Over Christmas I read A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah after receiving it as a gift from my sister. If my sister reads a book and thinks it's profound she loves to buy it for everyone she knows. Which tells you two cool things about my sister. She doesn't like to give gifts she wouldn't want to receive herself and she wants to expand your view of the world through meaningful literature. I like that!
This book is not for the faint of heart, in fact you should probably not read this book late at night in order to avoid dreams of being in the jungles of Africa running for your life. Which is what happened to me. I will say that I usually avoid reading books about Africa. I'm probably like a lot of people. I would like to ignore modern Africa with it's child soldiers, AIDS, malaria, struggling economies, government embezzlement and the mess that has been left behind by colonialism...because it's too tragic.
But I can't ignore Africa, because when I read a book like A Long Way Gone in the middle of the mind boggling violence there is also life and culture. There are villages untouched by violence where you can glimpse what life would be like in Africa without war and disease. Women cook, they care for children, they gossip. Men hunt or farm. People gather at night for village meetings and storytelling around fires. And while my ultra-American lifestyle doesn't exactly equate with life in an African village, there are overlaps that reveal the common things we share as human beings. I can't ignore Africa. The people are just too much like me. And when I am reminded of that, it makes the violence and disease all the more tragic. It also makes it real. And it reminds me that it could happen anywhere.
Prior to reading this book I also read another article about Africa. It is utterly fascinating and well worth reading:
Matthew Parris Africa Article.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
I'm going green, learning Mandarin and in general trying to do other healthy things...
I think it would be safe to say that I typically do not like to do things in moderation...I'm an all or nothing kind of girl. I like to eat everything on my plate not because I'm still hungry, but because I don't like leaving anything on my plate. When I start a book, if it's a good one, I'll sometimes finish it that day...because I want to take in the whole thing all at once. I'm kind of like that when it comes to life too. If something should be done in moderation I often miss it, because I'm too consumed with the other thing that I'm doing to the fullest extent possible.
What does this have to do with healthy things or going green? Well, in my overwhelming urge to avoid moderation I often miss out on the fact that doing something more often in smaller segments can often be really good for you. Especially if that thing you are doing in small segments daily is something you would have avoided completely if you tried to do it for long periods of time. He has brought this to my attention through my desire to be green and my desire to learn Mandarin.
I have to say that as a person, I always have valued keeping the Earth clean. As a believer, I know that it is part of my responsibility as being a human being who has dominion over creation. Does it mean I do anything about it? No, not always. And here's why...I choose to not be green because I can't be COMPLETELY green. I avoid making changes to be green in a few small areas of my life because I will probably still throw away glass bottles and aluminum cans from time to time. And that bothers me enough to not try to be green at all.
If you're still tracking with my totally illogical logic let me share how this plays out in another area of my life. I started taking a Mandarin class this fall. Now if you are taking any type of class you have to study, but I would avoid studying for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, even 30 minutes a day because I could not devote HOURS to studying. So I gave up learning at a steady rate daily in favor of an afternoon of studying from time to time that really didn't help that much.
This habit of course plays out in other areas of life besides just being friendly to the earth and being friendly to Mandarin speakers in my effort to learn their language, it plays out in my time with the Lord, my time with people, exercising and I could go on.
But, I'm turning over a new life because of two things I recently read. The first was an article in Real Simple that laid out what a difference you could make in 365 days if you recycled just one piece of paper or one aluminum can each day. The crazy thing is, it adds up to a lot. I tried to find the article again to figure out just how much it was, but I couldn't find it...so trust me, it's a lot.
The other thing I read was the first page of my Mandarin book. Here's what its say's and I quote: "Little and often is far more effective than a long session every now and then." Wow...direct evidence of my new theory!
So for about a month now I've been putting this new idea into practice. 15 minutes of exercise daily is better then one long two hour jog on a Sunday afternoon. Opening up the Bible each morning, even if it's just for five minutes is better then pulling it out for a three hour read involving several commentaries, a leather bound journal and deep thoughts permeating the gray matter of my brain that should be shared with the world. Recycling a few cans and newspapers is better then not recycling at all. And pulling out my Mandarin book or practicing a phrase or two with my husband daily is better then a four hour crunch session at the library.
So far this new theory is true in all these areas and more... I think I like this moderation thing! But I still plan on cleaning my plate.
What does this have to do with healthy things or going green? Well, in my overwhelming urge to avoid moderation I often miss out on the fact that doing something more often in smaller segments can often be really good for you. Especially if that thing you are doing in small segments daily is something you would have avoided completely if you tried to do it for long periods of time. He has brought this to my attention through my desire to be green and my desire to learn Mandarin.
I have to say that as a person, I always have valued keeping the Earth clean. As a believer, I know that it is part of my responsibility as being a human being who has dominion over creation. Does it mean I do anything about it? No, not always. And here's why...I choose to not be green because I can't be COMPLETELY green. I avoid making changes to be green in a few small areas of my life because I will probably still throw away glass bottles and aluminum cans from time to time. And that bothers me enough to not try to be green at all.
If you're still tracking with my totally illogical logic let me share how this plays out in another area of my life. I started taking a Mandarin class this fall. Now if you are taking any type of class you have to study, but I would avoid studying for 15 minutes, 20 minutes, even 30 minutes a day because I could not devote HOURS to studying. So I gave up learning at a steady rate daily in favor of an afternoon of studying from time to time that really didn't help that much.
This habit of course plays out in other areas of life besides just being friendly to the earth and being friendly to Mandarin speakers in my effort to learn their language, it plays out in my time with the Lord, my time with people, exercising and I could go on.
But, I'm turning over a new life because of two things I recently read. The first was an article in Real Simple that laid out what a difference you could make in 365 days if you recycled just one piece of paper or one aluminum can each day. The crazy thing is, it adds up to a lot. I tried to find the article again to figure out just how much it was, but I couldn't find it...so trust me, it's a lot.
The other thing I read was the first page of my Mandarin book. Here's what its say's and I quote: "Little and often is far more effective than a long session every now and then." Wow...direct evidence of my new theory!
So for about a month now I've been putting this new idea into practice. 15 minutes of exercise daily is better then one long two hour jog on a Sunday afternoon. Opening up the Bible each morning, even if it's just for five minutes is better then pulling it out for a three hour read involving several commentaries, a leather bound journal and deep thoughts permeating the gray matter of my brain that should be shared with the world. Recycling a few cans and newspapers is better then not recycling at all. And pulling out my Mandarin book or practicing a phrase or two with my husband daily is better then a four hour crunch session at the library.
So far this new theory is true in all these areas and more... I think I like this moderation thing! But I still plan on cleaning my plate.
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