Give and Accept

If you ask me, the Lord of the Rings movies would be much better if condensed down to 2 movies.  The trilogy just seems excessive.   We could have the Fellowship of the Two Towers and then the Return of the King.  Or we could just condense it into one smash hit titled The Fellowship of the Two Kings.  I'm all about being concise.  I had never really seen any of the lord of the rings movies until the past two weeks.  Surprising, maybe because often the first thing people told me when I told them I was going to New Zealand was, "You know the Lord of the Rings was filmed there."  To which I often answered, "I'm aware. The guy to your immediate right and his mother both informed me twice."  At least I wish sometimes I had said that.

Dunedin has finally stepped up to fill the previously vacant position of "home" in the month of May.  Or maybe I finally stepped in the door and took off my coat to stay a while.  Before the break there were aspects of home with me,  I had a few good friends and a familiar flat and warm bed to come back to at the end of the day, but it seemed more like I was still a visitor in someone's home.   I was more cautious of what I said around people who I just met, and while I wandered and explored the house, I kept my hands mainly clasped behind my back so as not to break anything.  Just watching.  After returning from Australia, I feel I've really taken off the shoes and claimed the joint as my own.  Not in an arrogant way, but a comfortable way.  Nothing with Dunedin has changed though so it must be something on the personal level that has.  With the funds and temperature running a bit lower than in February, the incentive to travel has been a bit less and naturally the time around friends has been a bit more.  Everything and everyone seems so much more real now.   Each day we get a better feel for just who the heck it is we've been spending our time with.  Personally, I consider you at friend status if I can take the safety off the dumb jokes gun and just fire at will, without fear of judgement.  Then I'll consider you a good friend if you return fire.  While I haven't even left Dunedin yet this month, I think it's been one of the most exciting because of how well I've gotten to know people and hopefully how well people think they are getting to know me.  It's amazing then, once we have that group of people who we know will accept us, our confidence in other areas of life just explodes.  Suddenly it seems like a whole new world is opened up. I wish I had opened it up faster. I admire people who jump headfirst into friendships right from the start, with few reservations.  Hopefully, I'll be one of those people one of these days.   I think it first starts with not judging myself too harshly.  A quote from a Luc and the Lovingtons song says it best: "We can realize how we treat ourselves is the same way we treat everybody else."  Sometimes after doing something a little strange or off beat I still find myself asking myself, "Who DOES that???"  It took me a while to be comfortable with the answer, "No one!!"  I'm still not completely comfortable with it, but individuality is too awesome of a gift not to share with people!  I'll never get anywhere in life just copying the same things Frank* says or does.  Likewise, I won't learn much if I expect Frank to be just like me or just like someone else.  "Give and take" may not be the best way to describe relationships with others. Sure the giving is fine but what the heck am I stealing from my friends?  I prefer to use, "Give and accept."  Once that happens, I think our circle of friends will grow tremendously and our sense of comfort and home becomes a lot more mobile.  I hope everyone feels good now, because you should.  Have a great day! Sending love your way.  

*Frank is not in reference to anyone in particular but rather just a default name for the sake of an example. 

Thoughts on my faith and others(').

Before you read this I would just like to say that my faith is a work in progress.  It always will be.  These are not ideas I will refuse to change, just what I think right now from my experiences, learning, reading, and thinking.  

  

+ While washing dishes here in Dunedin on Sunday, I think I came across a way to vaguely articulate things I've been tossing around in my head for a long time.  These things mainly involve humanity's purpose in the world, diversity in world views and religions, and where the heck a Christian ethics fits into all of this.   This has come about as a result of my class titled God and Ethics in the Modern world: a class focusing on Christian ethics, the modern western world view, and what happens when you combine these two monster concepts.  When combining the two, a conflict quickly emerges from the secular western world saying "Live and let live" and the Christian ethics saying, in regards to the world created by God and reordered by Jesus, "This, and only this, is true." The western view keeps religion in the private life.  In this view, it is no one’s place to infringe on what others believe and they are entitled to their opinions as long as they are sincere in their beliefs and are not hurting anyone else.  We can never establish the absolute truth and therefore should leave others' beliefs alone and live in non-confrontational peace. In my Christian ethics class, we learned that the idea of being unable to establish a definite truth goes against the fundamentally Christian idea of revelation. That is, God's coming down to humanity through Christ and showing us truth, life, and a renewal of God’s promise to humanity and God’s purpose for the world.  So is it possible to accept diversity of religions while still striving towards God's purpose for the world through Christ?  This, for me, is the big question right now.  If I were Lewis Stevens I would say it were the big papa with the big mapa.

I had a discussion with a man from church on Sunday about this.  I said, "Can't I believe in Christianity without wanting to convert everyone?" He said that our love for people of other faiths should cause us to want them to believe in the Gospel.  If they do not accept it, they are destined for an unpleasant end (hell). The analogy he used was if we saw someone driving their car off a cliff, would we just stand back so as not to disturb their way of life or would we intervene?  I guess the effectiveness of this analogy is based on the assumption that I believe people of other faiths are driving their life off a cliff.  I don’t necessarily think they are driving themselves towards disaster and I don’t think I am in any position to grab ahold of their wheel.   To quote and agree with a friend of mine, I think God is too big to be known in full by any person and I don't think it is my first job to tell people why they should believe in the God I believe in.  To always be feeling that people of other faiths always have something they need to change would seem to get in the way of truly loving people as they are.  I believe there is a difference between wanting to make the world a better place and wanting to make the world a more Christian place.  They may go hand in hand for sure and I'm not saying the spread of Christianity is a bad thing, but I just don't think it should be my number one focus.   My first focus, I believe, should be to love; to love everyone everywhere, and all the time.  I think it is my actions of love and service to my neighbor that should do the talking first, not my mouth.  This way I also have a fighting chance at listening.  We will never argue someone into buying into Christianity.  Even if we could, something bigger has to take place within a person for true beliefs to take root.  Christianity is not so much about accepting a theology as it is entering a relationship with God.  This relationship should come about as a response to God’s love; a love can only be learned through other people, life experiences, and searching.  Christian beliefs ultimately have to be wrestled with and surrendered to by the individual himself.  If conversion happens, I would want it to be sparked as a response to the love I have shown someone not because of my concerted effort to change them.  For Christians, conversion should not be a product of debate and coercion but a response to the love we give and the teachings that can be taken from the example of our actions.  Creating a more Christian world may not always be the best way to bring about God’s purpose for the world, at least not at the cost it would take to bring about such a world.  What would we have if everyone in the world proclaimed themselves to be Christian? We would most likely have the same problems under different titles.   A simple profession of a belief in Jesus as the son of God will not get anyone much closer to salvation let alone bring about serious change in the world.  Walking the walk is crucial.   The power to create  change in the world and in one’s life lies not in their doctrine on paper but in their willingness to give up their material and human agenda and live a life dedicated to service to their brothers, sisters, and the world around them.   I believe a love God would be proud of is too big to pin one doctrine on and has the ability to come in more forms than one.   Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his Drum Major Instinct sermon, “…in Christ there is no North or South but one great fellowship of love.”   I think truly devoting one’s self to this “fellowship of love” is something that can be achieved by Christians and non-Christians alike, just as many Christians and non-Christians have yet to commit themselves to it.  I can still be committed to my beliefs about God and Jesus, and I can have a theological discussion with a Jew or a Muslim or a Sikh about my beliefs and their beliefs, and why we believe them to be true and why we think our beliefs are ones the world should live by, but the differences in our specifics, titles, and rituals are not what is most important.  In a diverse and connected humanity, what is most important is the service and love towards others guided by a purpose based in a vision of making this old world a new world. +

Give me some feedback if you want!  I'd love to hear what you think.  For now, off with the lights and off to bed.  Love you all. 

Writing Ribbons

Every now and then I'll hear or read something that I think is a message everyone should hear.   The most recent message was Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Drum Major Instinct" sermon.  I had about two-thirds of a thoughtful blog post finished when my flatmate Dan came in asking me what I was doing.  Before I knew it, we were both getting right into listening to the sermon and then I didn't have the motivation or words to finish the post afterwards hoping to pick it up later.  Unfortunately I don't think blogging works quite that way.  Or at least not to create the spontaneous and continuous ribbons of thought that I like to post. So I decided to scrap the post for now and start fresh when I can pound out one complete work in one sitting.  I'm finding that blogging more closely related to improvisational drumming than writing an essay.  I just kind of let whatever's on my mind come to my fingertips with out really suppressing it.  Go with the flow.  Luigi and Brian, my previous drum teachers both told me that improvisation was largely about not stopping.  Letting the crazy ideas, habits, and responses just flow from brain to hand without worrying so much if it's "right" and not stopping when something doesn't go exactly as planned.  Collect yourself on the fly and move on to the next phrase, fill, or in this case word that you get to create. (Applicable advice for more than just drumming and blogging.)  In this light, blogging becomes a snapshot of my thoughts in the moment as it exists right now.  Put in succession with other posts, hopefully we start to see a photo album of consciousness.  We'll see if I keep up with the ol' blog when I get home but for now I quite enjoy it.  It's a good sort of active meditation and reflection for me.  And it fills in the gaps between skype conversations, or fills in half the gaps I should say since blogging is a pretty one sided method of communication.  Kind of like talking with your pets.  You feel they're listening but input on their end tends to be lacking.  With that, time for bed.   This weekend's forecast included sunshine and I've thrown in a chance of farmer's market and hiking just for good measure.  Love you all. 

A Message from Maya friend...

"Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends." -Maya Angelou

Do something you want to do!

A wild koala in Australia

Hello from Sunny for once Dunedin!!! Not a cloud in the sky today!  What better way to spend that by getting a haircut.  It looks a little funky but I suppose it will "do" until June.  Today also happens to be my Australia traveling buddy Tom's birthday.  We'll probably spend the evening eating pancakes and icecream, listening to Jamiriquai, and playing Israeli card games.   I got a B on my first theology paper about basing Christian ethics on the drama of salvation.  I've been grappeling with some of these theology issues recently; mainly confided in Grandmother, Granddaddy, and Jesse (my friend/pastor of my church in Ames).  These thoughts are worthy of a post, but not on a nice day like this, and maybe after a little bit more thinking.  Until then think of something you would really like to do and follow this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v  

=IVwdBCb8S1I

   Have a wonderful day! love, Daniel

Pictures of Australia

           This post goes out to the Malloy siblings who claim I don't post frequently enough.  We discussed the option of me getting a twitter account so everyone could keep up with what I ate for lunch, what I'm doing today, and when my feet start to sweat but we decided it would be better for Max to tweet in my name instead.  I'll let you know when that gets up and running.  I need to get back to work catching up on actually comprehending material that I was supposed to learn while I was working on my papers but I'll leave a healthy serving of pictures (with captions) for you from Australia. It was a really great 10 days.  Hope you enjoy! Especially you Max and Erin. 

Dang Kangaroos were like deer!  Almost hit a few with the van!

One of the many culturally saturated laneways in Melbourne.

Fish and Chips on the beach on a warm Australian afternoon.

A view of Tom at Hollow Mountain in Grampians National park.

We followed these signs for the "Big Tree" that was apparently hundreds of years old but it had already fallen down. This was the first legit rainforest I've been to outside of the Leid Jungle at the zoo! 

A picturesque scene of a father teaching his son to fish on a beach along the Great Ocean Road. One of the favorite beaches I've been to so far.  The waves were HUGE! 

A decent sunset along the Great Ocean Road.

Torquay.  Which is the name of the town not some crazy Australian word for beautiful. 

All Nighters and Easter Mornings

St. John's Church in Melbourne

Well, well, well....It looks like old Daniel "skin of his teeth" Bennett has pulled it off again.  After losing a week of possible work time on a2000 word essay for my Trasformations of Developing Countries class due to food poisoning, getting better a day into a previously booked trip to Australia, having a blast, coming back only to find out that the essay I hadn't worked on in 3 weeks was due in 48 hours and almost losing my doctor's certificate warranting somewhat of an extension, I'm pleased to say that I turned in the paper that will determine 40% of my grade in that class on time with four minutes to spare.  My teaching assistant said I would still recieve a penalty for being late because apparently a previously (one month in advance) booked trip on spring break while I'm studying abroad after a week of food poisoning wasn't a valid enough excuse for a full extension of the time I missed when I returned.  I don't agree with her necessarily but I figured there was nothing I could really do about it so I might as well just take it and try to climb my way out of the morter shell crater I was in.   It definitely wasn't my best work but it got completed and it's out of my life now.  I'm looking forward to sleeping tonight.  Roy Hargrove's innovative jazz and energy drinks deserve some of the credit for getting my paper in on time by keeping me fueled last night.  The whole situation was a very long story, which I'm not in the mood to share with you now but I think you've picked up the gist of it in my cascade of ranting a few lines of text up.  Gah!
Anyway, I had a fanstastic time in Australia once the food poisoning decided to leave my body.  I only had it very early Easter morning right before my flight and then that was the last of it.  I'm tempted to say good timing but considering my recent situation I don't think it would be quite appropriate in the big scheme of things.  I went to church on Easter which was one of the highlights of my trip.  We found this old church called St. Johns Presbyterian Church in downtown Melbourne.  I was greeted by white hair and warm smiles and was invited to just set my backpack down on the side next to the pew and enjoy the service.  The actual content of the sermon wasn't anything too out of the ordinary, pretty standard "remember and rejoice in what God has and Jesus have done for us",  which is amazing, don't get me wrong but it wasn't anything different from what I was expecting.  But then the music, oh the music.  They had an amazing brass quintet that accompanied the hymns and the choir and played an anthem or two.  It may have been a situational thing but I've never heard a group of instruments sound so full of joy .  The sermon ended up being somewhat redundant in the service because the brass could have said it all.  The choir was loud and energetic and I have never heard a sanctuary louder than on the final verse of the last hymn we sang.  Every beam in that old stone church just shook so spectacularly with the sound of hundereds belting out each word of praise.  I could kick myself for not writing down the name of it now but it was really an incredible thing to hear and witness.   It doesn't make up for missing Easter with family but it still made the day special. I'll share more about Australia soon but for now I hope you have enjoyed reliving my Easter as much as I have.   Hopefully I'll get to chat via skype with most of you reading soon.  Love, Daniel