Quote

I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.
  - EB White

Inside the Mind...

Read this article today, courtesy of YS’ weekly Update e-mail. 

 

INSIDE THE MIND OF THE BOY DATING YOUR DAUGHTER

 

This article reports that boys on average dated girls to fulfilled a motivation for love and desire to form real relationships.  Very interesting article that suggest that sex is not at the forefront of every teenage boy.  Several conclusions could be reached because of this information.  Enjoy the read.

 

While I am recommending the article, what I recommend more though is the comments that follow.  Check out some of these gems (have you noticed I’ve been using the word “gems” a lot lately…don’t know why…don’t plan on stopping):

 

- “So I wasn’t weird of gay 50 years ago as a teenager when I wanted more from a relationship than just sex.  Now they tell me I was normal.”     – Posted by Rich

- “Though I have not read the study referred to above, I do not sense from the summary that the authors have interpreted their results with the greatest reliability.  Teenage boys would not be the first humans to ascribe nobler reasons for their desires.”     – Posted by Lewis

- “…By the way, from what I’ve seen of the way teenage girls dress, if all the boys DID think about was sex, it would be hard to blame them!”     - Posted by A Boy’s Mom

- “…I don’t care why a teenage boy is after my daughter, I still don’t trust him.  I remember being a teenager boy myself.  Buy hey, I still don’t trust my brother-in-law either.  I don’t care if they’re grandparents now, stay away from my sister!”     - Posted by Rick

-  “None of this is gonna to stop me from cleaning my shotgun when my daughter’s prom date comes to pick her up.  These punks have got one thing on their minds, and it ain’t relationships.”     – Posted by brian

- “This is only a surprise to women.  Any male knows that he was desperately in love at fifteen in a way he never would be again.     – Posted by Brad

- “Boys lie.  Nuff said.”     - Posted by Jessie

 

There are several more that are rather insightful. 

 

 

Fighting for Peace?

Tony Jones wrote yesterday on his experience at the National Pastors Convention in San Diego.  Specifically at the end of his post he wrote: 

“Then I led the conversation about politics.  It was pretty spicy as I recounted my journey out of Hauerwasianism, Andy took an Augustinian tack, and Scot vehemently defended the utopian dream that he calls Anabaptism. :-)  My bottom line: it just was not possible to sustain the Christian enclave that the Hauerwasian mafia prescribes when I was a pastor.  I ministered to cops and military personnel, and I just didn’t have the luxury to hold fast to my ideals in the midst of real ministry.” (highlighted section by me)

 

Stanley Hauerwas, just in case, is a theologian, ethicist and professor of law and Duke Divinity School.  Wikipedia describes Hauerwas in this way:

“In his career, he has attempted to emphasize the importance of virtue and character within the Church. He has been an outspoken Christian pacifist and has promoted nonviolence, having been mentored by Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder. Hauerwas has also been an opponent of nationalism, particularly American patriotism, arguing that it has no place in the Church. His writings occasionally veer into the area of paleo-orthodoxy, though Hauerwas himself might dispute this claim. He has also been associated with the narrative theology movement.”

 

I really appreciate the statement by Tony Jones.  Attempting to live and preach and demonstrate peace yet struggling because of the culture we live in.  I might be reading into his comment a little too much, but these are the thoughts that were generated through it.

I know a lot of guys who idealize Hauerwas stance and I’m just not there.  Maybe some of it is my childhood, having grown up a military dependent.  Or maybe some of it is from having worked for the Air Force (in the chapel program and other areas).  Maybe it’s just a part of my worldview (which I can’t always explain), which believes that there is something in the nature of a boy/man that needs to accept and endure conflict, struggle and pain (probably needs more flushing out or better wording, but hopefully you know what I mean).

Nevertheless I think that while one man (and I use “man” in its generic gender understanding) endures injustice I have the responsibility to respond.  First via politics, second but peaceful aggression (which is how I see the actions of MLK and Gandhi, not just peaceful demonstrations), and third by force. 

I believe that peace is the luxury only of the ignorant and that peacemakers set aside their peace in order to bring about peace. 

This isn’t just an issue of war or physical conflict.  If I have deep resources that others are lacking in excess I believe that making peace would challenge me to humble myself and my resources in order that others could benefit.  For instance a mom going through a divorce e-mailed me today asking if I had a listing of babysitters telling me that she was in need of some “breaks” away from her two boys.  Me, being in excess of time and lounging around resources, in order to make peace offered to have her boys over for some serious Wii time.  Maybe visit the batting cages.  Or plug in a movie.  All stuff I would do anyways, so the sacrifice isn’t actually that great.

I definitely don’t think I have this all figured out, but if I were to give you a snapshot of where I am currently in my thinking of all this - the above would be pretty close. 

I am sure of this though, “He must increase, I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

 

Maybe you have some thoughts.  I would love to hear them. 

Link Recommendation

In response to Be Kind Rewind, Filmmaking Frenzy is posting homemade video tributes to some people’s favorite movies.  Check it out.

 

TSH

ABCNEWS.com: Girlfight Explodes On School Bus

You have received this ABCNEWS.com mail from:

tsharrisonis@gmail.com

(more e-mail testing, this time from ABCNews)

This is a rather complicated situation.

Who do you side with?

Do you think we are heading to a time where we will not have school buses or where every school bus will have a ride along police or security officer?

I know people talk about times being worse than yesteryear, but I'm having memories flashes of incidents on my bus rides in middle school.

Girlfight Explodes On School Bus
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4329813