Travel

Tomorrow I leave for Africa. My dad, step-mom, and sister have been living in Sierra Leone for the last 3 or so years. They're actually moving back to the U.S. this summer, so my wife and I are going across the ocean to see what they've been doing. It should be interesting to say the least. Sierra Leone is arguably the poorest country in the world.

It's kind of hard to be excited about visiting a place where everyone is hungry. There's a certain amount of guilt that comes from visiting underdeveloped countries. You can't help but feel inconvenienced by the fact that you have to drink bottled water and the electricity doesn't always work. I'll get annoyed while I'm there by the lack of modern conveniences, but I'll also feel guilty. I'll realize that I should be grateful for what I have. I might even vow to stop complaining once I get back to the states.

Normally on a trip like this my guilt would be assuaged by the fact that I'd be doing mission work. You know, usually you're running a vacation Bible school for little kids or helping someone build or repair a church. This time I'm going mainly to observe. I don't think I'll be helping much at all besides putting a little money into their economy.

Anyway, I'm posting a few pictures from my trip to Nova Scotia and New York this summer. This summer's turning into a summer full of trips. In August I'll be going to Colorado. I'd rather be going to Chicago...but my in-laws are paying for the Colorado trip, so I shouldn't complain. Oh well.

Hommon / Coly

So I went to church this weekend at my in-laws church in my home town. It's a good church, but usually I don't get too much out of the service because I'm too busy laughing at the oddities and silliness. I'd be a better person if I'd just learn to worship without so much cynicism. Anyway, they had a guest pastor who was actually pretty good. He taught out of Ezekiel, which got my attention.

I actually don't remember what his point was; however, the verse he taught from made me think. Ezekiel 22:26 "Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them."

I realize the dangers of focusing on one Old Testament verse out of context. The verse just got me wondering if there is still a significant distinction between the common and the holy. Some things are clearly not holy, i.e. sin. I'm having a hard time coming up with common things though. I tend to think that almost anything can be holy. For instance, I like to think that God gave us humor, so when I make a joke making fun of the silly things people do in church, that's holy. I like to think the Jesus would be making the same kind of jokes while still appreciating the effort the churchgoers are making.

I'd like to think that there are holy things outside of church...nature for instance. I like to sit outside and just enjoy nature. I'd like to think that when I appreciate the beauty of nature I'm contemplating God's complexity and that contemplation is holy. Maybe anything can be holy so long as the person doing it or enjoying it recognizes that their activity is a gift from God.

My lax view of holiness doesn't really fit with the verse. If I was raised in a Catholic, Orthodox, or even just a higher protestant church I could probably come up with lots of holy things that were easily distinguishable from common things. I don't know. I feel a little like Walt Whitman...maybe I should just list off everything I see and proclaim it to be holy. Being a Whitman Christian sort of makes me queasy. Maybe if I went to church more often I wouldn't have this problem. My thoughts are pretty fluffy on this one.