Monthly Archive for October, 2007

We made the trip from Portland down to Consumervil…I mean Roseville on Friday. Let’s say that a normal ten-hour drive is made a bit longer with an eleven-month old baby…twelve hours after leaving my parent’s place, we arrived at Christine’s.

One piece of cool news…my guitar was on the doorstep awaiting my arrival and plays like a dream after my friend Richard had a luthier set it up for me. Which leads me to my next thoughts…

I had to go out and find some things for my guitar and while I was out I was struck by something. This ‘something’ is what I believe is lurking behind most of the problems in American culture. This ‘something’ has taken over Roseville/Rocklin. This something is consumerism…

As I drove to a place that used to be an empty field my eyes now saw only fields of strip malls. When we were here a year ago I was shocked to see how many more shops there were than the year before, but now there are only more. Seriously, is this all there is to culture? I just have to wonder…How much money does this community have to spend on things? How much spending does a community have to do to warrant more and more shops being opened in this community?

I think the reason I am so sensitive to this is because I struggle with greed and over-consumption. But seeing something like this here makes me sad…it’s no wonder that the US uses 25% of the worlds’ resources while only making up 6% of the population. Our consumerism is only tempted in environments where consumption is nearly the only form of entertainment.

My big question is this: How can the Christian community here, which is a high percentage compared to most places, be counter-cultural and reject this form of idolatry? How can we prove that materialism is not the god of suburbia?

But…these are questions that I’m asking of myself too…because I am a captain on team consumerism.

My dad invited me to come to the Oregon coast to tag along on his pastors retreat. We’re having a really great time and I’m able to sit on some good conversations.

But this is the second time I’ve had to be away from my Jen and Maisie for a few days, and no matter what amount of time I’m away I find myself missing them pretty quickly. I’ve tried to call, but no answer. I’ve sent a text in reply to one from Jen, but haven’t heard back…So hey Jen…you out there?

So far, here the lowlight of the trip: I went to bed with a bit of an upset stomach and really had a hard time falling asleep…this could have been because I was sharing a bed a with my dad and not my wife, but it was mainly because my stomach was alive with action. I woke up at 4am and realized very quickly that I was going to be sick. And sure enough, I…well…uh…lost my lunch. Within seconds I felt better and went back to sleep and slept until my alarm went off. I’ve had a few run-ins with food poisoning, and I’m thankful that this was the ‘easiest’ that I felt better. It’s amazing to me how when something with our bodies is not right, our bodies have a way of fixing it.

Anyway…I hope that the week continues to be a healthy and productive time for the guys…and I hope that my family is doing well while I’m gone. (It’s amazing how going away has totally changed having Maisie and knowing that Jen is carrying the load alone…she’s amazing.)