cohesion, ….  This is my first entry.

I restore windows and doors (former HS science teacher wondering about teaching again…), and that’s what I’d better be off to now.  More soon.