I just found an interesting online Bible quiz called What Do You Really Know About The Bible? which was put out by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. While their intentions was to attack the Bible while showing that the Bible is a best seller that is rarely read, I think there is still some value to it as it shows how easy it is for people to read their view into the Bible. While its true that most of the “correct answers” are taken out of context, I still think its an interesting exercise to see how well one knows the “letter of the Scriptures” even though its ultimately spirit of the Scriptures that matter most in the end. Regardless take heart as regardless of what your score is should you decide to take it, remember that its more important to know the Author of the Scriptures than the obscure passages that this quiz focuses upon.

My previous article on sweatshops got some interesting responses both in posted comments and conservations with others. To my surprise one female readers told me that as a result of the post she feels that she should give up underwear because she is unable to afford nor willing to pay $12 a pair for fair trade underwear; but that she is uneasy with the idea of going out into public without underwear. While my inclusion of Laura’s go commando for Jesus joke was intended cause people to remember the issue better, I am impressed that it has caused some to think about the issue enough to feel that taking it literally might be a first step in their Christian response to the issue. Just if you decide to go the commando route please be sure to watch what you wear without undergarments in order to remain modest and not accidentally flash others. However chances are you are among the majority of people who are not willing to give up wearing underwear in the name of fair trade practices even though it is technically not necessarily necessary. If you are like most Americans, chances are the vast majority, if not all of the clothing in your closet and dresser drawers was made in a sweatshop. Hopefully, this knowledge makes you at least a bit uneasy even if you do not see any practical alternatives given your budget and the shopping options in your area. Although what if there were some simple ways to make a difference, many of which would actually result in saving money instead of spending more? Then would you consider yourself more likely to consider taking action in the right direction? If so then read on as I’ve thought of a few ideas and if you have others please leave them below as comments.

First, avoid all or nothing mentality. While not going all hardcore for a cause, might make someone feel like a hypocrite at times it is important to remember that every little bit counts and makes a difference especially when others do the same. Consider how most Christians feel that daily Bible reading and prayer are important, yet pretty much everybody misses a few days here and there or even weeks at a time. Does this mean that any Christian who does not have a 100% daily Bible reading and prayer record is a hypocrite? No, and it does not mean that one should not do what they are able to do, even if it is less than they would ideally like to be doing. In a similar way keep in mind that while it is possible, just because it is not practical to go 100% fair trade does not mean that it is not possible for you to make a difference.

Second, use what you already have until it wears out. Simply because you have clothing that was sweatshop produced does not mean that it is wrong to wear it. Lets face it, even though human rights issues are important, they are other important social issues out there too like environmental issues. So just because something was made in a sweatshop does not mean that it needs to be destroyed or thrown out, which would be a wasteful thing to do given the natural resources and labor that went into creating it. So keep what you have to honor the labor of the sweatshop workers more than the owners did. As those workers probably in a way feel just like somebody who knits a sweater for somebody does not want it to be destroyed or thrown out before it wears out. The same goes to clothing that you have received as gifts that you are not able to return and gift cards, as the money has already been spend on supporting sweatshop labor so the product should at least be put to good use. The same goes for gift cards as the money has already been spent so even if it can only be redeemed for sweatshop goods it should be, lest its value go down as pure profit toward a cause of injustice. If you still feel a bit uneasy about it, use your clothing as a remainder to pray for the exploited workers who made the clothes that you are wearing instead of being wasteful in the name of justice.

Third, consider shopping at thrift shops. Thrift shops can be used as a creative halfway solution that both saves you money and does not support any company that uses sweatshop labor with your money in the process. While most of the more recently manufactured garments that you’ll find at thrift are most likely sweatshop made, as second generation owners there is a layer of separation between your wallet and the injustice which has taken place. If the idea of used clothing seems a bit strange to you keep in mind that a large number of that you can find at a sweatshop is in like new condition for a few dollars, a mere fraction of the original retail price. Also keep in mind that unlike retail stores, thrift shops do not have constantly shifting inventory so just because if they did not have what you were looking for does not mean that they still won’t in a week or two. A few weeks ago I checked out a local thrift shop to see what they had and within 5 minutes was able to find a few shirts that I could have very easily seen myself buying and wearing if needed more shirts. Also if you are concerned about what others might think if they know that you are wearing used clothing, don’t be as most likely they will not know unless you tell them or you run into somebody that you know at the thrift store in which case they would understand and not hold it against you because they are doing the same.

Fourth, view your wardrobe over the long haul. Even if you decide to strive toward a 100% sweatshop free wardrobe, keep in mind that it is a process. Most likely the clothes in your closet and dresser were bought over time and in smaller amounts so plan on doing the same as you strive to go sweatshop free. As before, you should not be wasteful in the name of fair trade so it might be best to set a goal of making a certain percentage of your incoming clothing as sweatshop free garments. Likewise given the increased cost of fair trade clothing as compared to sweatshop produced clothing it could take some time to be able to rework one’s budget in order to be able to do so.

Fifth, make due with less or without. Chances are if you are like most Americans you own a lot more clothes than you need and regularly wear only a relatively small subset of what you own. In theory most people could get rid of half of their clothes without making much of a sacrifice. So why not make a decision to stop buying unnecessary clothing by focusing primarily upon the creation of the small subset that you would actually wear on a regular basis. Sure this will most likely mean owning less clothes as time goes on but wouldn’t it be better to have a smaller number of well chosen and durable clothes that you love to wear than an entire closet full of average clothes and nothing to wear. Not to mention that the higher price of fair trade clothing, should one choose to go that route will also force most people to buy less overall. As to what is really necessary and what is not when it comes to clothing will depend upon the individual, their vocation and where they live. For example owning 5 pairs of jeans may not be necessary for somebody that wears formal clothing to work but may be just right for a general contractor who remodels bathrooms and kitchens for a living. Just like anything heavier than a sweatshirt may not be necessary for somebody who lives in Hawaii, while it is probably necessary for somebody in Alaska to own several heavy coats to layer on top of each other.

When it comes to the Internet it seems as if the less intelligent a topic is the more successful it will be and it turns out my blog is no exception. A few weeks ago I wrote an entry on sweatshops entitled The Big Mouth Of Our Wallets which was inspired by my friend Laura’s joke about setting up a go commando for Jesus day as the Christian response to sweatshop produced underwear. Today when looking over my blog’s statistics page I noticed that my blog was found twice by Google search for for “give up wearing underwear” where it made the number three hit. Upon further investigation I discovered that my blog also holds the number one Google hit for “go commando for Jesus”. And of course upon making this discovery I had to share it with Laura right away.

John: you’ll find this funny but your comment made it big on Google
John: Google “go commando for Jesus” with the quotes and see its the number one hit
John: on the somewhat more freaky note when reviewing my blog stats found that I got two hits from people that found it by a Google search of “give up wearing underwear” (also in quotes) which is the number 3 hit
Laura: oh my gosh
Laura: what did I do?!
Laura: wait, when I do go commando for Jesus it comes up with song lyrics
John: it needs to be inside the “quotes”
Laura: it comes up with 2 results
John: and the second one is a wife’s justification for skipping underwear when running late while getting ready for church
John: we have the number one hit
Laura: haha I saw
John: looks like we got the message out to anybody that decides to Google it
Laura: yup
John: ironic in a way how the Internet works
John: write a lot of serious entries and they get ignored but if you write a lighter one about underwear and going commando and it gets more attention
Laura: of course!
John: it also makes the first page of Google hits for your name too
Laura: …………
Laura: that’s new
Laura: oh my gosh!
Laura: hahaha
John: hope you enjoy your idea a lot because its now well attached to you
Laura: lovely!
John: plan on sharing your Google success with others?
Laura: hahaha I might…..

“Studies show that 45 percent of Americans say they never read a book. Worse than that, the National Commission on Excellence in Education reported in 1983 that the average college graduate does not read one serious book in the course of a year. You have too much to lose by not reading, and too much to gain by disciplined reading. Discipline yourself to learn by reading, and choose your books well. You will be able to read relatively few books in your lifetime, so read the best books. … Don’t waste your time on books you’ll regret reading when you look back upon them from the perspective of eternity. I believe in recreational reading. I don’t maintain that every volume you read should be didactic or even theological. There are books to be read for relaxation and refreshment. But even these should be edifying and help you in some sense to love God with your mind.”
~Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney page 232

Personally I was shocked to learn that most college graduates do even read a single book a year. Yet with the rise of the influence of the modern media it does not surprise me as its hard to compete with the special effects of Hollywood’s wizardry. Although it is sad in a way to think of how too many people consider the focus and thought required for reading literature too much work. When it comes to fine literature I have a feeling that while there are very few people that attack it and most will affirm it being worthwhile. Although I’m under the impression that very few people will take their view of fine literature seriously enough to actually go out and read some beyond what they were required to read while in school. So far in my life when it comes to fine literature there is one positive example that stands out to me and that is Dr. Duke Pesta, a Roman Catholic English professor that I had the pleasure of having for a Bible as Literature class at Ursinus college during the spring semester of my junior year in 2002. Dr. Pesta really excelled at bringing out the beauty and passion of the Bible’s text in a way that made you want to spend more time reading the Bible. His class was very reading intensive and forced me to read large amounts of the Bible on a schedule, greatly increasing my Bible reading attention span. Dr. Pesta’s lectures were also filled with literary images and references of how the Bible’s message had inspired great writers and how their images can help us think about Bible at times. Toward the end of the semester I visited Dr. Pesta during his office hours to ask him for a list of recommend books to read, due to his constant mentioning of literary references to various works that I was not familiar with. He was happy to comply with my request and during our talk he typed up the list in an email to me for safe keeping. Yet despite asking for the list I did not act upon it and actually forgot about it until I stumbled upon it yesterday as a memo file on my Palm Pilot and remembered how it got there. In a way its a miracle that that list has managed to survive for over 6 years in digital form given that the period included getting a new Palm Pilot when my old one broke and losing all of my old email messages a few months after graduating from Ursinus from my Outlook data files getting corrupted. Yet despite all the odds it has survived and come into the light at the time when I’m finally getting back to focusing more on reading that I was too busy to do during my seminary years. So here is this list of fine literature written by Christians and inspired by the Bible which I’m sure will meet Whitney’s definition of books that one will not regret reading on earth while in heaven.

The Religious Poems of George Herbert
The Religious Poems of John Donne
The Divine Comedy, by Dante
Paradise Lost, by John Milton
Paradise Regained, by John Milton
Samson Agonistes, by John Milton
Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan
“The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” (short story), by Dostoevsky
The Idiot, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Brother’s Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Faerie Queene, by Edmund Spenser

Well over two weeks ago on Trinity Sunday (May 18th this year) was also celebrated as Graduate Sunday at Wentz’s United Church of Christ, where this year’s graduates, myself included were honored. The service was well done and full of surprises especially afterward on the way out when I was intercepted by one of the women involved with the church’s knitting ministry with a scarlet red prayer shawl (to match the academic colors of seminary degrees) that she thought they were going to give me during the service in recognition of my advanced degree but it didn’t happen. Although in the end the part that stood out to me the most was the blessing upon the graduates which with a bit of online research turned out to be the Franciscan Blessing:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and turn their pain to joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

Amen.

Which also exists in a second slightly amplified form:

May God bless you with a restless discomfort about easy answers, half-truths and superficial relationships, so that you may seek truth boldly and love deep within your heart.

May God bless you with holy anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may tirelessly work for justice, freedom, and peace among all people.

May God bless you with the gift of tears to shed with those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, or the loss of all that they cherish, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and transform their pain into joy.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you really CAN make a difference in this world, so that you are able, with God’s grace, to do what others claim cannot be done.

And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator, Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore.

Amen.

In some ways I think that the Franciscan Blessing highlights what not only seminary education but also Christian education should look like. Those of you who have had more social contact with me during my time of seminary will know that as time went on during my studies that I’ve become more concerned about the dangers of oversimplification to the point of indifference in regards to nonessential issues, to the point of being wrongly accused of turning lukewarm by a few that did not understand. Early on during my seminary career I was a strong young earth creationist and led a science and faith small group to teach it as a volunteer with InterVarsity at Ursinus College. Yet now I have since changed from viewing theistic evolution and old earth creation as valid honest attempts to harmonize the scientific worldview with the Biblical one and have since shifted from considering myself a young earth creationist to a simple creationist as in God created the world as compared to naturalist evolution’s teaching that by random chance nothing exploded and created everything. The same goes with many other divisive issues within the church as instead of taking hard stands like I used to in the past, I can now name the Biblical basis of the strengths of the weakness of both sides of the issue and most likely come to the conclusion that neither side is completely right. In a similar way my one personal spirituality has expanded to the point that while I’m clearly most heavily rooted in the Reformed stream of church history, but I’m now willing than ever to study and apply aspects from other Christian traditions including Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox which I know would make some of my friends a bit uneasy if they knew the full extent of it. Yet I believe this broader devotional base has resulted in me having a fuller understanding of Christ given that the church is body of Christ which is not restricted among any one denomination but a makeup of them all together as one. I also feel that I’ve reached the point now that I regardless of what happens for me vocationally, which is still up in the air, that I would view my time in seminary earning my masters of Divinity to be worth it. I know that regardless of what happens that I will always be involved in some form of ministry and at the very least my blogging and little spiritual formation study and possible book project will not be going away. Yet beyond that I could potentially see myself being personally content to spend my entire working years in a secular job such as working in a tea shop till retirement. Not to say that I won’t honestly attempt to find a career in full time ministry. I have reached the point where I feel that my seminary education has made me a better Christian with my main focus to make a difference in helping other people and it no longer matters to me what I’m doing as long as its something that fits me as a Christian as part of God’s will.

When it comes to getting across causes of justice people often believe that there are strength in numbers which is true but in to the extent that we would like to believe. But then again maybe that is just because we are focusing upon the playing field of democracy when in reality the game is to be won or lost upon the field of capitalism. Therefore despite how many people one can gather in a rally to protest a certain injustice it will most likely fall upon deaf ears lest the political politicians hear and decide to take up the case for themselves within the government. Yet while shouts of outraged crowds often fall upon deaf ears; crowds of silent wallets roar every time they open their mouth to make way for paper money and plastic credit cards to exit. Consider the grave social injustice of economic slavery which exists in the use of sweatshops in third world countries so that people in the civilized world can have cheaply produced goods for less than their fair trade market value. Sweatshops work by creating social conditions that force people into jobs which pay below the livable wages with long hours and poor and often dangerous working conditions. Or in the terms of Biblical language its a living example of the rich exploiting the poor for financial gain, which is strongly condemened in both the Old Testament and New Testament. When it comes to sweatshops I am no expert but when the issue came up in a seminary class I took in the fall somebody who was more knowledge mentioned that virtually all underwear in the US was manufactured under sweatshop conditions. Shortly after that came up in class I talked my friend Laura Blauch who keeps up with social issues a lot better than I do to find out her thoughts on the issue. To my surprise she responded by saying that she would sponsor a “Go Commando For Jesus” day, which I found hilarious at the time and actually turned out to be a unique idea according to Google. Which in a way got me thinking of how far should one be obligated to go when it comes to opposing the oppression of sweatshops in the garment industry. So in a way if we were to get serious enough to set a date for a “Go Commando For Jesus” day to protest the sweatshop practices of the undergarment industry and get the word out to other Christians we could make a difference right? Actually in a way I’d doubt how much of an effort it would really have, as I’m fairly sure that the sweatshop issue to some extent would get lost in people laughing about not wearing underwear. Not to mention that most likely virtually everyone who took part in the anti sweatshop “Go Commando For Jesus” day would to back to wearing sweatshop underwear the next day. Later on in a follow up talk with Laura about the running “Go Commando For Jesus” joke, when I brought up the issue of how in a way the concept could have much larger of an impact if we were to make it a week or a month instead of a mere day. Given that a month would draw more attention and show that that the supports are more committed to the cause than a mere day. Laura seemed surprised at my idea asked me if I really want to go a month without underwear. I don’t mean to criticize Laura for her lack of commitment in viewing giving up underwear for a month as being too much but it goes to show where the real voice that brings change will come from. Yet this is the tricky matter as to my knowledge there is not a reliably source of “fair trade” underwear out there and very few people are willing to give up wearing underwear in the name of fair trade practices. Yet the same principal holds true to some extent with most economic related social justice issues. As a fair trade alternative will only exist if the companies of the garment industry believe that enough people are willing to speak up with their wallets in saying that they are willing to pay more for clothing if it comes with an assurance that buying it will not support exploiting others in the process. At the same time if anybody is committed enough to raising awareness to the cause by coordinating a “Go Commando For Jesus” month, go ahead and more power to you. Just please post a commend below to tell everybody about it as I’m sure others would like to hear about it.

As part of the graduation rehearsal and student facility at Biblical Theological Seminary we got a short talk from Eddie Gibbs, who will be the commencement speaker. The part of his talk that stood out to me the most was the part when he talked about the importance of the Bible and being rooted deeply in it. He also talked about marking up Bibles with notes and the personal problems that he started with it. The first being the need to throw out your Bible after every few years to prevent the notes from hindering his ability to read the text. The second being that he came to realize that it was the often the parts of the Bible that he didn’t mark up, didn’t like and even disagreed with were actually the passages that he needed to hear the most. While I personally don’t mark up my Bible because of how I don’t want my previous notes to influence previous readings, I found his observations of why he changed sides on the issue enlightening regardless of how one feels about marking up their Bible. He also briefly commented on the language masterpiece of the King James Bible, in how unlike modern translations it was the last Bible that was translated to be heard instead of read. Which is reflected in the rhythm of its language, which is lacking in the modern translation which according to him makes memorizing Bible verses much easier in the KJV than our modern Bible versions. I found it especially interesting observation but it seems to make sense as a few hundred years I know that most households would have only owned a single “family Bible” at most and how the thought of everybody having their own personal Bible would have seemed absurd throughout much of church history. Yet our loss of rhythm in our Bibles goes to show how we are no longer have much oral traditions within our society and how it might have affected the role of Scripture in our lives. Finally the last point that stood out to me was how Dr. Gibbs talked about how his reading of Scripture has changed over the years in the light of George Whitefield, who made an effort to pray the entire Greek NT verse by verse. As compared how our Greek, Hebrew and theology classes teach us how to dissect a Bible passage into little pieces to examine, but the problem is when you dissect something you kill it. He shared with us that he prays through a Psalm a day and aims to pray though the entire Bible once every three years. Honestly at first I was surprised that he read or should I say prayed through the Bible only once every three years, given the big emphasis by many on the importance of reading the entire Bible yearly. But than again it had me thinking about his earlier comment about getting deeply rooted in the Bible, and how spreading out one’s reading plan over three years instead of a year could likely be a better way of better understanding and talking to heart what they are reading.

Road Rage is something that we have been hearing a lot lately, especially with the newer anti-aggressive driving laws that have been passed in some states. Still I must be honest in saying that I do not completely understand how road range works in the people that have problems with it. In some ways I’m under the impression that believe that road rage might be a bit of a psychological disorder, yet if that is the case then does it make sense to pass laws against it. As if that is truly the case isn’t it as pointless as passing a law to make it illegal to be depressed and to subject people that are depressed to fines while rebuking them to cheer up and threatening further punishment if they don’t? Well neither do I, as if anything I think it might be boiled down to a matter of pride and having the wrong outlook on driving. Just think about the last couple car commercials that you’ve seen and chances are they were filled with images of how a certain type of car goes fast and give one an almost godlike image and experience while driving it. Yet we all know that driving is rarely a flawless experience for us as things like red lights and traffic jams get in the way between reality and the image that marketing gives us of what driving should be. Yet in reality as hard as it might be for some people to accept when driving you are not the only person out on the road nor does the highway revolve around your car regardless of what make and model you happen to be driving. Yet it seems as if our own driving style is the standard by which all others should be judged all too often or as George Carlin put it: “Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anybody driving faster is a maniac?” The other area that really gets to some people a bit too much is when somebody slows down suddenly or pulls out too close in front of them, and thereby cutting them off and forcing them sacrifice their plan in order to slow down in order to avoid a collision. Yet I’m sure all of us have also done the same to others when pulling out when neglecting to look or misjudging speeds and distances or when making a sudden turn and out of forgetfulness putting on our turn signal at the last minute to avoid giving much of a warning that you are about to slow down. Regardless in virtually all cases where somebody makes a mistake, the other driver reacts in time to avoid a crash. After which it is over and no longer an issue, so why does this cause such rage in people that somebody had the nerve to do to them what they almost certainly did to others themselves on other occasions? Yet even from the most self-centered point of view road rage does not make sense, as it lets the momentary mistake of someone else, get them pissed off for the rest of the drive, most likely long after the offender has even remembered how they pulled out a bit too slowly when making a turn. So how about an alternative way of viewing things that comes from watching children play – dodge ball. Sure its not a perfect mentality as in dodge ball unlike driving one tries to hit others in purpose but doesn’t that make it all the more insightful? As if in a game of dodge ball, someone comes close to hitting you but missing, its a given that one does not sand there and start screaming at the idiot for almost hitting them. As it not only makes sense, not to mention that the moment of blind shouting rage at the other person who missed them will only make them very vulnerable to others targeting them with an increase of scoring a hit. So why are so many “mature adults” unable to do the same when someone accidentally almost hits them, when our children are able to brush off missed intend hits as nothing or something to laugh about? As this is the real root of the road rage problem and until this is resolved there will be no real progress made.

I just learned about the TBR (To Be Read) Challenge site a few days ago and thought it would be a nice thing to pick up for the year even though its already April. Pretty much its a public challenge to make progress by naming 12 books to knock off one’s to be read pile in the year to come, with the option of also choosing alternative books. Sure I’m off to a slow start but that will just make it more of a challenge and I’m sure I can handle the increased pace.

1. The Pursuit of God by A. W. Tozer
2. Answering God by Eugene H. Peterson
3. The Spirit of The Disciplines by Dallas Willard
4. Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster
5. Spiritual Disciplines For The Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney
6. Ten Questions To Diagnose Your Spiritual Health by Donald S. Whitney
7. How Can I Be Sure I’m A Christian? by Donald S. Whitney
8. Simplify Your Spiritual Life by Donald S. Whitney
9. The New Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan with updated text by Judith E. Markham
10. The Sacred Way by Tony Jones
11. The Way of A Pilgrim And The Pilgrim Continues His Way by unkonwn - translated by R. M. French
12. Messy Spirituality by Michael Yaconelli

Alternatives/Extra Credit

1. Affluenza The All-Consuming Epidemic by John DeGraaf, David Wann and Thomas H. Naylor
2. The Book of Creation by J. Philip Newell
3. Listening For The Heartbeat of God by J. Philip Newell
4. Promptings From Paradise by J. Philip Newell

In the past I’ve written at least one post about the problems of consumerism. If this is a topic that interests you, check out The Story of Stuff a short 20 minute online documentary which gives the complete story of the shocking life of consumer goods and the darker environmental and social economical side to consumerism which all too often gets brushed under the rug as no big deal.