distracting thoughts and learned moments

I often times think while my family is on the road to and from Pittsburgh over the holidays. Last night my father was driving, my sister as well as my mother and brother were all fast asleep and I sat with my thoughts. I tried to put some music in my ears to distract me but that only works as a catalyst sometimes.

My thoughts on memories and perfect moments in time are not all that perfect. That my pedestal that I have placed people on is really just my way of dealing with the brokenness in the world and is quite unhealthy. I'm learning how to be confident and decisive. Too many choices to make one decision drives me crazy and it happens consistently, especially now. Thoughts on what the New Year will be as I enter a new season where I need to learn to be bold and a truly a leader, as I end my first semester as a campus minister and enter into another.

Either way. I'm excited about these things: I received my favorite book "Five Smooth Stones" for Christmas and I had the ability to copy all my brothers music (with it being in the family I feel it is OK to give a listen and a copy....but not to hand out. Justification? maybe.).


ps. what do you think about Modest Mouse and their new CD?

Favorite Christmas Movie???

Thirsty

I'm sitting in a place where people come in and out of daily. Here I am attempting to do "ministry" I'm attempting to "network" and utilize the Third Place atmosphere and create something more.

I've recognized the relationships and the simple hellos that come in and out day to day from the counter to the tables. People are fascinating creatures. We process and strive to think about things, sometimes pointless drama and deep seeking for truths. HOW do I utilize a small local business to challenge leader, raise up doers, and point the seekers in a direction that answers the deep question that lays in each of us--why are we here?

Coffee anyone?

More on coffee and bias documentaries

This is going to be a quick post...Yet there are so many thoughts running around this brain of mine that must be updated here.

First, I saw Black Gold...The documentary that I mentioned right below. They are showing it again today in Pittsburgh. It ran for about 80 minutes and went into Ethiopia, Europe and America. Definitely a bias documentary, but aren't they all?? The people the produced the video, I believe, are from Europe. At first Europe was the good guy with some faults and America was viewed as consumer whores. Which is true, to an extent. But take a trip into inner city Chicago or New York, we cannot take care of our own poor and oppressed. We act like we have wealth upon wealth yet cannot distribute it properly in the confined of our own country. Yes though I do agree the Africa is not getting paid properly for it's raw product and in, some sense, they are almost forced to sell Chat, a narcotic, in order to provide for their families.

One part of me wants to go over there and set up a boycott in order to receive justice for these people, and yet the other half of me knows there is more to this issue than just raising the price of coffee. I have yet to figure that out. Once the price for the raw product rises, then the price of everything else will rise...It is like a double edged sword that can never be dulled. However, I do not think that we can only accept that fact and ignore the issue.

On the other hand I don't know if Fair Trade is really fair trade anymore. Are we dividing up community by creating a huge income gap among villages? And is fair trade just a label now adays and not so much what everyone has hyped it up to be? Also, are we willing to buy fairly traded coffee from these corporations or companies that are in far away states and ignoring the local business, right next door, that is trying to pull community together and roast coffee properly to give the best to their customers ?

There are a lot of angles.

I was going to say more but I'll stick to the first.