Sexism is still so rampant... Today I was reading some stats on it here...
In 2006, women over the age of 25 earned 78.7 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Labor Department. That's a decline from 2005's figure of 79.4 cents on the dollar and also represents only about a 5-cent increase since 1991.
Catalyst, a nonprofit research and advisory organization that focuses on professional women, calculates that, at this rate, it will take 73 years for women to achieve parity with men at the board level. 2081, here we come!
The notion that a contemporary woman must look mannish in order to be taken seriously as a seeker of power is frankly dismaying.
I despise this. I mean, sure, I wouldn't mind sexism so much if it didn't affect my gender, but it seems to be an inequality assaulting women. I've felt it before; maybe that's why I've chosen to be strong, competitive, to scorn the "girly" things; it could just be that I don't like girly stuff, or maybe I feel like I can't. Why can't women succeed as women? Honestly, why can't people see we are STILL so so SO sexist (not to mention racist). I would like to see how many "important" African American females there are in the world. Once again I ask God why I was born as a female? Is this what he intended? That women just stay in the shadows and support men? Where are the great women writers and singers and artists and scientists? I don't understand what's to like less about a woman? Maybe we can't bench as much as men- but we are certainly not wimps! Plus, how strong does one really need to be for high class jobs?
What makes us worth more than twenty cents less than men? Were we just meant to not work- is that why equality in work is so hard? Or is it the continual pattern of patriarchy? Even the Bible seems sexist at times. Perhaps this shouldn't even matter to me, but, for some reason, it still gets under my skin.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Worship without a drum set?
I was reading about instrumental worship in the Bible today, I ran across a few sources that were pretty contradictory to how most churches are. One of them,(this one)said a few interesting things, here's one:
God separates direct worship from all other things done by His children. All that we do in life must be done to His glory, but direct worship is a uniquely special activity, governed by special rules and guidelines. We shall see in what follows that the Old Testament speaks of at least eight kinds of instrument in common use by the people of those days, and all were permitted in private, social and civic life. However, only four of these were permitted in direct worship in the house of God. It is immensely important to be aware of this.
I read it and at first was like, "yeah, there is definitely a difference between living one's life as worship and setting aside a specific time to solely worship God". I'm not saying that we can't offer our lives as fragrant offerings- we're supposed to do that already. But there is certainly a difference between playing hockey, or painting, or playing a violin, or entering a spelling bee for the glory of God, as worship, and flat out worshiping God- no multi-tasking way of worshiping, but purely giving glory and thanks back to God. After that line I got a bit suspicious though- only 4 instruments are to be used in worship????
I kept reading and the scholar went on to make this point;
The Lord wants modesty and simplicity, not entertainment, show, noise, unnecessary diversity of instrument, or human ostentation.
Wow! It made me wonder if you have ever been to a church where the worship service just seemed like a concert? I definitely have, and the music was great sure- but should that be what is drawing people in? Shouldn't worship be something else, something more? An extended electric guitar solo, or any impressive instrumental solo, can distract me from the worship and set my mind to thinking if I will ever be able to play that well, my focus on God is slightly muddled.
I love worship music, but I've never looked at it from this way, so I wanted to see a different perspective, and this was very different from most churches. So maybe the Orthodox have a few things right with their worship. Also, I just learned today that in ancient times the preacher/teacher would sit and the listeners would stand. That'd definitely cut down on the sleeping in church; hmmm, another thing the Orthodox do. Maybe this is a step to thinking outside my own denominational box.
God separates direct worship from all other things done by His children. All that we do in life must be done to His glory, but direct worship is a uniquely special activity, governed by special rules and guidelines. We shall see in what follows that the Old Testament speaks of at least eight kinds of instrument in common use by the people of those days, and all were permitted in private, social and civic life. However, only four of these were permitted in direct worship in the house of God. It is immensely important to be aware of this.
I read it and at first was like, "yeah, there is definitely a difference between living one's life as worship and setting aside a specific time to solely worship God". I'm not saying that we can't offer our lives as fragrant offerings- we're supposed to do that already. But there is certainly a difference between playing hockey, or painting, or playing a violin, or entering a spelling bee for the glory of God, as worship, and flat out worshiping God- no multi-tasking way of worshiping, but purely giving glory and thanks back to God. After that line I got a bit suspicious though- only 4 instruments are to be used in worship????
I kept reading and the scholar went on to make this point;
The Lord wants modesty and simplicity, not entertainment, show, noise, unnecessary diversity of instrument, or human ostentation.
Wow! It made me wonder if you have ever been to a church where the worship service just seemed like a concert? I definitely have, and the music was great sure- but should that be what is drawing people in? Shouldn't worship be something else, something more? An extended electric guitar solo, or any impressive instrumental solo, can distract me from the worship and set my mind to thinking if I will ever be able to play that well, my focus on God is slightly muddled.
I love worship music, but I've never looked at it from this way, so I wanted to see a different perspective, and this was very different from most churches. So maybe the Orthodox have a few things right with their worship. Also, I just learned today that in ancient times the preacher/teacher would sit and the listeners would stand. That'd definitely cut down on the sleeping in church; hmmm, another thing the Orthodox do. Maybe this is a step to thinking outside my own denominational box.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Permission to Define: Denied
Today was the first day of J-term, one of my classes, nonverbal storytelling, is going to be earth-shattering. The combination of a compassionate, God-seeking professor and the content we'll be covering is definitely going to change something. We'll see what happens. Anyhow, she was explaining to us today that our face is the most effective expressor as far as non-verbals go. She had us watch a few clips so her point would come across. For the last one, we first watched it entirely muted, she then asked us what we thought was being expressed, she then played it with the music and asked us if we thought differently. The dance was so moving, a bit unnerving, with the girl too scantily clad for my liking - but maybe it helped convey their point better... The song has intense lyrics too- "Gravity" by Sara Bareilles. I'll pop some lines in here:
"You hold me without touch.
You keep me without chains.
I never wanted anything so much
than to drown in your love"
Some people don't need to be physically holding onto you to keep you near them. Do you know what I'm talking about? All it takes is one pleading look and you're trapped. Sometimes the freedom to go is the thing that holds us closest. When we're being held in these freedom chains it seems so easy to think it's what we want more of.
"Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me."
I've felt these words at times in my life. You know you're trapped, like a bird in a snare, and you're trying so hard to escape, but no one seems to be able to save you from the fowler's net. God can, but we don't always know how to let Him. We want to be free, but it's such a hard desire to voice when you're in the pull of someone's gravity. We stand tall, invincible, impregnable, but who are we fooling? We all have chinks in our armor, facades we hide behind. We give people the permission to define us when we live in fear. And it's something we all do - live out of fear that is; we wake up ourselves, but by the end of the day we have eroded into the person those we love wish we'd be, or think we are. Of course this is a hyperbole, but could we see it otherwise? Some people are on to our masks, so they tear them off, and kiss the vulnerability beneath. Will it cause scarring- when people truly realize how we are and then they force themselves all over us? We need to be unselfish people, why? Because we need more selfless people in the world- we need more people who will not dig their condemning claws into our hearts of flesh. Masks are protection- they protect our true face- who we are underneath it all. If we act so often, and so well, are we less ourselves, have we forgotten what it means to be human- to be you?
"You hold me without touch.
You keep me without chains.
I never wanted anything so much
than to drown in your love"
Some people don't need to be physically holding onto you to keep you near them. Do you know what I'm talking about? All it takes is one pleading look and you're trapped. Sometimes the freedom to go is the thing that holds us closest. When we're being held in these freedom chains it seems so easy to think it's what we want more of.
"Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me."
I've felt these words at times in my life. You know you're trapped, like a bird in a snare, and you're trying so hard to escape, but no one seems to be able to save you from the fowler's net. God can, but we don't always know how to let Him. We want to be free, but it's such a hard desire to voice when you're in the pull of someone's gravity. We stand tall, invincible, impregnable, but who are we fooling? We all have chinks in our armor, facades we hide behind. We give people the permission to define us when we live in fear. And it's something we all do - live out of fear that is; we wake up ourselves, but by the end of the day we have eroded into the person those we love wish we'd be, or think we are. Of course this is a hyperbole, but could we see it otherwise? Some people are on to our masks, so they tear them off, and kiss the vulnerability beneath. Will it cause scarring- when people truly realize how we are and then they force themselves all over us? We need to be unselfish people, why? Because we need more selfless people in the world- we need more people who will not dig their condemning claws into our hearts of flesh. Masks are protection- they protect our true face- who we are underneath it all. If we act so often, and so well, are we less ourselves, have we forgotten what it means to be human- to be you?
A Battle Which Wageth
There is a battle I've chosen to wage
inside my heart, my mind I engage
Some days,
most days
My mind seems to be winning
and falling out, every underpinning
What about the day when my heart will finally win
when I surrender and let you pull me slowly in?
That glorious day, so far away, what will I say
When that day is no longer a frightening day
My mind used to win so much more
but my heart has something in store
yet another wily trick up its' sleeve
whipping it out my mind to grieve
because I just can't decide
it's becoming slow suicide
the martyrdom of my heart and mind
for decision is something I just can't find
I asked him if he'd wait for me
cuz strong is something I can't be
-he said he'd be honored to be strong
so I'm still holding on, I'm holding on
The target of someone's pursuit
I ask myself; the Spirit's fruit,
or product of false intimacy acute?
does something greater wait to root?
Christ first, and always foremost
already in His arms, drawn close
that he would choose to pursue
well, obviously, I don't know what to do...
inside my heart, my mind I engage
Some days,
most days
My mind seems to be winning
and falling out, every underpinning
What about the day when my heart will finally win
when I surrender and let you pull me slowly in?
That glorious day, so far away, what will I say
When that day is no longer a frightening day
My mind used to win so much more
but my heart has something in store
yet another wily trick up its' sleeve
whipping it out my mind to grieve
because I just can't decide
it's becoming slow suicide
the martyrdom of my heart and mind
for decision is something I just can't find
I asked him if he'd wait for me
cuz strong is something I can't be
-he said he'd be honored to be strong
so I'm still holding on, I'm holding on
The target of someone's pursuit
I ask myself; the Spirit's fruit,
or product of false intimacy acute?
does something greater wait to root?
Christ first, and always foremost
already in His arms, drawn close
that he would choose to pursue
well, obviously, I don't know what to do...
Monday, January 4, 2010
Toughen Up
Sometimes life is tough, for no apparent reason. I suppose it is tough to make us stronger, but it is still difficult at times. You might know what I'm talking about- those times when there is no apparent right or wrong, black and white, answer. I always seem to want to know what the "perfect" thing to do is. But maybe I'll never 100% find it, in that case I'd better stop looking for it and just make a choice; trusting that since God has led me this far He won't abandon me now.
I had my music on shuffle, and this song came on by Third Day:"Love heals your Heart"
Did you think you were immune to this
Did you think you could escape without infection
You do all you're able to resist
Just to avoid the danger of rejection
Memory warns you of the past
When it all went wrong
When you think your life is shattered
And there's no way to be fixed again
Love heals your heart
At a time you least expected
You're alive like you have never been
Love heals your heart
Everybody has a wall to climb
That was built to guard the pain that holds them captive
Every smile that they would hide behind
Will try to mask the hurt beneath the surface
Sometimes it's hard to understand
How we're trapped inside
I had my music on shuffle, and this song came on by Third Day:"Love heals your Heart"
Did you think you were immune to this
Did you think you could escape without infection
You do all you're able to resist
Just to avoid the danger of rejection
Memory warns you of the past
When it all went wrong
When you think your life is shattered
And there's no way to be fixed again
Love heals your heart
At a time you least expected
You're alive like you have never been
Love heals your heart
Everybody has a wall to climb
That was built to guard the pain that holds them captive
Every smile that they would hide behind
Will try to mask the hurt beneath the surface
Sometimes it's hard to understand
How we're trapped inside
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Amusing Ourselves...to Death
It's Christmas Break, or the end of break really. So it's natural that I've been thinking about amusement. Everyone will want to hear all the fun things done over break when we all return. What will I have to say? I know some people will have went on vacations, or to the orchestra,or the bar, or to see a movie, or to go bowling, or out to eat, or to a concert; any number of things really. Is this okay? Yesterday some relatives were talking about a stingy old aunt and how she never spent any money on amusement or anything for her husband. While I do think it is wrong to be selfish, I think it is just as wrong to squander. Don't get me wrong- I've bought things I don't need over break- socks, a pair of jeans, razors, shampoo, a snickers bar- I didn't really really need any of those things. That is a tangent though- I want to talk about amusement. In the book I've been reading by Charles Finney "Power from on High", there is a chapter on "innocent amusement" (this can also be found on the web- just click the writing for a link). So here's what Finney had to say on it;
How are we to decide whether any given act of amusement is right or wrong, innocent or sinful?
I answer:
1st. By the moral law, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," etc., "and thy neighbour as thyself." No intelligent act of a moral agent is innocent or right unless it proceeds from and is an expression of supreme love to God and equal love to man--in other words, unless it is benevolent.
2nd. The Gospel. This requires the same: "Therefore, whether ye eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God." "Do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
3rd. Right reason affirms the same thing. Now, in the light of this rule, it is plain that it is not innocent to engage in amusements merely to gratify the desire for amusement. We may not innocently eat or drink to gratify the desire for food or drink. To eat or drink merely to gratify appetite is innocent enough in a mere animal, but in a moral agent it is a sin. A moral agent is bound to have a higher ultimate motive--to eat and drink--that he may be strong and healthy for the service of God. God has made eating and drinking pleasant to us; but this pleasure ought not to be our ultimate reason for eating and drinking. So amusements are pleasant, but this does not justify us in seeking amusements to gratify desire.
Nothing is innocent unless it proceeds from supreme love to God and equal love to man, unless the supreme and ultimate motive be to please and honour God. In other words, to be innocent, any amusement must be engaged in because it is believed to be at the time most pleasing to God, and is intended to be a service rendered to Him, as that which, upon the whole, will honour Him more than anything else that we can engage in for the time being.
Wow! That's what advice you get when you drag up preachers from the 1800s. What could he possibly know? Well... I think that he hit a lot of things on the head, he comes from an entirely different time than our postmodern culture today. So instead of having fish assess the water in their own fishbowl his advice gives us a bird's eye view so to speak.
He said that no amusement is innocent unless it comes from love, unless the ultimate motive is to please and honor God. Okay, so in that case would watching most of the movies that are made today be a good form of amusement? Is watching people engage in premarital sex, unneeded violence, using His name in vain, or the assortment of other things most movies portray God-pleasing? Does this bring Him honor? Not really. Now I don't think, by any means, we should condemn anyone, including those in Hollywood. They, like all others in darkness, need a helping hand of someone who knows the light, that they as well may be guided out of darkness into God's marvelous light.
This new year, and every year after this, I am going to ask myself whether or not what I amuse myself with is innocent? Is it pleasing to Him? Is he happy with the way I am spending my time? He calls us to be good stewards- this isn't just with money- money we can earn more of, but time, time can't be bought back, there are only so many moments in any day. Let's use every single one of them in a God honoring way.
How are we to decide whether any given act of amusement is right or wrong, innocent or sinful?
I answer:
1st. By the moral law, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," etc., "and thy neighbour as thyself." No intelligent act of a moral agent is innocent or right unless it proceeds from and is an expression of supreme love to God and equal love to man--in other words, unless it is benevolent.
2nd. The Gospel. This requires the same: "Therefore, whether ye eat or drink, or whatever ye do, do all to the glory of God." "Do all in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
3rd. Right reason affirms the same thing. Now, in the light of this rule, it is plain that it is not innocent to engage in amusements merely to gratify the desire for amusement. We may not innocently eat or drink to gratify the desire for food or drink. To eat or drink merely to gratify appetite is innocent enough in a mere animal, but in a moral agent it is a sin. A moral agent is bound to have a higher ultimate motive--to eat and drink--that he may be strong and healthy for the service of God. God has made eating and drinking pleasant to us; but this pleasure ought not to be our ultimate reason for eating and drinking. So amusements are pleasant, but this does not justify us in seeking amusements to gratify desire.
Nothing is innocent unless it proceeds from supreme love to God and equal love to man, unless the supreme and ultimate motive be to please and honour God. In other words, to be innocent, any amusement must be engaged in because it is believed to be at the time most pleasing to God, and is intended to be a service rendered to Him, as that which, upon the whole, will honour Him more than anything else that we can engage in for the time being.
Wow! That's what advice you get when you drag up preachers from the 1800s. What could he possibly know? Well... I think that he hit a lot of things on the head, he comes from an entirely different time than our postmodern culture today. So instead of having fish assess the water in their own fishbowl his advice gives us a bird's eye view so to speak.
He said that no amusement is innocent unless it comes from love, unless the ultimate motive is to please and honor God. Okay, so in that case would watching most of the movies that are made today be a good form of amusement? Is watching people engage in premarital sex, unneeded violence, using His name in vain, or the assortment of other things most movies portray God-pleasing? Does this bring Him honor? Not really. Now I don't think, by any means, we should condemn anyone, including those in Hollywood. They, like all others in darkness, need a helping hand of someone who knows the light, that they as well may be guided out of darkness into God's marvelous light.
This new year, and every year after this, I am going to ask myself whether or not what I amuse myself with is innocent? Is it pleasing to Him? Is he happy with the way I am spending my time? He calls us to be good stewards- this isn't just with money- money we can earn more of, but time, time can't be bought back, there are only so many moments in any day. Let's use every single one of them in a God honoring way.
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