Why read a book? That was my first question today. I thought this whole 42-day journal thing was supposed to make us ACT...reading a book seems pretty inactive to me. Well, let's think about this for a second before we start a book burning. Just a couple weeks ago I had a long conversation with a friend about what things in our culture have the strongest influence in shaping our worldview. As is often the case we inevitably started pointing a lot of fingers toward the influence media has upon our conception of reality. Without getting into a debate over silver bullets, the catharsis of media portrayed violence, and communication theory, let's just admit that all of us are media consumers. In fact, in comparison to every human being born before the 20th century you could easily call us "media gluttons" or "media addicts." Now swing back to the purpose of this study, it's meant to help us act differently. But, let's go deeper than that for second, and say that hopefully we will start acting differently because we will have been transformed deep down in our innermost parts; and by transformed I mean that our lives will have been radically reoriented toward caring for the well-being of our neighbors worldwide. We're looking for deep inward change that causes outward change: what Christ called "bearing good fruit." Ostensibly, if this change happens, our media consumption should become very important to us. Like the rest of the body, what the mind consumes will either prove healthy for it, or poisonous. I don't know about you, but my mind consumes a lot of junk on a weekly basis. Maybe part of our reorientation is actually going to require us to start consuming media that nourishes us towards caring for the poor and needy, rather than just being idealistic during commercial breaks.
Personal:
What books have you found helpful in shaking you awake from the "American Dream" or wealth and success? Share them here, and share how they impacted you so other people can read them too.
Action:
1. Share a quote from the book, Same kind of Different as Me, or from another book you're reading that will edify readers of this blog in their journey over the next thirty days.
2. Did you look at website for the book, Same Kind or Different as Me, yet? Did you watch the video? What do you think about the idea that we are all homeless?
Posts
"The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne shook me awake and away from the American Dream.
ReplyDeleteI agree. . "The Irresistible Revolution" wowed me so much. As well as "Not For Sale" by David Batstone, "Good News About Injustice. . " by Gary Haugen, and most importantly "The Bible"!
ReplyDeleteHave you read "Under the Overpass" about a guy who felt he needed to act as well and live his life on the streets as a homeless man for five months, sharing his accounts? I have it if you would like to read it. It was really inspiring. It helped shake me a bit too, to offer a hand to the street dwellers and those around me.
I'll share one quote from Good News About Injustice (written by the president of International Justice Mission/ ijm.org): "God calls on his people to pray about situations of injustice. In praying for the victims, every one of us can participate in what he is doing to help them. In the mysterious ways of God, our prayers - the prayers of the righteous are "powerful and effective" for all those who are "in trouble" (James 5:13-16)"