the vg-r collective

I just came across this extended interview with Tony Benn from Michael Moore's Sicko. This observation seems particularly noteworthy:

The task of representation is to change the system to meet the needs of the people. But with the power of global capital ... now, instead of being represented, people are being managed. People are being changed to fit them into the system instead of the system being changed to meet people's needs. And that's a huge transformation.

The rest is also well worth watching; Benn seems like a pretty delightful fellow with deep convictions.

For two years in a row now, Rob and I have taught a January interim class at Calvin called Pop Culture in the Empire. With mostly first-year students, we take a tour of the biblical narrative and contemporary society through the lenses of empire vs. the Kingdom of God. You can read more about it here and here. We certainly don't want to expose students to huge systemic problems and then leave them with no sense of hope or rootedness in the biblical narrative. Toward that end, we left them with a blessing yesterday at the end of our last class.

May you Know Truth:
Not the small truth that you can contain in a glass,
     Consume,
     Throw at others;
But big Truth like an ocean of water
     That sustains a vibrant riot of life,
     That allows you to float if you just
     Surrender.

And not the small knowing that reduces ideas
     Infinitely larger than the human skull
     To brain-sized bits,
     Mastered, packaged and asphyxiated;
But big Knowing that is like friendship,
     Knowing that is love,
     An eternal process
     That also embraces being known.
May you Know Truth.

May you Act in Hope:
Not the small hope
     Blowing out the birthday candles
     With a wish for what can be wrapped,
     Owned, insured, destroyed, replaced;
But the big Hope
     Of a suffering servant
     Who will walk through walls to find us,
     Even in our fear,
     Even in our utter hopelessness,
     Hope of a world without end,
     Hope that even death could not destroy.

And not the small action
     That is an end in itself,
     Selfless and yet somehow serving a self
     That would otherwise be overwhelmed
     With guilt and shame.

But the big Action
     That is love bearing fruit in this world
     For all to taste, touch, smell, hear, see,
     Action that nourishes,
Action that is an invitation to a resurrection party
     Accepted with compassion and delight.
May you Act in Hope.

Waking up is hard to do
     But once we see
     How deep the suffering goes
     How high the purpose of human beings
     Created in the image of the Creator
What is sleep, but settling for so much less?
     What is sleep, but surrendering to a tiny, lazy savior?
     What is sleep, but biding time in such boredom
     That eternity becomes bad news?

So, friends, may you be fully awake,
     And in that wakefulness:
May you love beyond reason.
May you hope beyond what's realistic.
May you find true pleasure in what pleases God.
May your hunger and thirst for shalom
     Be satisfied by the Bread of Life
     Embodied in the bread of earth.

Cornel West's advice to President Obama: "Don't just be the friendly face of the American empire."

I wish the Promised Land didn't still look so far away ...

I just stumbled on this wonderful site, via the River Country Journal. It makes me very proud of our fair city and all of its natural beauty, diversity and rich history.

I'm consistently fascinated by acts of human culture that embody our deepest values in very practical, visible ways--not fascinated as an outside observer, detached in her analysis, but as a practitioner myself. Coming off a weekend conference about teaching Christian practices, my radar is especially tuned to such manifestations, which is in part why this quote from the magazine Dwell caught my attention. It's a very finely written tidbit from a small book review of Heavenly Vaults: From Romanesque to Gothic in European Architecture:

These buildings, some nearly a millennium old, are charged with the grandeur of God, as though their architects, suddenly doubting that it could be read in nature, decided to codify it in stone. The skyward vaults suggest their faith's holy order, the majestic possibilities of men working to glorify their creator, the intimation, the endurance of infinity.

One of the things we try to do each year with our students is help them see that, whether people claim to be religious or not, the things that hold deepest meaning for them (individually and as communities) come out in the ways they eat, the houses they build, the choices they make about their children, and so on. Architecture is the example we go to time and time again because it's such a powerful example in terms of its actual buildings, as well as its function as a metaphor. Add Heavenly Vaults to the reading list...

Yesterday, Kirstin and I celebrated being together for half of our lives. We've now been dating or married for 15 years ... and we just seem to like each other a lot more as we go along! :)

On October 14, 1994, my brother and I had a big party at our house while our parents were away for their wedding anniversary. No, there wasn't any drinking at the party; but the music was (apparently) so loud that people from across the Boerman Expressway in South Holland (my parents house backed up to I-94) complained about the noise, leading the police to shut things down within a few hours. Some folks ended up staying, though--hanging out, walking around the neighborhood and talking late into the night. Sometime during the course of the evening, Kirstin and I realized we liked each other. I mean ... like liked. And the rest, as they say they say, is history.

See mom and dad: that party wasn't nearly as bad as you thought!

We have finally managed to move in to our apartment in Three Rivers! While much finishing work remains (trim, hanging doors, finishing windows, kitchen storage, etc.), we were able to move essential things into the space and begin staying overnight. How exciting!

A few weeks ago, we finished the floors--including painting the floor in the kitchen. As with so many steps along the way, it felt really good to have such a big piece of things finished. And it was fun to see how different elements we've been working on were finally clicking into place:

The furnace and ductwork were completed in the two weeks after the floor was finished; then our plumbing fixtures were installed. Last weekend we were able to turn our water on for the first time (with a pleasant whoosh!).

Moving our things in (and cooking!) started making the place feel like home:

As always, there are more photos available on Flickr.

Unfortunately, we recently had a number of things stolen from the basement of our building--which, of course, doesn't contribute to the sense of security home is supposed to have. Thankfully, the wonderful volunteers and board of World Fare have been very supportive as we deal with the consequences of the robbery.

On a happier note, it is wonderful to finally hang out in the place we hope to call home for a very long time. It's great to spend time in the space in non-work clothes, doing non-renovation activities; we felt we'd arrived the first time we walked on the floors in bare feet.

We've been plowing ahead on our renovation project, trying to get things finished as soon as possible in an effort to bring calm to the housing part of our lives. We're getting very close to being able to move in (next weekend?) and it's beginning to feel less like a construction zone.

With the help of several friends (thank you everyone!), we were able to prime the entire apartment in one weekend:

We painted shortly thereafter and then, in a whirlwind 35 hour work weekend, Kirstin and I sanded and refinished the maple and oak floors. We still have finishing coats to apply to the oak, but the maple is finished and is looking better than we ever expected it to. Here's the oak after the first finish (and the colors of the living room and kitchen):

Our electric contractor finished this past week, so we now have electricity in the space (though mostly temporary fixtures at this point). Our heating contractor should be finishing today and then our plumbing fixtures will be installed early next week. We're hoping to finish the floors--including painting the kitchen floor--so that we can move appliances upstairs this weekend. And then, after all of our inspections are completed, we should be able to move in ... wow!

As per usual, there are more photos available on Flickr.

It's been a good long while since I updated the blog regarding our apartment renovation progress. We've been overwhelmingly busy with moving preparations and renovation work, so I haven't had much time to write about what we've been doing (though I have continued posting photos to Flickr). Anyway, here's what we've done since I last wrote in July ...

• We framed an enclosure for our stove, which, along with a large movable butcher block, will form an island in our kitchen.
• One of our contractors finished framing the back and side exterior walls.
• We installed most of the wood floor in part of the bathroom (don't worry ... it's the part that shouldn't get wet).
• We had a few work days where a lot of people came out to help with various tasks, including my entire family one day. We cleaned and sealed the exposed brick wall, sanded the bottom of the bathtub, ran media wiring (cable, internet, phone, speaker), stripped and sanded reclaimed beadboard, extended the deck on the back of the store to access the parking lot, and a lot of other miscellaneous tasks that really needed to be done. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped on those days!
• We insulated all of the interior walls (and the new ceiling in the living room).
• Our rough-in electric work and heating work was finished.
• We painted the kitchen ceiling.
• Kirstin painted the bottom of the bath tub and started refinishing the kitchen sink cabinet (it's farther along now than in that photo).
• Our shower pan was poured and cement board was installed in the shower/bath area. Then, last weekend, Kirstin and her dad tiled most of the room (we're hoping to finish this weekend).
• Our drywall has been hung and is almost finished. Seeing the space with drywall completely changes things ... it feels like we're actually getting somewhere!
• We installed railings (built by Charles, our brother-in-law) on our doors to nowhere. These will stay up until we can afford to build our decking on the back of the building--which looks like it will be a long time off yet.
• Our appliances were delivered, though they currently reside in the back of World Fare (we weren't quite ready for them).

So ... I think that's everything. We're currently in the process of finishing the tile and painting in the bathroom. The drywall will be finished by the end of the week and we'll be able to prime everything this weekend in preparation for painting. We still have to install plumbing fixtures, finish the electric and heating systems, and refinish the floors before we'll be able to move in. We're hoping everything can happen in the next few weeks, for sanity's sake. :)