An American Lesson from Six Flags Amusement Park

This past week I took a small vacation with my family. We ended up going to Six Flags over Texas amusement park in Arlington, Texas, with the kids one of the days. My children are all school aged, from 6 to 16, and we try to teach some good life lessons on and off when the opportunity arises. This day would prove to be one of those times.

It began with our arrival to the parking area of the park. If you haven't been there, you have to pay to park. Always have. Of course, over the years it gets more expensive. But this time there was something different. There were different levels of parking, each with their own respective costs. There was general parking for $10, prefered parking for $15, and Valet parking for $20 or so. Now whats strange about this is the parking lot isn't that big. So you pay more bucks to walk a few feet less.


Then its off to the main gates to purchase your tickets. Once you pay your tickets to get inside, there was another opportunity for you to spend your money. I believe it was called a Speed Pass. For an additional $20 you could purchase this speed pass and avoid the waiting in lines by accessing another way to the ride and getting put first before those waiting in line. So while you, average Joe American who paid to park and enter are standing in line with the other Joes, someone else walks past you and gets in the front of the line because they outspent you.

And I found something totally distasteful about that. Something wrong with that in this land of equailty we refer to as the United States. Where all are supposedly equal. And my kids noticed it as well. You want to be able to tell your kids that the American Dream is available to everyone, and that if you work hard and do all the right stuff, that you can achieve anything you wish. And to some degree that is true. But not totally.

In this representative democracy, certain things are still dependent on luck, right place at right time, who you know, and how much money/advantage in life you have. Not that you can't better yourself no matter what, but the aforementioned list does come into play despite what others might say. If you have a GED and mow yards for a living, then decide to complete college and get a job managing a grocery store, you have engaged in part of the American dream. You are not relegated to a life of mowing yards. However, If you are the offspring of the person who owns the store, well, lets just say your options are somewhat different and on a greater scale.

And we in America love our status symbols don't we. Its amazing how we try to separate ourselves along ecomonic lines in ever so slight ways. Automobiles for instance. It was Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Toyota, Nissan, etc. They made fine cars, so pick one. But if every average american is driving one, how do we let others know we have more money than them? hmmm... Lets see, lets build a toyota and call it a Lexus and charge more for it. Let take a chevrolet suburban, call it a cadillac escalade and charge more for it. That way the folks with more money let the average american joe know it.

Now if you have one of these cars (I happen to like the Lexus very much), this post isn't a dig at you for owning one. Its an observation on how marketing and money come to play in our everyday lives. And we don't even seem to notice. And so it was with Six Flags. Pay $20 more per person and you get on the same rides as everyone else does, just a few minutes faster. But minutes, like money, are just another way to divide us.

And so my daughter and I have a discussion on the way out of the park. I asked her if she knew what the "Golden Rule" was. She said yes, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And I told her that was correct, and that is the way we live. Okay, try to live. But I also told her the other Golden Rule: Those who have the gold make the rule. We live by a set of values in this society that are opposite of what our ideals as americans should be. We often don't treat others the way we would have them treat us, and that's too bad. And the speed pass makes me sad.

what i learned from my political race

Well the political race for me is over. I came in a solid 3rd out of three contestants. But what I learned was immeasurable. And here are a few of them:

I get competitive but I still couldn't "sell myself". Felt odd patting myself on the back.

I had to fight the urge to slam my opponents.

It was hard taking the high rode, especially when people wanted me to say something bad about another person in the race.

If an election has no issues - it is one big popularity contest.

People still like to follow the crowd and vote for the candidate with the most money.

Campaigns are expensive and it takes money to do the smallest bit of campaigning.

There are people who believe in you and help out and there are those who don't.
If someone might lose a dollar over taking a side, they will side with their dollar.

There is a lot of paperwork and regulations to follow just to be a candidate.

I am proud I tried.

Who knows what is in store for me later. Maybe another run. Maybe not. I am restless.

Tea Party

As some of you know I am running for a political office. Its a school board and non-paid (just like my nonprofit propheting) but an elected position all the same. And of course I would have opponents so I'm having to purchase signs and campaign and all that jazz. But I have to admit its pretty damned interesting.

Being a fiscal conservative and a social moderate is quite the balancing act. To mix reason with politics is almost undoable. Its like Spirituality and Religion - its hard to get past the rhetoric and noise to what is actually important. But I'm trying.

I have been on this Facebook thing for some time now and it is quite interesting as well. Reconnecting with folks I haven't heard from in 20 years and some folks I have never even met. I like the way technology functions in this respect. However, sometimes our media doesn't always work this way.

Take the Tea Party's of last week. To watch the mainstream media, one would think that it was an isolated minority of right wing extremists fueled by Fox News and talk radio. That the audience was exclusively those folks. I think the British attempted the same labeling and propaganda against the Colonists/Founding Fathers when they threw their little temper-tantrum in Boston. Admittedly, there were "some" fringe elements there, but they were NOT representative of the overall crowd. There were democrats, libertarians, republicans, conservatives, moderates, christians, non-christians, spectators, and others.

And I think the main stream media and possibly some talk shows have missed the point. Its not Anti-Obama. Its Anti-Stupid spending of our tax dollars. And this was started in the last days of the Bush Administration. Of course the finger pointing is always prevelant depending on one's point of view, and enough fingers pointed in enough differing directions is bound to cause enough confusion so that the issues and solutions are not forth coming. And thats unfortunate.

Now I'm a pretty simple fella, and somehow spending money we don't have (and spending it recklessly) just doesn't make sense to me. If we have people in this country without medical insurance, losing their homes, and a growing unemployment rate, why in the world would we pledge billions to other countries (such as Sudan) when we are having to borrow money from China just to stay afloat here? And if we are going to bailout anyone, how about the people who paid the taxes in the first place? Why give it to the big corporations? We see what they have done with it and the common folks, like myself, are still no better off.

Well, Bush is to blame. No, Obama is to blame. No, greedy corporations are to blame. No, irresponsible home buyers are to blame. How about all of the above. Okay, so everyone is to blame. Could we at least quit the pandering and propaganda and solve this issue. The media tore Bush down all the time. The talk shows tear Obama down all the time. Maybe its time we tore ourselves down, and these political lines and idealogy, come to grips with we aren't ever all going to agree on the best way to do anything, and at least get something done?

probably not. Well, I gotta go put out some more campaign signs....

Put Christ Back in Schools?

I came across this on Facebook the other day, "Put Christ Back in Schools". Someone had joined this group and had sent me an invitation to join as well. So I asked myself "who took Him out?". Where in the heck did they put Him? I have a bobble-head Jesus (yes, my baptist friends think it complete heresy) in my office on the shelf, and I had a mental image of someone moving him somewhere just to mess with me. I would start a group "Put Jesus back on the Shelf", but that wouldn't sound good either now would it.

Now I understand what people mean when they say "Put Christ Back in Schools". Its an expression of sentiment that their beliefs and freedoms of religion are being trampled upon by political correctness, culture wars, atheists, and whatever else, and in some measure I believe they are correct. It is a two-edged sword however, as freedom to practice ones religious beliefs is more inclusive than just chrisitainity, and I'm afraid those same persons who would like to pray to Jesus at football games would not be so inclined if the prayers were Islamic to Allah. Anyway thats another discussion.

So why isn't Christ in schools? Are you folks leaving him at home when you pack your lunches and grab your books and head out the door? Are you busy getting your gradebook and your lesson plans together and forget to pick Him up with your purse and ID card? Since there are no official clergy present in the lunchroom, are you not able to pray over your meal? Are you so focused on your sport that you don't take Him into the locker room with you?

So who took Christ out of the schools in the first place?

Yep. You guessed it. We did. We are responsible for "Putting Christ back in Schools". Christ is not a bobble-head that has been moved from my shelf to another location. He is not a morning prayer right after the pledge of allegiance. Christ is us. We are the hands and feet of Christ/Jesus. He dwells within us. Our actions are an outpouring of our hearts. So if anyone took him out, it would be us.

So let's take it a bit further. Put Christ back in our Families. Put Christ back in our Workplace. Put Christ back in OUR CHURCHES! And the way to do that is to put Christ back in your heart and take him with you. And you don't need the government for that.

Now if you want to talk about the legitimate assaults on Christianity from the culture, (as in the group suing in Texas over the moment-of-silence) we can do that in another post.

a day in the life of the prophet

So I'm camping yesterday with my lubberly lil' family at one of the State Parks when my eyeglass frames break. Fun times. I am officially a dork now with one ear piece missing and the glasses perched upon my nose held only in place by the other ear piece.

So off I go to the place where I purchased them to get another frame and we decide to go to the local chinese food place for lunch. I'm wearing my normal weekend camping attire, a pair of cargo shorts and a black t-shirt from my good friend's faith community (Journey IFC) and my gold chain with my United Methodist cross hanging from it. While I'm eating, an older fella with his company logo shirt comes in the door and our eyes meet. Somehow we seem to connect as we look at each other, and then he goes to another part of the restaurant. A little later on I'm interupted by the words, "Excuse me sir." Holding an egg roll in one hand and a mouth full of something that looks like chicken, I look up and its this same guy. He says to me, "Thank you for wearing that cross". I respond with something stupid I'm sure, like "Thanks" or "your welcome" or something, and he says, "I appreciate that". And its not the "politician smiling suck up way" of saying something, it was the "sincere somber I've got a story" way of saying something. So he turns and walks out of the restaurant. I resist the urge to follow him outside, due to my family being with me, but would really have loved to hear his story. To see where he is in his life. There was something there.

We leave and go to the place where I bought my glasses and they don't carry that frame anymore. I call the eye doctor and he loves me so much he works me in so I can get a new exam. We drive over and I walk in the lobby and have a seat. My family goes elsewhere. A lady in her 50s walks in and sets in the lobby as well. Just she and I. She looks over at me and asks, "Is that a United Methodist cross" and I replied yes. Thats all it took. She opened up like the flood gates of the Hoover Dam and begin telling me how her grandparents were the charter members of some baptist church in another community, how she had been a Baptist for 50 plus years of her life but is now going to one of the local United Methodist churches. I said "good for you" and she kept on... I was a Baptist for 50 plus years until I got a divorce. Then I was treated differently because I was divorced. This lady also had a story to tell and I listened. We talked about judgement of others and how different she now felt with a grace filled theology instead of the one she had grown up with. She said she wished she had known this earlier in her life because she actually liked to go to the casinos, have some wine and dance every now and then. I told her it was a beautiful thing that she was a recovering baptist and she replied "I'm recovered!". I tried to explain there was no such thing as a "recovered baptist", that its a process like AA, you are always in recovery, and she just laughed. She said she now teaches a sunday school class and thoroughly loves it. She wasn't allowed to at her Baptist church it sounded like.

She asked me if I had read "The Shack". Wow, yes I had read it and it was a good read. She said she was reading it now but some of her Baptist friends said it was heresy. We both agreed those folks would probably have a rude awakening when and if they actually met god. Then the lady who worked there spoke up and said she was reading it for the second time. It went on like this for a while until they called me into the exam room. I gave the lady the name of a book to read that lets her know its okay to be human, "Messy Spirituality" and she had me write it down on a piece of paper. I have no doubt she drove down the street to the book store and bought it. This lady, in her 50s, was all on fire with finally getting the chance to figure out who she is and what she believes and what God wants of her.

It was totally cool.

And this happens to me all the time. Another day in the life of the nonprofitprophet.

And that is cool as well.

so I'm teaching over Matthew when...

I've been teaching over a study of Matthew for the past several weeks. Its a pretty good study and the group, as far as I can tell, is enjoying it. We try to mix our discussions up by studying a book such as Blue Like Jazz, watching a film clip and applying it to our daily walk (the last was Batman The Dark Knight), and then a study of one of the books contained in the bible. This gives us some variety.

So today's discussion was over Matthew 19: 13-30, where Jesus blesses the little children, despite the disciples trying to keep the kids from bothering them and Jesus. Jesus sets them straight and blesses the kids and then makes a couple of examples on how they need to be like these little ones to enter the kingdom. And then the story of the rich man asking Jesus what he needs to do to enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now, I know you've heard this story at least a hundred times. And so have I. But when preparing for it this week, I just got tickled. You know, it struck me funny. So Jesus is standing there and this unknown person (presumably wealthy) asks Him what he has to do to enter the kingdom. Jesus says "If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments." And the guy replies, "Which Ones?". Man, I just laughed. "which ones?". So I'm thinking "all of them you moron!". Why would God give you commandments and then say, "uh, go ahead and choose which one of these you'd like to keep". And it reminds me of my conversations with my kids. "eat your french fries." to which they reply "do I have to eat them all". Or "eat your carrots" and they say "how many". So Jesus replies with six commandments the guy needs to keep and names them. Now I'm not Jesus, and I have no idea why He cut him slack and only said six of them, but I guess He had his reasons.

So the six have something in common, they are all centered around our relationships to others. How we treat and respond and respect and love each other. Out of the 10 commandments, Jesus chose these. And that tells me something about what is important to Jesus when he actually allows the guy to keep only six of the commandments. Jesus is concerned with relationship.

now there is more to the story of course. The young man says he has kept those six (don't know about the other four) so wanted to know if there was anything he hadn't done. Jesus says, "yep, go sell your stuff and give the money to the poor" and that would do it. The guy can't do it. He values stuff more than people. And the scripture says he is grieved by it.

So is something keeping you from the Kingdom? Is it possessions? Is it fear? Is it control? I wonder what Jesus would tell us if we asked, "what do I need to do?". I wonder if He would cut us some slack?

Awareness

I'm not exactly sure when this took place, but I was probably ten or eleven years old when awareness began. Awareness for me took the form of noticing girls, and then noticing myself and becoming self conscious about how I looked. Before this time, I was blissfully unaware of anything other than whatever was taking place at the moment. I just reacted to my surroundings like a squirrel in the middle of the road with an approaching car - all over the place.
And it was about this time that my dad became unemployed. He was an insurance salesman and I don't really remember what happened, I just knew that for a while there he didn't have a job. And somehow I found out that he had borrowed some money from the neighbors to buy us kids some new t-shirts and underwear for christmas. I can still remember my younger sister crying about not getting the toys she wanted, and how sad my parents looked.
So we never asked for anything much. Except now I was starting to notice that my clothes weren't quite in style. My mom, bless her heart, took it upon herself to purchase me two pair of jeans for school. Bell bottoms. Dark Blue. Totally yuck. And I hated them. So everyday at school, while on the playground or at P.E., I would run and slide and try to tear them up in hopes of getting a new pair. And finally, one day, after much sliding, the knees ripped! Yippee, home free. I went home and told mom and showed her my dilemna and was expecting the "lets go get you another pair then" and I could pick out some cool ones.
Didn't happen. Mom took them from me, ironed a patch on each knee, and handed them back. Yes, a terrible blow had been dealt to my self esteem.
This was also about the time Nike tennis shoes became popular. They are nothing now like they were then, but they were the prized possession of the day. Blue nylon looking things with a white check on the side. And I wanted a pair. I guess I bugged mom long enough that we had to drive all the way to the big town eleven miles away to find them. Yep, we left Maberry and went to Mt. Pilot. I can still remember getting them and getting back into our chevrolet caprice station wagon with the wood trim, and looking at those shoes like a prized possession. It could have been a golden trophy. Mom's words still come to me: "You better take care of those. I have never paid $14 for a pair of shoes in my life". For real.
Now the shoe is on the other foot. (pun intended)
I am much older, and though I try to be aware of how I look and what I wear to a certain extent, I don't really care much if its to the approval of others. I wear boots. Cowboy boots mostly. And I wear them all the time if I have pants on. Suits, jeans, slacks...heck, I don't care. I like boots. And in the summer, shorts and sandals only. Its me. Its who I am and it makes me comfortable.
Fortunately, I can afford this stuff now. And my kids get what they want also for the most part. One is eleven years old now and hasn't quite gotten to the point of being aware of what the culture says she should wear. And that's good. One is sixteen, and is thoroughly self conscious about her looks, but not because of what others will think about her, but how she wants to look. She is very comfortable with herself, something I really wasn't at her age. And the self confidence of both of them makes me proud. They don't follow the crowd or the culture or the marketing overall. They totally dislike Hannah Montana clothing. YEAH!
I'm not sure if its harder being a kid now than it was for my generation. In some ways its seems so, in others not. I guess its all relative to the situation. Times seem more complicated, but kids seem cooler. The seem to be more comfortable with who they are. More accepting of others. More into social activities. More concerned with the environment and food drives and "race for cure" activities and saying I love God on their MySpace pages...
More Aware.
Good for them.