Dynamic Yet Consistent

Over the past 30 or 40 years, there’s been a shift in the culture where as we got wealthier, it actually became less socially acceptable to just sort of, like, engage in raw displays of how much wealth you have or what great taste you have. And so we engage in what I call "conspicuous authenticity," displays of consumption or experience that sort of express what a deep person, how spiritual you are.….

What I’m trying to point out is that when you wrap up your consumption in a sort of moralizing guise, it ends up sort of being almost a more pernicious form of status-seeking, because it makes it seem like you’re actually better than other people and not just simply better connected.

The quotes above are from a recent interview with Andrew Potter about his new book The Authenticity Hoax.  You can listen to the whole interview from Marketplace Money here: The New Holier Than Thou

I was really struck by the criticism because I can see and sense what he is talking about in my own life and the lives of those I most closely associate with.  Many of the things he mentions Beth and I do:

• Compost and garden at home
• Buy locally and organically
• Reject Big Box Stores
• Fetishize poverty
• etc.

It is not that these things are inherently bad (in fact, most of them are based on solid values and ideals).  I am satisfied with my path of downward mobility.  However, when we hold the idea of an action higher than the action itself, we risk falling into the trap of conspicuous authenticity – it becomes easy to do things because we want to project a certain image rather than actually live by a set of ideals. 

I am the first to admit I am guilty of this.

Wrapped up in all this is my own understanding of just how important community is.  The community that surrounds you set the bar for the ideals you pursue.  Close friends can challenge you to love more deeply and serve more broadly, or they can promote selfishness and give you an excuse to become complacent.

I can honestly say my closest friends have brought both sides out of me.

My hope is not that I will do more “things” or live by more standards, but rather that I will become more deeply committed to the values I cherish.

The following is from John Donne’s Thoughts on Emergent Occasions.  The common phrases “for whom the bell tolls” and “no man is an island” come from this piece.  In its entirety  it is a refreshing read.  It is my hope it continues to aid in our discussion of human worth, human rights and the way we should view humanity.  Points of emphasis are mine.

XVII. MEDITATION
Now, this bell tolling softly for another, says to me: Thou must die.

Perchance he for whom this bell tolls may be so ill, as that he knows not it tolls for him; and perchance I may think myself so much better than I am, as that they who are about me, and see my state, may have caused it to toll for me, and I know not that.

The church is Catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all.

When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that body which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member.

And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated.

God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God’s hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another.

As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come, so this bell calls us all; but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness.

There was a contention as far as a suit (in which both piety and dignity, religion and estimation, were mingled), which of the religious orders should ring to prayers first in the morning; and it was determined, that they should ring first that rose earliest.

If we understand aright the dignity of this bell that tolls for our evening prayer, we would be glad to make it ours by rising early, in that application, that it might be ours as well as his, whose indeed it is.

The bell doth toll for him that thinks it doth; and though it intermit again, yet from that minute that that occasion wrought upon him, he is united to God.

Who casts not up his eye to the sun when it rises? but who takes off his eye from a comet when that breaks out?

Who bends not his ear to any bell which upon any occasion rings? but who can remove it from that bell which is passing a piece of himself out of this world?

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.

If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were.

Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.

Neither can we call this a begging of misery, or a borrowing of misery, as though we were not miserable enough of ourselves, but must fetch in more from the next house, in taking upon us the misery of our neighbours.

Truly it were an excusable covetousness if we did, for affliction is a treasure, and scarce any man hath enough of it.

No man hath affliction enough that is not matured and ripened by it, and made fit for God by that affliction.

If a man carry treasure in bullion, or in a wedge of gold, and have none coined into current money, his treasure will not defray him as he travels.

Tribulation is treasure in the nature of it, but it is not current money in the use of it, except we get nearer and nearer our home, heaven, by it.

Another man may be sick too, and sick to death, and this affliction may lie in his bowels, as gold in a mine, and be of no use to him; but this bell, that tells me of his affliction, digs out and applies that gold to me: if by this consideration of another’s danger I take mine own into contemplation, and so secure myself, by making my recourse to my God, who is our only security.

Many of you know Beth and I are planning a move to Swaziland Africa in the next couple years (I wrote a 3 part series on how we made our decision, important information about Swaziland, and what we expect to do there).  Rather than going to “fix” things, we want to be a part of a community that is responding to needs.  We want to participate in something much bigger than us.  While we haven’t made any decisions yet, we have found a place that gets us very excited: The city of Bulembu.

Bulembu is situated in the mountains of northwest Swaziland right on the South African border.  In its prime there were 15,000 residents of this city, most of them employed by the local asbestos mine.  When the mine closed the city fell apart.  The population dropped to less than 1,000 and the infrastructure collapsed.  The entire city was bought by a development corporation who then sold it to a non-profit called Bulembu Ministries.  This organization is primarily made up of native Swazi leaders.  It is now the vision of the city to redefine and rebuild itself.

The vision includes a town where 10,000 residents are safe and have access to quality work and essential social services.  A town with the infrastructure and programs to provide ongoing care for 2,000 orphaned and vulnerable children with access to education, health services and family structures so they can develop into young adults and emerging leaders with hope for the future. ~Bulembu.org

The rebuilding process in built around a plan for a fully sustainable city.  Rather than rely on outside aid, the people of Bulembu have a vision for place where the community enterprise completely supports community care.  Industries have been brought in (tourism, forestry, bakeries, etc.) to provide work for the local people.  Then, all of the profits go towards sustaining the orphanages, schools, churches, hospitals, etc.

Nearly every aspect of the city is built around shared opportunity and individual potential.  The orphanages are designed in a village structure so that children live in “families” rather than being shuffled around in large institutional settings.

The commitment is to provide holistic care for each child in a home, rather than in a large institutional orphanage. Each child lives in a refurbished home with a caregiver and 5 other children.  In this way, each child becomes a part of a caring family that will prepare them for a bright future filled with hope and to emerge as the leaders of tomorrow.  These new famlies will be the thread that restores the social fabric of a nation on the verge of collapse due to the AIDS pandemic.

In a similar way, the schools are based on individualized instruction so each student can be taught the skills they need while developing their natural ability.

What really gets Beth and I excited is that this initiative was started and is sustained by local people with an amazing vision for what their city could be.  It is also a place where a diverse group of people are partnering together for a common good.  It is a place where we could be part of something much bigger than us with a long range vision for positive change.  We don’t know where specifically we will end up in a couple years, but learning about this city has energized us and reminded us why we want to move 8,000 miles away.

Here is a youtube video from the city as well as a few more pictures and links:

Links

• Bulembu Ministries
• Resurrecting Bulembu (News Article from IPS)
• Voices for Bulembu
• Bulembu (Wikipedia)
• Swazi Mission (The Skinner family, whom I have been in contact with)