What We Need

Something I noticed when I was on a mission trip to Mexico is that the people there are very satisfied living with a lot less than we do. In fact, I found that in many ways, the people in Reynosa were much more giving and hospitable than many people I know in Canada. Anyone who has been to a developing or third world country would agree with these statements. If we think that being satisfied and giving are good things (which I think we should) then we must ask what is wrong with us?

Now, of course we could say 'materialistic culture' and everyone would nod their heads and go "mmhmm" and leave it at that. But what exactly does it mean that we live in a materialistic culture?

When North Americans go shopping, what do we go shopping for? Theoretically, the purpose of shopping is to get things we need, right? Is that what we buy? Recently, as I was considering what to wear for a Christmas event, I thought I should go out to buy a tie that does well with a black shirt. Currently, I have two navy ties and one red one. As I considered ties in a catalog, it dawned on me that I didn't really need a tie that goes with black... I can wear a white shirt instead and it'll be fine. Some people I know would tell me that I need the black tie because otherwise I can't wear my black shirt with a suit, but that would imply that I need to wear my black shirt with a suit. But I don't really, do I?

It's my opinion that in North America, we've badly misdefined the concept of need. Jesus tells us that he will provide everything we need if we put our faith in him. Do we agree with that? Are we satisfied with the things God has given us?

Paul says we should be content with food and clothing, for godliness with contentment is great gain. We tend to spend so much time thinking about things we want, we turn those into 'needs' very quickly. We don't take the opportunity to step back at look at the situation, which would undoubtedly lead to us realising that we really do have all that we need. It's our desire to own better and more classy things that lead us to believe we need things that are really not necessary. People who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

Now, the last time I checked, none of us need (or want) to fall into ruin or destruction, so perhaps it's time to re-evaluate our definitions of 'need' and 'want' before we run up debts so high that we become slaves to our consumerism. It's not that God doesn't want us to have any luxuries (the streets of heaven are reportedly paved with gold) but we should try to view everything with more accurate definitions of what we need and what we want.

On Foolishness

There is a church that is spending all day today having four church services in which they are planning to provide every child with a gift and every family with a turkey. Everyone is invited and everyone gets something. The process is going to cost the church over ten thousand dollars and as churches go, it is not incredibly large. This means that just about every person in that church is making a significant sacrifice to put the four services together.

Conventional wisdom would say they are being utterly foolish. People in the community who hear about the program could just show up, take their turkey and ignore whatever message is given during the service. Then, they would go home and never show their faces again, one turkey up and still not actually poor. Analysts would likely say that members of the church are just giving their money up and getting nothing in return.

And yet, isn't it that kind of sacrifice we're called to give?

We're supposed to proved for the poor, the widows and the fatherless, without the expectation that we might be repaid someday. In general, that equation means we're risking our own well-being, what many people would consider foolish. It's that kind of sacrifice that the young rich ruler was unable to make when Jesus told him to sell everything and follow. He just couldn't give up everything with no promise of getting anything back. In his eyes, that would have been foolish.

The thing is, we do get it back:

Is there any such foolishness that the Lord cannot redeem - he who chose fishermen to be his disciples, who rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, who let himself be betrayed by one of his schose, who thought it would be a good idea to die on a cross in order to destroy death? All of this has been so dwelt upon, so reasoned out, so studied and analyzed, memorized and categorized, that at times it no longer seems strange. But I tell you it's mad, utterly and completely. There is no reason in it, except that it works.

By giving up our earthly posessions to follow God's command to help others, we are, in fact, storing up our treasures in heaven. We're seeking the Kingdom of God instead of the things of the world, which by the world is foolishness, but by the Kingdom is very wise. It is only foolishness that is born of hope that can be considered wise.

God doesn't need us to take care of the poor, the widows and the fatherless. He could do it himself. Having used foolishness to redeem the world, [Jesus] has not yet given up on that method. He has the power to wipe every tear from our eyes, but he chooses instead to wait for us to wipe the tears from each other's eyes.

This year, as we remember the foolishness of Jesus giving up his throne to become a human baby, let's do our best to follow in His foolish footsteps. God doesn't necessarily require everyone to give up everything, but promises that if we do, He'll provide for our every need. We just have trust that He'll keep that promise and revise our definition of need.

-Quotes in italics taken from Tolkien's Ordinary Virtues by Mark Eddy Smith

Physics of Music

I just wrote an exam yesterday for a course called the Physics of Music. For me, the class was pretty easy, but that wasn't the point. It was actually really interesting. While writing the exam, I came across a question about nature, music, and chaos and it really got me thinking.

The theory is that good music has to have an element of surprise in it to keep us interested. A song could have all the nice chords and a catchy tune, but if it gets too predictable, we won't be interested. However, some music seems completely random and has no semblance of structure to it. For many people, that music is no good either. It has to have enough surprise to be unpredictable, but not to the point that it's predicably so.

There is a mathematical formula based on two variables that is used in chaos theory. One of the variables (say x) is the starting point for a series and has to be between 0 and 1. The other (y) determines the variability of the series and can be any positive value. If this determining variable is between 0 and 3.57, the series starts off at x and quickly finds up to four different values that it fluctuates between. If y is 4 or larger, the series starts at x and takes off to infinity. Between 3.57 and 4, however, the series has a seemingly random flow to it. Never repeating and always surprising. And the great thing is that if x varies even slightly, the series changes dramatically.

Here's my point: humans like us seem to take pleasure in surprise. We like movies with twists, we like getting presents that we don't know about, and the like. If life is too predictable, we get bored. At the same time, if there is too much surprise, we can't handle it. Stress levels go through the roof and bad things start to happen. Therefore, in the interests of having an interesting life that we can handle, it's imperative for the determining value in the universe's chaos equation to remain between 3.57 and 4. Otherwise we'd lead either really boring or really out-of-control lives.

The only way left to disrupt such a delicate balance would be to change the initial conditions. As far back as intiquity, people have recognized that there is an underlying 'natural' law that applies to everyone. In Christian circles, this would apply to living within the will of God (love the Lord & your neighbour). As long as we stay within those parameters, everything will be fine. But step out and suddenly everything takes off out of control to infinity.

Now, it would seem that God wants us to have the pleasure that comes from manageable surprise, because as far as physicists and mathematicians can tell, the whole universe has this property of manageable chaos. So we can take comfort in the fact that as long as we keep our initial conditions within the parameters God has set for us, God is in control of the variability constant and won't let our lives spiral into boredom or blow our minds with complete unpredictability.

So now that I've written this, I'm not sure if it makes sense, but I like the idea of chaos in music anyway and I still like the odd surprise, too.