reyes-chow :: FAITH

Does your religion dance?

Darn!  And I thought I was original.  Nope, just the social/cultural hack that I have always been.  In any case, my sister-in-law sent me this link in response to my post on the death of the PC(USA).

From Mark Moford's column, Does your religions dance? Behold, the most dangerous issue facing modern faith: Its inability to evolve, nakedly.

It's a topic that jumped up like a stunned ferret from God's own hot plate three separate times recently — indicating, I think, that I'd better pay some sort of attention to it — the topic being the obvious but still desperately under-discussed idea that perhaps the most dangerous problem facing man in this modern age of radical technology and dazzling scientific conundrum and otherworldly raspberry vodka and ever-expanding notions of love and sex and human interconnection is the sad and treacherous fact that, well, religion and belief as we know them in America are, by and large, far too horribly stuck, limited, fixed in time and place and stiff karmic cement.

Put another way: We as a culture just might be suffering a slow, painful death by spiritual stagnation, by ideological stasis, by cosmic rigor mortis. It has become painfully, lethally obvious in the age of George W. Bush and authoritarian groupthink that our major religious systems and foundations don't know how to move. They don't learn, adjust, evolve, see things anew. They don't know how to dance. And what's more, this little problem might just be the death of us all.

Amen brother, amen.

 

Reflections on Minnesota

Just returned from a weekend jaunt to officiate a wedding in the Twin Cities area of the state of 10,000 Lakes, Minnesota.  Go Golden Gophers!  Congrats to J and K, what a wonderful experience!  I had a great time exploring the area both intentionally and unintentionally and the weather could not have been better.  Hung out at couple of great cafes - Bob's Java Hut and Muddy Waters - and had some good food - Bull Dog, Cristos Greek Restaurant and Famous Dave's BBQ.

Besides the observation of the insanity of the motorcycle helmet law controversy, the Twin Cities area was pretty cool.  I could see hanging out there as there were pockets that felt a great deal like some pockets of SF.  I was not able to connect with some MN aquaintences, but Tony Jones offered up some suggestions for church on Sunday. 

Mercy Seat
Spirit Garage
House of Mercy
Solomon's Porch

I ended up at Spirit Garage and had a good experience.  It is always a good discipline to visit another worshiping community and try to leave some of the "evaluation" posture behind.  Of course I did leave a Yelp review, overall, a good vibe.

So, MN can be added the list of places I have visited, CHECK.

America WINS again, sort of

A couple of questions for you all my friends . . .

• Are you happy?
• Are you doing well?
• Do you find joy in your life?
• Are you ready for the future?
• Are you economically kicking some serious booty?

Head on over to this Business Week article and take a look at the rankings around Competitiveness, Network-Readiness and Happiness.  These rankings are based on a survey of the top 55 most competitive countries based on 323 criteria: GDP, economic growth to exports, state supported education, corruption, etc.  Then - Cue Law & Order theme song - ohhh ahhhh . . .

The table below lists this year's ranking. To add a little spice, we've also included results for two other global surveys. One, from the World Economic Forum, ranks countries according to their "network-readiness," or how prepared they are to succeed in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. The other, from a British researcher, ranks countries by how happy they are, calculated through a mix of statistics about health and welfare, plus answers to survey questions about satisfaction. You can compare and contrast the results by clicking the columns.

So . . . the best part about the chart - besides the cool bubble-wrap popping advert from DHL - is that you can rearrange each column and see where everyone lands when also ranked first by Happiness or Network Readiness.  Keep in mind that the last two columns don't included anyone NOT ranked in the top 55 Competitiveness list.

In any case, some observations:

• This can't be good for the ex-Soviet country tourist industry;
• Asia is seriously challenging in some areas, but darn, just are not that happy about it;
• What's up with those happy Nordic types, get to work!
• Would be interesting to see where religion or lack of fits into the rankings;
• Would your rather be at the top of one and at the bottom of others or just in the middle of them all?

Lastly, as I read this I couldn't help but to think about where I am, my family is, church, etc.  For now, I think I can take my kids on all three, except for maybe the Happiness one, they got it pretty good ;-)  Someday though, they are going to run right past me on the whole "Network-Readiness" page on their way to a life of high competitiveness . . . all in order to take care of their parents as we get old.

h/t: Creativity Exchange