In light of searching for that balance my thought for today is an introspection into the use of time and its connection to happiness. We all have the same amount of time in a day and it is our decisions about how to use that time that really defines who we are and what we become. I have experienced a profound shift in time culture over the last year or so.  It seems like only yesterday I was in Africa sitting in a store called “No Hurry in Life Enterprise”, a virtue in their community but an oxymoron in the culture I find myself part of on the East Coast. Everyone is very dedicated and in my particular workplace we are all working for a very noble cause which might justify it more but sometimes I question whether the long hours are really the legacy I want to build and have to show for my time on earth. There is always a time and place for long hours/intense work, they are a component of nearly every great achievement, but a culture of work that over the long run cuts out family, recreation, time for contemplation, etc. is, I think, detrimental to the individual and society as a whole.

Can I have it both ways or will I need need to move to Africa… only time will tell.

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Blog Action Day 2008 Poverty from Blog Action Day on Vimeo.

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Oldest Skeleton in the Americas

Another interesting article out of National Geographic, this time finding the oldest human skeleton found on the American continent.  Early indications are that it will challenge the long held teaching that the earliest settlers of the Americas came from North Asia, this skeleton believed to be most similar to Southeast Asians.  The ethnic complexity of ancient America has been well documented despite the prevailing voice of Bering Strait landbridge theories.  The Book of Mormon of course has been telling us this all along, both in terms of ancient vogages across the sea and Lehi’s family finding others already in the Americas.

This find doesn’t change much in terms of what we already knew, if we truly acknowledged everything we knew and didn’t jump to conclusions, but the fact that many scholars and the lay consumers of their publications did jump to conclusions and absolutely dismissed alternative migration patterns should be a reminder that we should be cautious in our consumption of the current truth claims of science.  Scientific understanding, particularly in the more ‘interprative’ sciences (I’m thinking particularly of history and archeology but also things as ‘certain’ as DNA), should be accompanied by humility and any acknowledgement that what we do not know is more than what we do.  Such a stance would make one a better scientist in my opinion, always on the lookout for additional understanding.

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Honestly it was one of the most introspective movie-viewing experiences I have had in a very very long time.  The movie is incredibly insightful into the coming of age experience and the beauty of the different stages of our lives.  It stirred such a mixed bags of emotions: a nostalgic sadness for the loss of innocence and unlimited potential of childhood, a desire to be more playful and appreciative of the gift of life in my current situation, and an appreciation for the maturity and depth of relationships created in adulthood.  It really was a fantastic experience.  

Some of my thoughts after this experience… will I ever experience the mentality of childhood again? (If not the preciousness of that time is mindboggling considering the length of eternity).  Was there an ‘adult’ consciousness that was present the entire time only withheld by biological mechanical limitations?   (Pure speculation but thought provoking).  Have I grown up into the person I wanted to be?  Have I grown up into something that is even more complex and meaningful than I could have even conceived as a young person?  Who will I become in twenty more years?

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One interviewee stated, in essence, that the “gods of history” had given mankind another chance to step in and prevent genocide; another chance, referring to the failure of the international community to intervene in Rwanda. His language, of course, caused me to reflect about God, mass sufferings in history, and the test of this life. Who will have to answer for this in the day of Judgment? The Janjaweed? Sudanese leaders? The Chinese? The U.N.? U.S. Business? me?

The power of citizens. We are living in a pivotal moment in history. Citizen groups are becoming powerful enough to sway government, to speak louder than big business dollars, and to have impact at a level greater than the nation-state.  The citizen movement was the only thing keeping Darfur on the agenda, and no matter how disappointing the ultimate outcome the fact that citizens on one side of the are actively fighting for the well-being of citizens in a remote corner of the world is a welcome advancement.

When Christ spoke that core principle, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” how far does my personal responsibility expand?  Where should I put my limited time and resources?  I see bums every day walking to work but then I go into an office trying to support positive change all around the world.  Is one better than the other?

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As I listened to these discussions the expressions and language that I heard were, in essence, echoes of Zion.  These are elements that the Utopians have identified across the centuries.  The ways such a society are to be established have already been identified and successfully implemented for short periods of time.  Why short?  Because it is extremely hard work, it takes constant concentration, quick repentance, “prayer and fasting”, “meeting together oft” and the entire group must be fully committed.  But I say the more we can approach that ideal the better and it should be our endless goal, so I whole-heartedly endorse Ashoka’s vision of Everyone a Changemaker.  It is a matter of being and becoming. 

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The other main thought that struck me was the starkness between the natural beauty of life and the manicured version of life I walked back into right as I left the zoo.  In a short hour walk I had seen a wide variety of the diversity of life.  Even in these contrived unnatural habitats you could feel the wildness and raw energy of life that they represented.  Walking out of the park I remained in the same mode of gazing as a wildlife spectator and saw animals leading other animals they had specifically breed for their own enjoyment.  I saw shortly cut grass, flowers, and trees strategically positioned.   On one hand it all seemed so fake, that we in our modern industrialized age are so desperate to keep natural life around us that we find ways to bring it into our homes and squeeze it into the small pieces of land untouched by concrete.  And on the other hand I can see it as a matter of taking care of and dressing the garden we have found ourselves in.  Both persepectives pay tribute to the deep need that humans have to be surrounded by and embedded in the natural world.

Why do you think being in nature is rejuvenating?  What is the ideal relationship between man and nature?

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2500 years ago a man named Jacob rebuked a gathering of men who had through their actions abused their wives and children.  He spoke in the name of the Lord saying “I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women and whoredoms are an abomination before me… I have seen the sorrow and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people [and can suffer it no longer’.”  In our modern day men continue to destroy these most precious and tender daughters of God.  Thanks be to God that He has raised up a woman named Betty Makoni to continue this battle for what is right and the only acceptable mode of behavior towards these most precious souls in the eyes of God.

In blogging fashion I will honor with her with links to her story–

Her official website

Her Ashoka Fellow profile

A speech she gave at the Global Philanthropy Forum

From the Global Fund for Women

From the United Nation’s Girls Education Initiative

From the BBC

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