Today the Dallas Morning News issued its traditional annual award of Texan of the year. The winner: the city of Houston. (The "proof of the world's impending end" bit is about the traditional rivalry between Houston and Dallas; Houston is the larger city but sits on coastal swampland; Dallas has all the glamor. I really never thought I'd see the day when the Dallas newspaper praised Houston.)
Really, those outside the city have no idea what we've been through this year. Right after Katrina I reported the original estimates that we had 100,000 guests from New Orleans and vicinity; we now know that the original estimate was far too low, the real number having been closer to 300,000 unexpected guests come upon us in a single week. Some went home when they could. But between Katrina and Rita which devastated neighboring Beaumont, we have now around 150,000 new permanent residents more than we had a few short months ago. To say it has been a long haul and a struggle these last months would be a stunning understatement. But Houston has always been fond of its neighboring cities along I-10, Beaumont and New Orleans, and we would never dream of turning away our guests. Most of the 150,000 still here plan on staying.
My only regret in Houston taking the top spot for Texan of the year means that we bumped Lance Armstrong down to the #2 spot in what, in any other year, would have been his year. Lance has the same Texas spirit: "I don't care what the odds are, I'm planning to win anyway."
Selected previous posts on Houston's year
August 31, 2005 with caravan of 500 buses on the way
September 2, 2005 roundup of best efforts; estimates of 100,000 guests
September 18, 2005 A look inside a megashelter
September 28, 2005: my next-door-neighbor's life saved by 4 Katrina evacuees during the Rita evacuation
So this year Houston saw the largest shelter effort in American history, followed immediately by the largest evacuation in American history (away from Houston as a Category 5 storm took aim at us), and a trip to the World Series.
The massive effort to cope with the new population is far from over. We're scrambling to increase our police force and other services. But having some recognition -- especially from a customary rival -- was very touching and welcome.
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Friday, December 30, 2005
Stewardship and Sovereignty
It is an amazing thing that God should entrust the works of his hands to us. This world rightly inspires awe and wonder; yet God has put the world and its creatures into our hands (Genesis 1:28, Psalm 8:6-8). He has also assigned us stewardship or management of our homes and families, our possessions and our days. In many places God's relationship to his people is portrayed as that between a landlord and tenants from whom he expects good management, or between a master and servants to whom he has entrusted his business.
Since mankind generally rebels against God, our being in charge has been more of a curse than a blessing. In the account of man's fall -- whether you take it as allegory or as literal the point still remains -- God had already given mankind dominion in this world, had already made us in the image of God; but we were greedy for more. We didn't want dominion under God, but dominion instead of God, free from God, in place of God. When power is no longer exercised in recognition of God's dominion, power itself becomes corrupted, as they say that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.1 But it was not power that corrupted us; we corrupted it. We have developed ideas of power and its use that are alien to God. We imagine that power is used to exalt the one who has power, that the glory of the powerful is to always get his way at the expense of others. The lords of the Gentiles lord it over them. But not so with us. The great will be a servant, and the greatest will be slave of all. We know this because the Lord of All laid aside all the trappings and benefits of power to save us; he taught his disciples about being a Lord -- the true Lord, the Lord of Lords -- by dressing in a towel and washing feet. Christ keeps finding ways to get through to us. His humility and love humble us and point us the right direction about managing our trusts under God. More could be said about using our trusts in service of others, in reverence for God, and in a shrewd way ...
More in a related post about the parable of the talents: God's Investment in the World.
1 - As a case in point about how even our ideas about power are twisted, I remember a definition given me in a college sociology class: the amount of power that Person A has over Person B is the amount of resistance on the part of Person B that can be overcome by the force of Person A. Seems reasonable until you see the Lord of Lords washing feet. Then you start thinking in terms of the amount of power Person A has to help Person B, or befriend him, or otherwise be some good to him.
Since mankind generally rebels against God, our being in charge has been more of a curse than a blessing. In the account of man's fall -- whether you take it as allegory or as literal the point still remains -- God had already given mankind dominion in this world, had already made us in the image of God; but we were greedy for more. We didn't want dominion under God, but dominion instead of God, free from God, in place of God. When power is no longer exercised in recognition of God's dominion, power itself becomes corrupted, as they say that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.1 But it was not power that corrupted us; we corrupted it. We have developed ideas of power and its use that are alien to God. We imagine that power is used to exalt the one who has power, that the glory of the powerful is to always get his way at the expense of others. The lords of the Gentiles lord it over them. But not so with us. The great will be a servant, and the greatest will be slave of all. We know this because the Lord of All laid aside all the trappings and benefits of power to save us; he taught his disciples about being a Lord -- the true Lord, the Lord of Lords -- by dressing in a towel and washing feet. Christ keeps finding ways to get through to us. His humility and love humble us and point us the right direction about managing our trusts under God. More could be said about using our trusts in service of others, in reverence for God, and in a shrewd way ...
More in a related post about the parable of the talents: God's Investment in the World.
1 - As a case in point about how even our ideas about power are twisted, I remember a definition given me in a college sociology class: the amount of power that Person A has over Person B is the amount of resistance on the part of Person B that can be overcome by the force of Person A. Seems reasonable until you see the Lord of Lords washing feet. Then you start thinking in terms of the amount of power Person A has to help Person B, or befriend him, or otherwise be some good to him.
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Living the Faith: In Search of Christian Leadership
The emergent church movement has gotten a lot of press -- including some criticism that it does not define its theology. The emergents pride themselves on being defined not by "orthodoxy" but by "orthopraxy" (right practice), the buzzword of the day.
I am sympathetic towards the call for action. But is the emergent movement the home of a new kind of Christian? Not to pick on Brian McLaren too much in his unofficial leadership of the emergents, but I see him publishing books and going on speaking tours; from where I sit he looks very much like every other person earning a living by touring and proclaiming his own spirituality. I would not dream of denying his good motives; anyone who reads his writings will quickly recognize his kindly spirit. I was just hoping that the emergent church, with all its emphasis on living the faith, with all its well-practiced digs at those who merely study and talk, would itself do something more than study and talk about how we ought to be living.
Now if McLaren or his ilk would be the one -- some visible figure in the church needs to do this -- to go down to the Gulf Coast, possibly the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain (the ghost town formerly known as New Orleans) and the obliterated towns nearby -- and help rebuild, then he would find that he has more Christians sympathetic towards "orthopraxy" than he could count. If he were to spearhead the clearing and rebuilding efforts, coordinate the numerous volunteers already there in small groups and the more who plan to come, catalog the needs and give us a webplace to sign up, call us to use our summer vacations and come through in shifts, he would be doing a useful service. For that matter, if the Archdiocese of that heavily Roman Catholic area would do the same, or the Pope would set up an effort and issue an open call for help to the Christians of North America, he would quickly find how little our theological differences divide us in times like this. Our Christian leadership seems to accept marginalization -- and it directly hinders our effectiveness in helping people.
Some people looked at the recent disasters along the Gulf Coast and lamented the failing of government; fair enough. Many have looked at the same scene and have admitted the great worth of the religious efforts; again fair enough, we were there for the Louisianans when their government was not. But I still say the church is suffering from a mind-blowing lack of leadership at the higher levels. All it would take to accomplish so much would be one leader, someone who already has our ear, to say "Let's roll" and devote the next year of his life to the effort as a national volunteer coordinator. Is anybody out there? Does anybody have the ear of someone who could pull it off?
I am sympathetic towards the call for action. But is the emergent movement the home of a new kind of Christian? Not to pick on Brian McLaren too much in his unofficial leadership of the emergents, but I see him publishing books and going on speaking tours; from where I sit he looks very much like every other person earning a living by touring and proclaiming his own spirituality. I would not dream of denying his good motives; anyone who reads his writings will quickly recognize his kindly spirit. I was just hoping that the emergent church, with all its emphasis on living the faith, with all its well-practiced digs at those who merely study and talk, would itself do something more than study and talk about how we ought to be living.
Now if McLaren or his ilk would be the one -- some visible figure in the church needs to do this -- to go down to the Gulf Coast, possibly the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain (the ghost town formerly known as New Orleans) and the obliterated towns nearby -- and help rebuild, then he would find that he has more Christians sympathetic towards "orthopraxy" than he could count. If he were to spearhead the clearing and rebuilding efforts, coordinate the numerous volunteers already there in small groups and the more who plan to come, catalog the needs and give us a webplace to sign up, call us to use our summer vacations and come through in shifts, he would be doing a useful service. For that matter, if the Archdiocese of that heavily Roman Catholic area would do the same, or the Pope would set up an effort and issue an open call for help to the Christians of North America, he would quickly find how little our theological differences divide us in times like this. Our Christian leadership seems to accept marginalization -- and it directly hinders our effectiveness in helping people.
Some people looked at the recent disasters along the Gulf Coast and lamented the failing of government; fair enough. Many have looked at the same scene and have admitted the great worth of the religious efforts; again fair enough, we were there for the Louisianans when their government was not. But I still say the church is suffering from a mind-blowing lack of leadership at the higher levels. All it would take to accomplish so much would be one leader, someone who already has our ear, to say "Let's roll" and devote the next year of his life to the effort as a national volunteer coordinator. Is anybody out there? Does anybody have the ear of someone who could pull it off?
Christian Carnival #102
This week's carnival is up at The Secret Life of Gary. My favorite of the week: Touching the Face of God over at Penitent Blogger. Maybe just because I've been reading Coleridge again ...
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Christian Art Carnival ... er, Round Up
Awhile back I mentioned starting a Christian Art Carnival, to be posted December 28th. I suppose if I got out of my theological ghetto more often, I'd have known that there are Christian art contests already. Thanks to the kind people who pointed me the right direction. Along the way I made some good discoveries -- not the least of which is that artists are more likely to insist on being paid than bloggers -- but the better finds were in the artwork.
Christian Art Contest
Artists for God already has an art competition which would make a mere carnival superfluous. Some of my personal favorites are 0 A.D. by Isaac Waupio and The Invisible Kingdom by Jason Roberts. You have to click the "Close up" button above the pictures to get a decent view. And IMHO they missed the best pick for winner in Camille Barnes' entry.
But there was more good stuff than just the art competition. I've divided up my finds into popular iconography, noteworthy amateurs, professionals, and miscellany.
Popular Iconography
Besides my own roundup, Matt Stone has been doing a roundup for awhile. He has collections of African icons, Asian icons, Native American icons and a few other categories if you have the time. My favorite of them all was a Madonna and Child by Gary Chu in Hong Kong. This Asian resurrection icon by He Qi is a close second.
I should note that, if you really want African Christian art, nobody beats Vie de Jesus Mafa. The cover page is an African rendition of the Lord's Supper. In honor of Christmas, I'd like to highlight one of the Nativity pictures. Their whole collection is well worth the time.
Noteworthy Amateurs
The blogger Alexandra at All Things Beautiful has a gorgeous original graphic to head her open-thread conversation on the Trinity. It makes my little candle look like my children's fridge art.
Poyema has a modernist / symbolic style.
Those into synergism and symbolism will enjoy Messiah Song over at BAMGallery.
Yvonne Bell also does a fresh take on icons, of which my favorite is "He Took the Cup". She might possibly belong in the professionals category ...
Professionals
Eldona Hamel does some very impressive bronze sculptures.
David Hetland has a beautiful collection of murals with a liturgical emphasis.
John August Swanson's style is more of a nouveau icon approach.
Miscellany
For those who want to bring the art home, Domestic Church has a do-it-yourself Christmas triptych for crayons, children, and the art's ultimate home on your refrigerator. (You have to click on page 1, page 2, and page 3 separately to get the full picture of the triptych.)
For other modern uses of art, there are clipart galleries such as Watton on the Web.
And that's it
If you know of other good sites and artists, please drop me a note.
Christian Art Contest
Artists for God already has an art competition which would make a mere carnival superfluous. Some of my personal favorites are 0 A.D. by Isaac Waupio and The Invisible Kingdom by Jason Roberts. You have to click the "Close up" button above the pictures to get a decent view. And IMHO they missed the best pick for winner in Camille Barnes' entry.
But there was more good stuff than just the art competition. I've divided up my finds into popular iconography, noteworthy amateurs, professionals, and miscellany.
Popular Iconography
Besides my own roundup, Matt Stone has been doing a roundup for awhile. He has collections of African icons, Asian icons, Native American icons and a few other categories if you have the time. My favorite of them all was a Madonna and Child by Gary Chu in Hong Kong. This Asian resurrection icon by He Qi is a close second.
I should note that, if you really want African Christian art, nobody beats Vie de Jesus Mafa. The cover page is an African rendition of the Lord's Supper. In honor of Christmas, I'd like to highlight one of the Nativity pictures. Their whole collection is well worth the time.
Noteworthy Amateurs
The blogger Alexandra at All Things Beautiful has a gorgeous original graphic to head her open-thread conversation on the Trinity. It makes my little candle look like my children's fridge art.
Poyema has a modernist / symbolic style.
Those into synergism and symbolism will enjoy Messiah Song over at BAMGallery.
Yvonne Bell also does a fresh take on icons, of which my favorite is "He Took the Cup". She might possibly belong in the professionals category ...
Professionals
Eldona Hamel does some very impressive bronze sculptures.
David Hetland has a beautiful collection of murals with a liturgical emphasis.
John August Swanson's style is more of a nouveau icon approach.
Miscellany
For those who want to bring the art home, Domestic Church has a do-it-yourself Christmas triptych for crayons, children, and the art's ultimate home on your refrigerator. (You have to click on page 1, page 2, and page 3 separately to get the full picture of the triptych.)
For other modern uses of art, there are clipart galleries such as Watton on the Web.
And that's it
If you know of other good sites and artists, please drop me a note.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Christian Humanism?
"I believe in man," I have seen a secular humanist write. That was especially ironic from one who said that mankind's horrific evils were reason to reject belief in God. Christianity values humanity made in the image of God, even if that image is now tarnished; but we are at odds with this humanism's naive optimism about the human condition and its faulty evaluation of what brings out the best in mankind. And should mankind have the position on the top of the pedestal where we tend to put ourselves? Here I will sketch out not exactly a Christian humanism but a few points about why following Christ makes for better humans than such humanist systems.
Mankind's problem with evil
Mankind is responsible for more acts of hatred, spite and oppression than can easily be counted. As followers of Christ, we start with an honest acknowledgment that mankind has done horrible things and (contrary to the relativists) that these things are genuinely wrong. We are also instructed to resist the temptation to scapegoat other people, but instead to honestly search our own hearts and minds for the evil that lies there and for our part in the problem of evil.
The relativists who do not acknowledge anything as genuinely good or evil have a problem deciding on a direction away from evil and towards good. How can someone decide what is "better" without a concept of good in the first place? As Christians, we are in a stronger position to make progress by having an objective concept of good and evil. We are also in a better position to assert mankind's worth even in the face of our real problem with evil, already having an understanding of mankind's condition that acknowledges both the good and evil within us. Secular humanists sometimes deny that mankind has a real problem with evil; the problem is often scapegoated onto religion. In the twentieth century, the anti-religious crowd had a larger following than ever before, and the anti-religious leaders (Stalin, Mao) or anti-Christian and anti-Jewish (Hitler) perpetrated some of the worst atrocities the world had yet seen. (Somehow, there are still people who are unaware of Hitler's stated plan to eliminate Christianity, or the systematic persecutions of Christians who resisted his church takeover. To say the least, it is strange that these things are still news to some.) We Christians would be suffering some kind of amnesia if we did not remember the abuses of our own religion at times. We must acknowledge that those named above likewise abused their anti-religious prejudices and/or atheism. The point is this: the facts show that the "blame religion" theory of human evil is nothing but scapegoating, a convenient prejudice dressed up nicely in the hopes of gaining a respectability which has not been earned.
When it comes to our faults, the worst in mankind tends to happen when people have convinced themselves that they could not be part of the problem, so it follows that someone else must be the problem with the world. When such a basic mistake takes place, oppression and atrocities are likely to follow. This temptation affects all camps; but humanism's premise that mankind is essentially good leaves it little defense against that problem within its own ranks. The assumption of mankind's enduring goodness leads people to turn a blind eye to humanity's tendency towards evil, making it especially easy to overlook our own faults. This blindness to our own faults is one of humanity's worst and most enduring problems. In this, Christ's pointed reminder to "first look at the log in your own eye" is a healthy corrective to this human blind spot, one that could be applied even more often with good results. Aside from the blind spot about homegrown evil in our own camps, the premise of mankind's basic goodness also leaves little room to address the more general problem of evil, a problem that is not acknowledged to exist in the first place.
Mankind's highest and best
Though mankind stoops to some horrifying lows, it also soars to some impressive highs. Mankind has painting, sculpture, literature, music, architecture, philosophy, mathematics, and an impressive array of sciences to our credit. The best of mankind is motivated by a passion for beauty, for excellence, for the eternal, for truth, for knowledge. To "excel" is to strive to go beyond -- and here is one of the largest weaknesses of humanism. Humanism puts mankind on top of the pedestal already; there is nothing higher so there is little to inspire, little to draw out the best in us. Secular humanism in particular denies that there exists a great quest, a great meaning which is beyond us; relativism denies the objective reality of beauty and truth and goodness. Some humanists imagine that a well-constructed, peaceful system of government and economics is likely inspire the best in us; Christians likewise aim for good systems but do not suppose that peace and prosperity of themselves lead to any great inspiration.
In striving for excellence, again the followers of Christ find ourselves at an advantage. Christ inspires us by the simple fact of being greater than us. It is no accident that Christ is the inspiration behind a vast body of music, literature, architecture, philosophy, painting, and sculpture for the last two thousand years of mankind. It is not just in the field of the arts where Christians have produced significant works. In humanitarian works and innovations, we are inspired by Christ's teachings to love mankind in practice; Christians have led the way from innovations such as Braille to institutions such as the Salvation Army and the Red Cross (in which, to be fair, other religions and secular nations have now joined in acting out the teachings of Christ, such is their universal appeal). In mathematics and science, the Christian values of honesty and devotion to truth, along with the Western Christian scholastic emphasis on study, research and systematization, made the Western Christian lands a natural place for the sciences to flourish. The Reformation emphasis on finding the truth by study and research rather than reliance on authority didn't hurt there either.
Conclusion
I know it's a fair criticism that I've barely scratched the surface of what could be said about humanism; I'm trying to keep to a reasonable length for a blog. It would also be a fair criticism that I have only contended that we beat humanists at their own game but have not yet contended for the reality of Christianity or God's own role in our transformation; I have posted on those topics before and plan to again, but it is beyond the scope of what I'm writing today.
In closing I'll ask two questions of humanism: Is man better off with himself at the top of the pedestal? And has he earned that place?
Mankind's problem with evil
Mankind is responsible for more acts of hatred, spite and oppression than can easily be counted. As followers of Christ, we start with an honest acknowledgment that mankind has done horrible things and (contrary to the relativists) that these things are genuinely wrong. We are also instructed to resist the temptation to scapegoat other people, but instead to honestly search our own hearts and minds for the evil that lies there and for our part in the problem of evil.
The relativists who do not acknowledge anything as genuinely good or evil have a problem deciding on a direction away from evil and towards good. How can someone decide what is "better" without a concept of good in the first place? As Christians, we are in a stronger position to make progress by having an objective concept of good and evil. We are also in a better position to assert mankind's worth even in the face of our real problem with evil, already having an understanding of mankind's condition that acknowledges both the good and evil within us. Secular humanists sometimes deny that mankind has a real problem with evil; the problem is often scapegoated onto religion. In the twentieth century, the anti-religious crowd had a larger following than ever before, and the anti-religious leaders (Stalin, Mao) or anti-Christian and anti-Jewish (Hitler) perpetrated some of the worst atrocities the world had yet seen. (Somehow, there are still people who are unaware of Hitler's stated plan to eliminate Christianity, or the systematic persecutions of Christians who resisted his church takeover. To say the least, it is strange that these things are still news to some.) We Christians would be suffering some kind of amnesia if we did not remember the abuses of our own religion at times. We must acknowledge that those named above likewise abused their anti-religious prejudices and/or atheism. The point is this: the facts show that the "blame religion" theory of human evil is nothing but scapegoating, a convenient prejudice dressed up nicely in the hopes of gaining a respectability which has not been earned.
When it comes to our faults, the worst in mankind tends to happen when people have convinced themselves that they could not be part of the problem, so it follows that someone else must be the problem with the world. When such a basic mistake takes place, oppression and atrocities are likely to follow. This temptation affects all camps; but humanism's premise that mankind is essentially good leaves it little defense against that problem within its own ranks. The assumption of mankind's enduring goodness leads people to turn a blind eye to humanity's tendency towards evil, making it especially easy to overlook our own faults. This blindness to our own faults is one of humanity's worst and most enduring problems. In this, Christ's pointed reminder to "first look at the log in your own eye" is a healthy corrective to this human blind spot, one that could be applied even more often with good results. Aside from the blind spot about homegrown evil in our own camps, the premise of mankind's basic goodness also leaves little room to address the more general problem of evil, a problem that is not acknowledged to exist in the first place.
Mankind's highest and best
Though mankind stoops to some horrifying lows, it also soars to some impressive highs. Mankind has painting, sculpture, literature, music, architecture, philosophy, mathematics, and an impressive array of sciences to our credit. The best of mankind is motivated by a passion for beauty, for excellence, for the eternal, for truth, for knowledge. To "excel" is to strive to go beyond -- and here is one of the largest weaknesses of humanism. Humanism puts mankind on top of the pedestal already; there is nothing higher so there is little to inspire, little to draw out the best in us. Secular humanism in particular denies that there exists a great quest, a great meaning which is beyond us; relativism denies the objective reality of beauty and truth and goodness. Some humanists imagine that a well-constructed, peaceful system of government and economics is likely inspire the best in us; Christians likewise aim for good systems but do not suppose that peace and prosperity of themselves lead to any great inspiration.
In striving for excellence, again the followers of Christ find ourselves at an advantage. Christ inspires us by the simple fact of being greater than us. It is no accident that Christ is the inspiration behind a vast body of music, literature, architecture, philosophy, painting, and sculpture for the last two thousand years of mankind. It is not just in the field of the arts where Christians have produced significant works. In humanitarian works and innovations, we are inspired by Christ's teachings to love mankind in practice; Christians have led the way from innovations such as Braille to institutions such as the Salvation Army and the Red Cross (in which, to be fair, other religions and secular nations have now joined in acting out the teachings of Christ, such is their universal appeal). In mathematics and science, the Christian values of honesty and devotion to truth, along with the Western Christian scholastic emphasis on study, research and systematization, made the Western Christian lands a natural place for the sciences to flourish. The Reformation emphasis on finding the truth by study and research rather than reliance on authority didn't hurt there either.
Conclusion
I know it's a fair criticism that I've barely scratched the surface of what could be said about humanism; I'm trying to keep to a reasonable length for a blog. It would also be a fair criticism that I have only contended that we beat humanists at their own game but have not yet contended for the reality of Christianity or God's own role in our transformation; I have posted on those topics before and plan to again, but it is beyond the scope of what I'm writing today.
In closing I'll ask two questions of humanism: Is man better off with himself at the top of the pedestal? And has he earned that place?
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