Vegetables

Vegetarian.  The stigma of the word is starting to wear off for me.

A few years ago it was something obscure and impractical for people who valued animal life more than human life, and were paranoid to the extreme (my view anyway).  There are/were quite a number of other connotations that went along with it.  It was far away from me.  I remember being vegetarian for a day freshman year of college just to see what it was like, and it was basically miserable.  I was hungry all day.  My salad didn't fill me up.

A year later my dad had a heart attack.  That only added to the bad heart health in my history.  I began to pay attention to sodium, cholesterol, and saturated fat levels in my food.  The days of lucky charms for breakfast, and Alfredo sauce at dinner were a thing of the past (mostly).  I figured if I made small changes to my diet early, I wouldn't have to make the radical changes that people end up having to make to their diets post heart attack.

In Germany, I read Born to Run by Chris Mcdougall.  One of the main characters was Scott Jurek, a vegan ultramarathon runner.  My earlier vegetarian experiment had failed because I didn't know how to cook properly, and... I didn't like beans (and I hadn't even heard of quinoa yet).  I had lunch meat on my sandwiches most of that year, because they were free and beggars can't be choosers, but I started experimenting with vegetarian dinners sometimes.  I got used to the idea that a meal could still be a meal, even without meat.

I heard a TED Talk by Graham Hill about being a "weekday vegetarian."  It intrigued me, because it was sort of what I was doing already.  I had kind of decided that meat was fine and all, but that we eat too much of it, so I ate it just once or twice a week "on the weekends."  Mostly I loved that I never got a food coma from vegetarian meals.  I could pretty much eat and then go out on a long run a few minutes later - the time I needed to tie my shoes.  Another term for that is being a "meat-reducer"

Then I discovered black bean burgers!

So much more flavor than a beef burger!

I eventually added fried rice made with tofu, and a couple variations of rice and beans, and reached a point where I was making all of my meals vegetarian.  Pretty much the only time I ate meat was when others prepared the food, or sometimes in restaurants.  Even those times though, I think I really ate the meat because I didn't want to be a vegetarian, because frankly... vegetarians annoy me.  I didn't want to be associated with it, and so occasionally people would ask if I was vegetarian, and I would quickly reply, "no, I just don't eat a lot of meat," which was the truth.  I suppose I don't like labels.  The only label I take readily is that of "Christian" although even that label cannot be applied without an inner struggle.

Sustainability.  Unlike some I don't fear running out of resources really, but I don't like being frivolous.  I'm an engineer.  I like efficiency.  Nutrients come from the ground through plants which we can eat.  If animals eat the plants and we eat the animals, it takes about seven times as much plant to get us our nutrients because of inefficiencies in the food chain.  Of course, there are some areas that are good for animal grazing and not good for planting human food, so it goes both ways.

I read a section of a book called The China Study in which the premise was that yes, carcinogens cause cancer, but only in the presence of animal protein.  Carcinogens are almost impossible to avoid entirely, but animal protein can be avoided.  I only read a section, and a lot of it went over my head, but it was interesting.  They did an in depth study of many regions in china because the government had a lot of data, and since people eat very locally, most people in the same county ate the same foods, so making correlations became easier, at least that was what I understood.

I started adding vegetarian meals to my week so slowly, that it wasn't really difficult at all.  That brings an interesting phenomenon into play that is really obvious.  If something is hard, you need a lot of motivation to do it, but if it's easy, you need very little.  Since it was easy, I didn't need much motivation.

Healthwise, I have some decent motivation to eat less meat.  Morally I take most of my cues from the Bible.  In the Bible, God initially gave us only plants to eat, but after the fall of mankind he permitted the eating of animals, so I don't think eating meat is sinful.  The Bible also says that all things are permissible, but not all things are beneficial (1 Corinthians 10).  The context there is actually talking about eating meat offered to idols.  At the same time, I think if we are fully capable of living with relative ease without needing to unnaturally raise and then kill animals, then there might be value to that.  I know that in some areas of the world, they can only survive by living off of animals and I am totally okay with that, but in places where it's easy to avoid, I figure it's worth avoiding.  I'm not sure where the dividing line is between easy and hard so I'm not going to make a moral judgement on the matter.  It does intrigue me though that before the fall of man, we were vegetarian.  Of course we were also naked... so I'm not suggesting we try and imitate that time period.

Some of my vegetarian meals are vegan like this amazing chili:

Others like the black bean burgers require an egg.  Eating vegan meals is more challenging, and it's not a priority right now, but in my book, a vegan meal is a bonus I suppose.  Maybe over time, the survival of the fittest in my recipe book will make me a vegan.  I bought chocolate soy milk for the first time today.  Of course it is a little bit pricey which makes it less convenient so I can't afford it all of the time right now.

So I don't know where this story will end.  I suppose I am a vegetarian in denial, and may eventually find myself being a vegan in denial.  I don't really know.  This concludes a summary of a journey I never saw myself taking.  I am not telling you to take it, though I appreciate having other people to bounce ideas off of, and if you are willing to accept that a meal without meat is still a meal, it will make it much easier for me to invite you into my home.  My home is great.  If I'm at your home, I will gladly eat your meat and I promise not to judge you.  I care about you much more than I care about my diet.  I value people high above animals.

That's all I have to say now.

The Comparison Game: Facebook

I visited Reunion Church a couple Sundays back.  It was the first church I visited in Boston.  The pastor was sharing about how envy can rob our joy (think older brother of the prodigal son).  We compare ourselves to others, and decide we want what they have.  Facebook plays a role in this because we post the top 1% of the great things that happen to us.  Relationships, new job, pictures of that awesome vacation, from your top 500 friends all in one newsfeed is bound to make you feel like you don't measure up.

My first thought was that we should counter that by posted all sorts of different things, not just the "good" things.  Then I realized, some people already do that, and I find those posts annoying.  There's something about sharing things that are going wrong just out into the open that makes me uncomfortable.  I don't mean me doing it makes me uncomfortable, I mean when other people do.  I then realized it's because it breaks the rule of our culture.  "How are you doing?" "Fine." or "Great!"
It seems so superficial, because so often it is, but I'm not quite sure the alternative.  I feel like we need a small core group of friends who we share the hurts and pains with, and for everyone else, we just practically don't have time to unload everything that is wrong all the time.  We interact with so many different people each day, and with facebook that number gets scary high.  So you just have a filtered down version of yourself.  The elevator speech that tells everyone everything they need to know about you in 30 seconds.  You only have time to show good things, so it's settled.

Just remember when you look at facebook, it's not the full story (privacy still exists kind of).  Their life has good things, and so does yours.  Theirs has bad things, but they're just not sharing it to the whole world.

Don't compare, just pick a few things going well in your life and enjoy them.

Boston Drivers (beep! beep!)

I've been commuting to work every day by bike so I've seen lots of Boston drivers up close and personal in my month in Boston so far.  At first I just thought they were mean, but now I'm starting to understand their system.

There are two kinds of honk and they go as follows.

Mean Honk:
Beeeeeeeep!  You @$$hole!!!

Nice Honk:
Beep. Beep.

If know swearing is audible after the honk, I assume they have the best of intentions.

So here's the cool system.  You know how obnoxious it is to sit at a light and have to constantly stare at it so you know when it turns?  Well in Boston, there is one person on alert who honks their horn politely the instant the light turns so that all the other drivers know to go even if they weren't looking.  At first I thought the person doing that was just really impatient, but now I consider them considerate for watching out for everyone.  I think sometimes it's maybe even the person at the front who beeps to make sure everyone behind them knows to go. Maybe...

That's my optimistic theory anyway.  Who knows.

A Connecting Addicted Society

This summer has been an interesting time for me.  It was the first time living by myself with internet.  I had a lot of time on my own, and that meant a lot of time wasted on the internet.  The internet is amazing and valuable and often I have things I need to do or learn or share via the internet.  I think that's great.  I noticed a problem though; I was almost always up to date on everything facebook decided to send to my home page.  I'd get home from class and scroll down and down and down, until I realized I was reading the things I'd seen before I went to class.  Then I'd go over to blogspot to see if anyone had posted anything, then I'd go back to facebook, and see the 2 new entries on my home page.  Then I'd close my laptop and go eat some yogurt.  Then I'd pull up facebook, and see another new entry...  Wow, getting addicted.  I recently started turning off my laptop when I'm not using it, so I wouldn't be so tempted to "just pull up facebook real quick."  I still think facebook is an AMAZING tool, and I have no intention of deleting my account any time soon.  It's very effective for coordinating activities amongst friends, and sharing visually, what exciting thing happened recently.  People complain about it's narcissistic nature, but I don't think that's what it is (necessarily).  No, I don't care that you just made the best spaghetti ever, but I do care that you visited Letchworth State Park, and I think you can describe the beauty better by sharing photos than in a conversation.  I care about you, and want to know what you're experiencing.  That said, it should be a supplement to real life interactions, not a replacement.

On a related note; smartphones.

Before I go into this, I realize you probably own a smartphone.  I am not attacking you (necessarily). But if your life looks like this video, yes, I think you have a problem, and you need to figure out a solution.

So for me, the real hindrance in getting a smartphone is the price.  It would cost me an extra $40 a month adding up to $480 a year.  I'd rather buy this bicycle:

I could buy it in a new color every year.  Or I could save for retirement... less fun, but important.

But anyway, even if it were a financially viable option, I still like to think I wouldn't have one.  Since I don't need instant access to email for work, I think checking my personal email 3 times a day is more than enough (and I have a very nice laptop on which I can check it).  Facebook... well we've already decided that I don't need to check that more often.  GPS; that could be nice, but... still not worth it.  I'm moving to Boston, known to be difficult to navigate.  So, I just look up where I'm going before I go.  Once, when visiting my cousin, I made a mistake and couldn't figure out where to go, so I called him and we sorted it out quickly and easily.  I expect my first few weeks in Boston will be a little chaotic, but after cycling all the back roads by memory instead of GPS, I think I'll know the city better than anyone.  I think that will be really fun and I'm looking forward to that.

Smartphones do have their advantages, which is why so many people have them.  I basically had one for a few years in college (iPod touch and wifi everywhere), and it got me a note taking job (though ironically it also caused me to pay less attention in class), and when you are out on vacation exploring a new city, it can make things so much simpler.  If you need it for work, that totally makes sense.  These advantages just don't seem that great to me though, and I know I'd have a hard time not being addicted to it.  That video makes me sad, and I want to say thank you to those of you with smartphones and self-control.  For those of us with average self-control, think twice about whether you want to keep the internet in your pocket.  For that matter, I think we should think twice about most things.

Stepping into Inequality

I grew up in a private Christian school.  I knew there were richer families and poorer families, but everyone there had the money to send their kids to a private school.
I grew up in the suburbs.  In the suburbs there is poverty but it's invisible.
I went to Argentina, and I suppose everyone was poor, so you didn't really notice that anyone was.
I went to university.  College students spend money like they're rich.  They tend to spend based on the lifestyle they expect to have when they graduate and are making lots of money (they hope).
Then I graduated, along with all my peers, and we walked into cities where the rich and the poor stand side by side.  They sit across from each other in the park, and bump into each other on the train.
It's strange.  The poor aren't invisible.  They're very close.

I found myself wishing I had a bike.  At first I just wanted to get around fast.  I don't like to wait, or walk.  Later I wanted it because people don't ask you for 50¢ when you're on a bike.

It's strange.  I suppose I won't be able to ignore them anymore.

Well, I could probably get over it if I tried, but I don't think God wants me to "get over it."

Oh Dear! I need a place to live! (blog post #200)

I don’t know why I’m surprised when God's amazing anymore.  I'm moving to Boston for work starting in September.  Getting housing taken care of, was the last detail I felt I had little control over and of course that made me nervous.  I sent emails out to at least 15 adds on craigslist (plus follow up emails to most), with no replies.  I only had one lead that I had gotten from posting my bio on the Park Ave Church housing forum.  I had days to spend in Boston and expected to look at 5-10 places during my stay, but only had one lead.  I set that up for the first evening hoping it was a good one, because I was out of ideas of how to get more.  Even asking for help from the locals (friends, cousins, and YWAM) didn’t yield anything promising.  

So I went out the area where the apartment was about an hour early.  I explored the area and it seemed delightful, with the shopping, and the park, and the semi-quiet neighborhood with many young international families.  As I’m waiting, I mention to a friend in Boston where I was looking.  "the house is on Wilson St. by the park, and near the Stop and Shop," I said.  Turns out she used to go by the street regularly, and that street sign was her reminder to pray for me.  That begins to ease my worries as I remember that God is looking out for me, just as he was when he got me the job a few weeks earlier.  I go in and the house is clean and spacious.  My room is at the front with large bay windows.  It turns out I’m allowed to put hooks in the wall to hang my bike from :)  it also has a basement for storing extra bikes.  Also turns out one of my roommates is familiar with YWAM and some of the people there that I've know since I was young.  To make it perfect, it's on the market for well under it's market value.  My potential roommates say they’ll get back to me in 48 hours.  They’ve already interviewed one person, and then have one more the next day.  Ends up, they call me back an hour later to say I have the spot.   God is good.  I can rest secure in him.  I am more than thrilled with my first apartment in Boston.  Now that that's settled, I have the rest of the week to enjoy Boston.

God Called Me To...

Calling is a crazy thing.  The American Christian perspective, mixed with the perspective of this generation has been the birthing ground of a belief that I find intriguing, but which many people question.  Calling, God's plan for your life, your destiny, predestination, are all words that relate to the topic, and about which people have varying opinions on.  When people claim that God has a particular plan for your life there are two reactions people commonly have.  People are either excited about how God is going to use them to change the world, or people are scared that they will miss God's calling for their life.  This applies in all sorts of areas, but I will stick to how calling affects your career in this entry.

Many people in my generation have watched their parents work long hours for decades at jobs they don't like to make a little more money to make ends meet (sometimes for needs and sometimes for wants).  It doesn't really matter what the money was needed for, I think my generation is terrified of devoting so much time to something they do not love.  It's not worth it!  When you add in what we were taught growing up ("you can be anything you set your heart to be!"), we end up in a position where we want to love our jobs, and if we do not, we have failed.  That goes for the whole generation.  Christians take the same thing and spin it up a bit.  God is calling you to a job that you are passionate about, good at, and makes this world look more like he wanted it to be.

From there, some people decide to just pick their job based on those 3 criteria, assuming that if it meets those, that must be where God is calling them.  For these people, you learn to understand God and yourself, and then you figure out what to do based on that knowledge.  Of course you also pray that God guides you, and then whenever you find something fitting, you can claim that's where God wants you to be.  You've found your calling.  For this person, perhaps there are hundreds of different opportunities that are equally good from God's perspective.  Just take the one you like and it'll be fine.

Another perspective is that you ask God where to go, and he tells you rather bluntly and specifically, probably after weeks, months, or years of prayer and fasting.  Maybe it's something you like and excel at, and maybe it's not.  If you hear God and follow it, you are in his will, but if you miss it, you're in sin, devoting your life to things God never intended you to do.

By my word choice, you can probably guess that I think these views are extreme and over simplified, and that my perspective is somewhere in the middle.  I do believe God made us a certain way with certain gifts and abilities and we are to use them for him.  Think of the parable of the talents.  On the other hand, I do think God calls us sometimes to do things we do not want to do, and do not have the ability to do or do well.  Think of every martyr ever, and also king Saul.  I also think God speaks to us clearly today.  He did in the Bible, and I do not think that's changed.

Imagine you have the option of 10 career paths, I believe you have the potential to honor or dishonor God with every single one of them.  I also think though, that some of them have better opportunity for impacting the world for God's kingdom.  Impact is hard for us to measure, but I think God can measure it.  He probably has a metric like "number of people interacted with" times "number of people saved" times "percent personal spiritual growth" divided by "the ultimate good".  I believe he also somehow knows the future.  Not sure if he knows potential futures, or only the actual future, or how that works, but I am certain, he is better qualified to decide which of those 10 career paths is best for us to take than we are.  So what does that mean to me?

Ask him!

"God, what should I do?  I would like to do this or that, but I don't know the implications of making that choice."

From there, I think God responds in any number of ways, but most often his method of response is such that it is sufficient for us to make the choice with relative confidence that we are doing what God thinks is best.  If God wants me to be a coal miner, and that makes no sense to me, he's going to have to slam some other doors in my face.  I'd need rejection letters from every other job I applied to, and a friend to come up to me out of no where and suggest I apply at the coal mine his uncle owns.  On the other hand, if God is calling me to something I would like to do, and I'm already familiar with his voice, a gentle whisper may be all I need.

All this said, if I hear God wrong?  I do not believe that is a sin.  If he wants me to make shoes, but I make bikes instead, I might miss a great opportunity I would have had, but there will be other opportunities in bikes.  God is not spiteful to his children.  If we miss what he's saying, it will not be the end of the world.  We do not have to panic.  We just need to continue to seek God and take our next steps based on what he is saying at the time.

Oh and guess what?!  Sometimes, I believe there are multiple good options.  You ask God what to do and he doesn't get back to you on which one is better.  Sometimes God just says, "those are both terrific opportunities.  Pick whichever you prefer!"

Anyways, much of this has to do with how clearly you believe God speaks today.  If your God is relatively silent, you are forced towards the first picture I painted.  If you believe God does speak to you, it would seem strange to me, that he would ignore the topic of career as a rule.

I'm in the thick of all this right now.  I have experienced a lot in the last months.  I'll save the personal story for when the story has a conclusion (hopefully in the next few weeks!).  I'll just leave it for now and say, I'm fairly confident where God wants me to be, and I love that feeling.