On having a "real job"

This last Monday I started at Plattform Inc. as a Proofreader. As far as work goes, this place has been more than I could ask for - jeans and t-shirts (except when clients come in), fun atmosphere, cool people, good benefits...It's been a crazy blessing. I work in the QA department (i.e. quality assurance) with about 7 other folks who like to rock the dockets. We proofread all different kinds of media: web, tv, radio and print. Essentially, we are making sure that what the creative people make matches what the client wants/is paying for. For some of you that might seem mundane and boring, but it's not. It's sweet.

Until recently, I've been an employee of Chick-fil-A, where anything is a possible. It was humbling to work "quick service" food while having a degree, but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. It's amazing how we tend to look down upon those who work in the "quick service" food industry. If something goes wrong with an order, it's obviously because the person behind the counter is dumb, disgruntled or apathetic... However, I came to enjoy this tendency that people have. If I took an extra 10 seconds to ask how someone's day was going, they'd tell me the truth, because, come on, I'm just the Chick-fil-A guy. The ability to have no walls up between people in such a short time, and in such a fast paced environment, was amazing to me. One gentleman told me about his tearing 2 vertebra and then getting an epidural, which at the time hadn't kicked in - and wouldn't for another 40 some hours - he was in excruciating pain. Another gentleman told me about his wife being in the hospital because of lung cancer, and how it was an absolute nightmare. I asked if i could pray for him and his wife, and he said that he'd appreciate that. In less than no time I had entered into a very sensitive place for both of those guys; In the same amount of time they were gone. I hope and pray that the many little interactions I had with people were some sort of blessing, comfort, or encouragement to them.

It'll be difficult to have that kind of freedom in my new office setting, but hopefully I'll be able to take advantage of the opportunities that arise.

The Tecmo Weave

For most males that were born within the years 1980-1989, one sports video game in particular shaped them into the lazy bums that their friends and family know so well today. And that game was, is, and shall be: Tecmo Super Bowl.

This Nintendo original with its in-depth play books, realistic graphics, 90 yard touchdown passes, and 1000 + yard touchdown run s, instilled unattainable sporting aspirations among America's youth more effectively than any overbearing parental figure ever had in the past.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, or if you want to stroll back down memory lane, and experience your childhood once again. Take a look at this.

The magic that is Tecmo Super Bowl.

Free Lunch

Now that spring has arrived my blogging aspirations have been resurrected. Hurray.

Today I went with two friends (Jason and Emily) to hand out free lunches downtown. The area we hit up was near the crossroads in KC, and at about 9th and Harrison. We only had 35 lunches to give away and they went in a hurry. The goal of "Free Lunch" is to minister to the community that is often overlooked or ignored. (ie. the poor/homeless and Hispanic community ).

In Matthew chapter 25 Jesus tells the story of the separation of the sheep form the goats. In that account Jesus tells how the king will come and say to the sheep "...For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited me in..." Then the sheep say, "when did we do this?"; and Jesus says, "Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers (and sisters) of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me."

So, compelled by Jesus and his gospel, my friend Jason started this ministry that happens every other week. If you'd like to know more about it, check out:

http://www.freelunchproject.blogspot.com/

Home bitter-sweet home

For the past month, I've been living at home with my parents, and for the most part it's been really good. However, the lack of employment and/or direction in life, which most post-grads experience, is wearing me thin. This time has shown me what little patience and faith I have. In the bible, when people read a passage like Acts 28:30, we tend to blow right past it without realizing the depth of the passage, because it just seems like a random fact.

"He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance."

In this closing passage of Acts, Paul stays in Rome, providing for himself and teaching. It would be too easy to say, "Yup, whatever, on to Romans!" What sticks out now more than ever are the words "two years." He spent two years of his life in a place, according to my bible map, that was more than 2000 miles away from his home - at a time when many people wouldn't leave their city. Rome was it - the center of power, knowledge, arts, etc. (granted, they stole it from everyone else, but it was the place to be). Imagine going to a place like New York City, London, or Paris - living there for two years, supporting yourself, preaching, teaching, and accepting everyone that comes to your door, whether they're wealthy, poor, beautiful, ugly, sick, overbearing, offensive, awkward or whatever...

I have no idea how long I'll need to live at home, or how long it'll be until I have something concrete to focus on...other than my 2-day-a-week internship, which is non-paying; but I'm becoming more and more convicted that I need to preach boldly, like Paul, during this time where I have no hindrances to hold me back from...well, anything.

G.K. Chesterton

Hurray! The majority of my workload is finished for the year - actually, FOREVER ( as far as undergraduate study goes). I've been able to kick back for a few hours and revisit an author who I am growing more and more fond of. In his book Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton answers the challenge of a critic who stated, "I will begin to worry about my philosophy when Mr. Chesterton has given us his." Here are some snippets from his chapter "The Eternal Revolution."

Now here comes in the whole collapse and huge blunder of our age. We have mixed up two different things, two opposite things. Progress should mean that we are always changing the world to suit the vision. Progress does mean (just now) that we are always changing the vision...

As long as the vision of heaven is always changing, the vision of earth will be exactly the same. No ideal will remain long enough to be realized, or even partly realized. The modern young man will never change his environment; for he will always change his mind.

Here, I do not believe that Chesterton is speaking about any given individual circumstance but rather touches on what it means for humanity to progress as a whole. I feel that this is an accurate critique of the fickle nature of my generation. We want to cry out and demand "change and peace" like our hippie predisessors, but in reality, we don't have the diligence to see something through to the end. We'd rather wax philosophical and drink Lattes by the gallon, and we do. For the christian, as Chesterton was and I am, this is a good reminder to focus on Christ, and to retreat from a pop-culture, which offers band-aid solutions for wounds that are gaping and mortal.

Shel Silverstein

When you think of Shel Silverstein, you generally reminisce about old favorites like A Light in the Attic or The Giving Tree. However, after doing some very minor research for a group presentation, I discovered that Shel Silverstein more or less secreted art from his pores. He not only wrote children's lit, but also wrote plays, and rubbed elbows with people like David Mamet. In addition to that he composed music. One of his most famous is "A Boy Named Sue," which was performed by Johnny Cash - It won a Grammy. Perhaps the funniest thing About Shel is that he wrote for Playboy. He even lived in the mansion. No wonder he always looks happy in the pictures on his books. You'd think that most parents would faint at the idea of a Playboy author reading their kid a bedtime story...especially one who refered to himslef as "Uncle Shelby."

Sterling A. Brown

Last week I skipped a class that I figured would be of little benefit to my overall academic experience, and for the most part I was correct. However my absence caused me to miss the memo that our 3rd exam, scheduled to happen at our next meeting, was moved back one class period. In place of studying for the exam we were assigned material from Sterling A. Brown. Even though college can be difficult at times, it is usually pretty easy to fake it when you're not prepared, so when I heard that my test was rescheduled, it was like winning the power ball. But as I sat in my desk, smug and feeling content with my procrastination and the favorable odds of luck, I perused the supplemental material and noticed the name John Edgar Tidwell. It was the name of the scholar who had written the background piece on Sterling A. Brown. It was also the name of my professor. Oops. Not a good day to be unprepared.

Props to Machiavelli

Last Friday my Western Civilization class discussed Machiavelli's The Prince. The overall reaction was surprising. Without a doubt Machiavelli gets a bad rap, often being labeled as a tyrant or a man of pure evil. However, Machiavelli's advice centers around what is necessary, and that includes being generous as well as being ruthless. To him, neither characteristic is good or bad in and of itself, and shouldn't be implemented to an excess for practical reasons. The focus on the practical and not the ideal paved the way for the philosophy of Realpolitik, which highlights a "The end justifies the means" mentality.

What I thought was interesting about some of my classmates' responses was the fact that many of them felt that Machiavelli's ideas were refreshing compared to the impractical ideas of Jesus, Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, the Qur'an, Seneca, etc. Many students praised the "realness" of the work and liked the fact that Machiavelli didn't shy away from the harsh facts of life. All of this I can at least sympathize with, but their perspective seemed to clash with one of the most popular pastimes of college students in general - criticizing our own government. I asked the question: "How is it that we can applaud Machiavelli's tactics for gaining and holding power, and then turn around and criticize our political leaders -be they Democrat, Republican, Green, or Whatever- when they appeal to the necessity of actions that we as a majority deem wrong, immoral, or tyrannical?" (A hot topic right now would be the use of torture... and the dance that politicians do when asked to define torture) I don't usually take pride in creating awkward atmospheres in university classrooms, but it grew so uncomfortably quite in that room that I must. People looked at each other in silence, curious to see who would be bold enough to offer their opinion. It was all much more dramatic that it should have been, but finally, a few students put their two cents in and my question was completely avoided.