Two Approaches to Changing the World

So we see that there are millions without enough food or even the means to acquire more food. We see millions with diseases due to unclean water, lack of medications, or lack of education. Many of these issues are degenerating rather than improving (especially in sub-Saharan Africa) because the upcoming generations don’t have means to schooling or nourishment to pull their families out of the cycle. What do we do?

Essentially there are only two choices to changing the world. OK, kidding! There are probably as many different ways as there are people on this planet. However, I’m going to hone in on two main streams.

Plan #1 :: Change lives/communities on the ground
This take on things says we need to get food to the hungry, medication to the sick, vaccinations to the not-yet-sick, schooling for all kids, clean water to everyone, and micro-loans to as many folks as possible to get some micro-enterprise going (i.e. loan a family a goat so that they can consume/sell milk). Organizations such as World Hope, World Vision, Compassion International, One Life Revolution, and many others set up regional offices in the places of need. Through foreign and national workers they assess the situations and divert resources to the areas of greatest need. They attempt to build into peoples’ lives and into countries as a whole in a holistic manner, addressing every aspect of a person/community: spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, etc. Resources from you and me in America are shared with the parent organization, which sends resources to the regional offices, which then has the know-how to use those resources in the wisest way possible. Untold lives have been saved – both physically and spiritually – through sharing God’s love in this way.

Plan #2 :: Change lives/communities through systems
This take on things says to truly change lives and communities long-term we need to overhaul our systems. Americans can selflessly give millions to World Vision, but the American government can give BILLIONS toward making a difference. If enough people put pressure on the politicians, then they would be forced to increase the amount of foreign aid. If the US government were pressured by its own people to increase spending on constructive foreign aid by a measly one-half of one percent, that would come out to a $10 billion increase!!! That’s why organizations such as Bread for the World, the ONE Campaign, and the Borgen Project are throwing everything they have into pressuring politicians. Lobbying, which used to be a dirty word, is being used by these organizations as a holy action. Let’s force our legislators to hear us and respond through writing letters, making phone calls, walking the streets, or whatever it takes. Bread for the World claims that the Debt Relief initiative (erasing debt for some of the world’s poorest countries) was in large part because of 600,000 Americans writing letters to their Congressmen. As a result countries like Malawi were able to stop requiring school fees for kids to go to school. The number of Malawi schoolchildren doubled virtually overnight. That one legislative decision has the potential to revolutionize an entire country and a generation of young Africans!

Here’s the kicker, we need both of those plans desperately. As Bread for the World and the ONE Campaign continue to build momentum and pressure politicians, we will need God-fearing and loving organizations on the ground in the places of need. It’s a two-legged beast and we need both legs to move forward!

What does this mean for you? It means you make a difference where it’s needed most in a number of ways. You can support a Compassion child and see them through school, give money to World Vision to help a family start a farm, and receive training from Bread for the World on how to effectively pressure your politicians. What’s it going to be for you?

Last month I asked the question, "What are the world's primary concerns?" I guess that question has stuck to me like superglue. Here's what I'm thinking now . . .



You need to know about the Millennium Development Goals. Odds are you haven’t even heard of them. One study found that 95% of Americans don’t know what they are. Why should you care? Because these goals make up the global community’s detailed, accountable blueprint for engaging our world’s greatest concerns.

Where they came from ---> Back in September of 2000, 189 countries (including the United States) came together at the UN Millennium Summit and signed the Millennium Declaration. Contained within the Declaration were these goals:

The Millennium Development Goals ::

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
· Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than one U.S. dollar a day.
· Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.
2. Achieve universal primary education
· Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling.
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
· Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.
4. Reduce child mortality
· Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five.
5. Improve maternal health
· Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio.
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases
· Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.
· Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases.
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
· Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources.
· Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water.
· Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020.

8. Develop a global partnership for development
· Develop further an open trading and financial system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory. Includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction—nationally and internationally.
· Address the least developed countries’ special needs.
· Address the special needs of landlocked and small island developing States.
· Deal comprehensively with developing countries' debt problems.
· Develop decent and productive work for youth.
· Provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries.
· Make available the benefits of new technologies.

These may strike you as pie-in-the-sky ideals that are both unrealistic and unattainable. The thing is, progress is being made - you can read the details HERE. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, has been working tirelessly to see that the global community lives up to its promise to achieve these goals. BUT, he needs our help! Organizations like the Borgen Project, the ONE Campaign, Bread for the World, and many others are raising awareness and teaching people how to make a difference.

It is unacceptable that 30,000 children die every day from preventable causes. It is unacceptable that nearly 1 in 5 kids in sub-Saharan Africa will never have a 5th birthday. It is unacceptable that there will be over 40 million AIDS orphans by 2010. Though just a collection of a few words, each goal represents entire societies being transformed and millions of lives saved!

I was back from traveling overseas for over six months and I noticed something new on my brother-in-law’s wrist. Jeremy was wearing a plain white band, very similar to the yellow LIVESTRONG bracelets I had seen before leaving the year before. Naturally, I asked him what the band was about. He went on to tell me about ONE.org and how I should check out the website. That very night I soaked up everything the site had to offer and even followed the web trail to other sites like DATA and Oxfam.

This new movement inspired me. A band of people from such diverse spheres of life (actors, rock stars, politicians, Evangelical Christian leaders, etc.) coming together as ONE to make poverty history and raise awareness about global issues. A band of people who actually believed that their concerted efforts could make a difference. I proudly signed the ONE declaration. Before long I was even wearing a white band of my own.

Soon I was getting occasional email updates from ONE.org encouraging me to write my representatives concerning certain upcoming legislation issues. Then there was the G8 Summit and the coinciding Live8 Concerts. Wow! That was incredible. In one fell swoop educating millions of people worldwide to the fact that 30,000 people die a day from preventable causes (famine, disease, lack of clean water, etc.). The ONE Campaign was on the move; governments around the world were canceling debt to the poorest countries and increasing foreign aid.

Then for months there was mostly silence. Over these months the white band has come off for nothing. It has been a steady reminder to me that I am rich and so many are not (over a billion people – that’s 1,000,000,000 – still live off less than $1 a day!). It reminds me that God-followers are called to love their neighbor, whether they wear dark skin or light. The simple band calls me to be a person of awareness in global issues rather than ignorance. It beckons me to be a person of action rather than apathy.

For all these months the ONE Campaign seemed to be this ethereal, unidentifiable network of people across America. Until tonight. Because tonight I spent three hours at a Bread for the World/ONE Campaign regional workshop. There were about thirty-five of us – with real lives and real faces – packed into the library/parlor of Canyon Lake United Methodist. Though we came from different churches, we shared a desire to see the least and last touched with the love of God. I was challenged. I was resourced. I learned so much! I was inspired. And I want to share with you some of what I’m learning . . .

Last weekend Rapid City got dumped on. We had over a foot of gorgeous snow blanketing everything. While schools, interstates, and businesses were shutdown for the day, I took the opportunity to strap on my snowshoes.

Mind you I was completely foreign to the use of snowshoes until 2004. I bought a pair in preparation for a winter mountain climbing expedition with some good friends in March of that year. Colorado’s highest mountain, Mt. Elbert, was our goal. It took us three attempts, but we did finally summit using snowshoes, crampons, ice axes, and full winter apparel. [Check out the pictures and log from that expedition HERE.]

Other than that trip, I have never had use for my snowshoes . . . until last Monday. I am within short walking distance from my front door of a sizeable hill that divides Rapid City in two. I trudged across an open field and ascended to the highpoint of the ridge.

I was reminded anew that winter beauty is unparalleled. The snow was still coming down, and the pines were each carrying their fair share of the white stuff. My footsteps were the only indentations in the pristine, white sea that surrounded me. Found within the span of my afternoon trek were moments of inspiration, peace, admiration, and connection. It was one of those times where you know you’re in the midst of something special even as it’s happening.

Enjoy some more photos from the day HERE.

Click on the PLAY symbol to experience this short video clip:

This past Sunday afternoon I had my second premarital counseling session. No, I'm not getting married; I'm not even in a relationship. In fact I'm the one meeting with the couple.

OK, you can stop laughing now.

I'm only 23 years old. I've never been married before. I've only been in full-time ministry for about seven months now. And yet the couple I'm meeting with for premarital counseling is middle-aged and this will be the second marriage for both of them. Doesn't this sound like the recipe for a joke? Every time I think about it a little chuckle kind of bursts out of me.

Interestingly, it has been going really well so far! We have been working through Dennis Rainey's Preparing for Marriage. I told them early on that I see Dennis Rainey as their premarital counselor and I'm simply the facilitator or guide as we make our way through the material. This book has a special section for pre-married couples at the end of each session that has been really helpful.

They have been an awesome couple to work with. They both have great attitudes and are striving to engage in the material and with each other as much as possible. It would be easy for them to breeze through the book or blow me off, seeing as how they both have a significant amount of life experience. Instead they are eager to learn and develop a strong foundation for their upcoming marriage.

I hope to be a perpetual learner through life. I intend to be open to learning from anyone, even 23 year old pipsqueaks.

Films have the ability to snatch us away from our mundane lives and launch us into a story that leaves us changed forever. A different setting, different people, different events and struggles, yet the same humanity. I can relate because I’ve felt pain before. I can relate because I’ve been undendingly frustrated like that before. I can relate because I have yearned for love like that before. Whatever the setting or the story, films have the capacity to draw us in and inject truth into our being.

Films help us to “see”. They help us to see humanity with sharper eyes and they help us to be aware of the transcendent (the numinous, the something more, the divine). Johnston has this great quote in Reel Spirituality, “Transcendence can also be spoken of in terms of the human possibility of exceeding our limitations, of experiencing wholeness within brokenness.” Both Life is Beautiful (which he discusses) and Schindler’s List are movies that come immediately to mind. Both are movies that relate to some of the most extreme brokenness that humanity has ever seen: the Holocaust. In their different ways, both of these films portray goodness in the midst of wholesale destruction and devastation. Movies like these leave you forever changed. They demand questions such as, “Could that kind of goodness ever come from within humanity itself, or must it come from some other source?” Movies like these are pointing to something more.

BUT, we have a way of stifling truth. It’s seemingly our standard mode of operation. We watch movies for entertainment value rather than as an opportunity to catch glimpses of reality. We watch movies for thrills and for conversational ammunition in the water cooler line. “Did you see when that alien almost came right through the door at them? Wow! That was scary!” In the film Signs, we focus on the aliens rather than the themes of supernatural vs. natural. In Gladiator, we focus on the eye-candy of the Roman blood sport rather than the themes of integrity vs. selfishness. It is essential that we learn to not only watch films on their own terms, but we must take the time to engage them. What did that movie have to say about the world we live in? What did it have to say about humanity, genders, sorrow, or our purpose in life? These questions and countless more begin to draw us past the surface of entertainment to the core of life changing truth.

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that “movies broaden our exposure . . . they cause us to see varying perspectives”. I would like to flow with that stream of thinking a bit more.
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Sociologists have identified within human nature the predisposition to ingroup bias. This bias is the natural tendency to show preferential treatment to those we identify with. At different times those people of the same race, ethnicity, religion, and interests make up our ingroup. We inherently sense a connection and loyalty toward others among our ingroup. On the other hand, those who are different are viewed with suspicion and possibly even fear. Outgroup members are always to be snubbed in favor of ingroup members.

A brief glance through the annals of human history makes clear to us that this natural ingroup bias has been abused to the extremes and caused untold atrocities and loss of life. Dehumanization and genocide, whether it be twenty-four centuries ago or today in Darfur, invariably is a polarization of ingroup bias.

Despite our disposition toward ingroup bias, with its inherent danger of hating ‘the other’, Jesus called us to love our enemies. He said in Matthew 5, “Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven . . . If you love only those who love you, what good is that? If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that.”

What does it take to love your enemy? How does one come to appreciate and respect those who are so drastically different? One could certainly say that having a spirit that is humble and responsive to The Spirit of God would go a long way. However, I believe that God uses more than just our attitude; He uses experiences and education to change our view or perspective on certain topics.

Several films depict this transformation brought about by experiences and education. In Dancing with Wolves, Kevin Costner’s character undergoes a transformation from being an American soldier fighting against the Native Americans to actually living with and befriending them. In The Last Samurai, Tom Cruise’s character undergoes a stirring transformation! He was hired to destroy the Samurai culture, but by the end of the film he is fighting alongside them to the death striving to preserve their culture. Both Lt. Dunbar (Costner) and Nathan Algren (Cruise) were put in situations where they learned about these other cultures. They slowly picked up the language, worked alongside the people, and appreciated the beauty that was found within their ways of life.

As film viewers, we too undergo the same transformation. We come to appreciate the beauty found in these diverse cultures, despite the fact that they are so different from us. And through the power of film our predispositions have been turned upside-down. We begin to see that 'the other' is human, too; created in the image of God. We have come that much closer to loving our enemies.

Some lively feedback from yesterday's post and this post pushed me into continuing the film theme. When I tapped out my Lenten goals I said I wouldn't watch movies not that I wouldn't write about them ;-)
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Films are an integral part of contemporary Western culture. Films also help us as individuals to see beyond our own limited experiences. In other words, there’s no escaping the impact that films are having on our culture, and they actually are loaded with potential for very positive impact.

Movies are right up there with eating and sleeping for many people in our culture. My eyes were opened to this a couple years ago upon reading an article in Time Magazine. The article discussed the upcoming Spiderman movie, but the particular movie wasn’t the point. The crux of the piece was how a single movie has the power to create a nationwide conversation in a way that nothing else does. Corporate executives and not so executives across the nation were going to be standing at the water cooler talking about the exploits of Spiderman. Occasionally a freak event at a Super Bowl Halftime show or an impending war in Iraq or some other rare event has the power to do the same thing, but movies do it every week! Isn’t that incredible!?

Two characteristics of who we are as Americans rise to the surface: we feed off of stories and we are driven by images. No one wants to hear your dry statistics. Games like Trivial Pursuit with its random facts are out, and games like Scene It with their film clips are in. We crave stories! However near or far from reality the story is, we want to get into the lives of others and share their exploits and struggles. When a good story comes across our path we let our guard down and listen in. We open ourselves to being impacted whether we realize it or not. The best story? One with powerful images! Honor students graduate from high school these days without ever reading a book in its entirety! (Sparknotes.com, updates from peers, and lower expectations make this more than possible.) But, ask them how many movies they’ve seen in the past month . . . 10 easy. Images rule the day.

You and I are stuck in what is called singularity of time. I cannot live during the Civil War era no matter how hard I try. I can’t live in fourteen different countries at one go; it just isn’t possible. But, even though I live in Rapid City, SD in 2006 I have the ability through film to be there on Little Round Top or float right into the world famous Sydney Harbour. Movies broaden our exposure; they also cause us to see varying perspectives. The characters in films are often people who think quite differently from our families, our friends, and especially ourselves. They push us to see the other side of the story. What’s more, God speaks through films! He can use them to inspire us, convict us, and motivate us. For me, Gladiator moved me to be a man who lived for something beyond myself and to be a man of integrity. Maximus was willing to sacrifice everything for the cause rather than focus on his own well being. God can use films in our lives to take us to a new level.

*Thoughts inspired by reading Reel Spirituality by Robert K. Johnston.

Ever since taking a Philosophy & Theology of Film class in college I haven't watched movies the same way. Entertainment value has become a bonus factor in watching a movie, not the driving force. I enjoy them primarily because they stir me to think, to engage, to be challenged, and they provide experiences that would be otherwise unattainable. Much like reading a good book, I learn about humanity, our world, and about myself. So, between mid-September and mid-February, a five month time period, I watched eighty movies. That's better than a movie every other day. It was clearly a main hobby. Here's how I went about it.

My Sources ::
Blockbuster Movie Pass - I was a Movie Pass holder for a month. For $10 the first month and $15 thereafter you get to have unlimited rentals with no late fees. But you can only have one DVD out at a time, unless you pay $25+/month. All DVD's in store are fair game. I loved this plan; the main downer was driving to Blockbuster every day for a new movie.
Hollywood Video MVP - I was an MVP member for a month. For $10 the first month and $15 thereafter (sound familiar?) you get unlimited rentals with a five day limit. The bonus here was that I could have three DVD's out at a time! That saved a lot of hassle and driving time. A catch was that the newest new releases were unavailabe for MVP rentals.
Theaters - Over this time period I was at a movie theater almost once a week. We have two theaters in town that show first run movies. The great deal though is the $3 theater downtown that shows second run films and happens to have the largest screen in a multi-state region.
Friends - I'm not a DVD owning type person, but I'm glad other people are!
Online Sources - I was using Peerflix for a while and even dabbled with MovieLink.

My Method ::
- Last fall I developed something that was on my mind for a long time: a "Movies to See" list. I started compiling every movie I wanted to see, and when my friends made recommendations I had a place to store them. I prioritized the list and went after it. Even though I watched eighty movies on my "Movies to See" list, my list is just as long as it ever has been. Why is that? People kept giving me great recommendations, and I also kept searching out quality movies at places like imdb.com. There are a lot of great movies to be seen out there!
- Roughly two-thirds of the movies I watched on my own. This isn't a bummer for me; I enjoy engaging a good movie whether it's with other people or not. Since I don't have a TV I watched them on my laptop.
- I also developed a "Movies Seen" list. This has been a real boon! It's so simple. I put the name of the movie, the date, a number from 1 to 10, and a short sentence detailing whatever it is I want to remember about the movie. So quick and easy and yet it serves as a lasting reminder of that experience. (i.e. 02.05.06 – Erin Brockovich – 9 – Amazing! Inspiring! Little guys take on the big guys for what’s right and just. Acting through the roof!)

How they Rated ::
3 out of 10 -- 1 movie
4 out of 10 -- 6 movies (i.e. Legend of Zorro or Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
5 out of 10 -- 10 movies (i.e. Sahara, House of Sand & Fog, or the Incredibles)
6 out of 10 -- 23 movies (i.e. Terminal, Aviator, or English Patient)
7 out of 10 -- 23 movies (i.e. The Pianist, Syriana, or Kingdom of Heaven)
8 out of 10 -- 11 movies (Crash, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the Village, Narnia, To End All Wars, King Kong, Munich, American Beauty, Phone Booth, Traffic, Heat)
9 out of 10 -- 6 movies (Constant Gardener, Walk the Line, Usual Suspects, Amistad, Erin Brockovich, the Godfather)
10 out of 10 -- no movies (since I started doing a 1 to 10 rating, the only movie that has received a 10 is Ghandi)

For roughly two thousand years Christian brothers and sisters have shared in a sacred act of worship. It has gone by many names. Breaking Bread. The Lord’s Supper. (Holy) Communion. The Eucharist. Common Table. Agape Meal. Mass.

What does this ritual/sacrament mean to you?

There is certainly no one answer to this question. Communion is multi-faceted. So much meaning over two thousand years of church history has been packed into this event. I’m confident a church could take communion 52 times in a year and never do it quite the same way, never emphasizing quite the same thing, and yet each experience could be just as meaningful as the next. I love taking communion; it is worshipful, sacred, impacting, and all within a corporate context.

Here are a scattering of thoughts on the meaning(s) of communion:
- The act links us to Jesus Christ and the church (past, present, & future) in a powerful way.
- It binds us together and unifies those who partake.
- It brings forgiveness.
- It communicates freedom.
- God showers His grace on us through this event.
- We participate in God’s story through participating in communion.
- We embrace the new covenant and the new kingdom.
- Past, present, and future are brought together in one moment (Past: Jesus’ life, death, & resurrection; Present: Our worship and participation in the story; Future: Christ’s return and the consummation of all things)
- Celebration of Jesus’ power over sin and death
- Thanksgiving for all that Father/Son/Spirit have done and continue to do
- Identify with Jesus’ one-time sacrifice for all
- Symbol of God being the giver of life and providing nourishment for our souls
- Anticipation of new life to come
- We feed on Christ in some mysterious way

What does communion mean to you?
How do you like to take communion?
What should be emphasized in the taking of communion?
What other meanings would you add?

I’ll speak to a simple concept this evening that has a lot of meaning in my life. Words. And I don’t mean ‘words’ as a generic way of describing all forms of communication. I’m thinking of the impact that our words have on the folks around us. Our words either add value or subtract value. Have you stopped to think about this?

You’ve been around that person before, the one who gives life with their words. Maybe you were her best friend or maybe it was as quick as grabbing coffee one time, but she left a mark on you. It wasn’t something you necessarily noticed, but she had an innate ability to affirm you and build you up. In just a few words she could communicate more to you than others could say in months. Not that she always talked about the most meaningful, deep, insightful things, not even close. But, she did get there eventually. She had a way of conveying that she listened to you, but never in a showy manner. She cared about you as a person. You never did anything to earn the right to be on her good side, that was the way she approached everyone. Her words were never overstated or understated, but always genuine. Giving life with her words. Conveying worth and value. Building up where others had torn down.

You’ve also been around the other kind of person, the one who makes you wish you’d never bumped into them. She too left a mark on you. She might as well be a vacuum sucking the life out of you. She had a way of listening to you just enough to use your own words against you. She would bring up what you shared in confidence and stab you in the side with it. If she encouraged you it was to make herself look better. She was manipulative or grumpy or snappy or needy, anything but genuine. It’s not that her words would always sting or bite, in fact she would whittle away hours of your life saying nothing of value whatsoever. But you always knew the sting was right around the corner. You were never safe from her blows. Taking life with her words. Melting worth and value. Tearing down where other had torn down.

And at different times, we have all been both of these persons. We have given life with our words and we have taken life. And we have learned that when we take life from someone else with our words, we have also taken life from ourselves. And the reverse is true. When we give life to others with our words, we too have been given life. Value and worth is not a limited resource in the economy of the universe. If fueled properly, value and worth and life and meaning can grow exponentially.

You have to give your life away in order to truly live.

I'm going to copy my friend Amy and dedicate this evening's post to raising awareness for the Darfur mega-tragedy.

Here are links to two short video clips. You've got to watch these. They helped me in just a few minutes get a much clearer picture of what is going on in the lives of our African sisters and brothers.

Monday: Crisis in Chad, Darfur Examined :: approximately 4 minutes

Tuesday: Women Terrorized in Darfur :: approximately 6 minutes

And for some bonus material and an incredible list of links to learn more check out Ann Curry's blog (reporter for NBC).
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This post from my archives, My Moment of Atheism, brings to the surface some thoughts upon being confronted with genocide in various cultures.
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The following is what I wrote just a couple days after walking through the Genocide Museum in Cambodia:


Dark Days
On the church calendar, today [the day before Easter] is a dark day.

Thinking back to the perspective of the disciples, Jesus' life came to an agonizing and violent end yesterday. The tomb is NOT empty. Jesus' body along with his hopes of a coming Kingdom are sealed shut inside a tomb of stone. What is there to be hopeful about?

PAUSE

It's 1977 and you are stripped naked, lying twisted on the hard floor with your leg secured to an iron bar. You're not alone, but out of fear you dare not say a word. Actually there are over sixty others "living" in the horrifically cramped quarters of this former classroom. For some unknowable reason The Organization has found fault with you, and you find yourself enduring the unimaginable. You're an animal in their eyes, worse than an animal. What they don't offer you in the way of food, they make up for with generous portions of hatred, wrath, and physical beatings. Possibly even more unsettling is the knowledge of what is to come - maybe tomorrow, maybe a month from now - the extinguishment of your existence. You are in the anteroom of death, and there is only one exit. What is there to be hopeful about?

PAUSE

Two days ago I was walking soberly through the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in the heart of bustling Phnom Penh, Cambodia. This compound wasn't intended to be a museum or a place of torture and death. Rather, it was intended to be a high school.

The Pol Pot led regime, which came to be known by the world as the Khmer Rouge, took control of Cambodia on April 17, 1975 after a 5-year civil war. Upon taking power they closed schools and newspapers, disempowered the rich and educated, abolished law courts and elections, forced evacuations of cities and towns, and suppressed religion. Their dream of a communistic utopia resulted in a 4-year hellish nightmare. An estimated one in six Cambodians didn't live into the 80s.

Tuol Sleng (codenamed S-21) played a starring role in this nightmare. This place of learning was converted into a detention center for the enemies of the new regime. Of an estimated 14,000 inmates only seven were spared - far and away most of these who were killed were internal "enemies": fellow Cambodians.

David Chandler, author of Voices From S-21, put it this way, "Ruling the country by terror, the [Khmer Rouge] leaders seem to have been terrified themselves . . . The killing machine at S-21 had no brakes because the paranoia of the Party Center had no limits."

Thousands of black and white mugshots of S-21 inmates fill room after room of the museum. Each pair of glaring eyes represents an infinitely unique being that was snuffed out by the hands of fellow humanity. Chilling yet honest, Chandler's concluding paragraph reads, "Explanations for phenomena like S-21 are embedded in our capacity to order and obey each other, to bond with each other against strangers, to lose ourselves inside groups, to yearn for perfection and approval, and to vent our anger and confusion, especially when we are encouraged to do so by people we respect, onto other, often helpless people. To find the source of the evil, we need look no further than ourselves."

WWI. WWII. The Holocaust. Soviet labor camps. American carpet-bombing in SE Asia. The Khmer Rouge. Argentina's "Dirty War". Bosnia. Rwanda. What corner of the globe can claim innocence from the abhorrent evil that is present within humanity? Entrenched in a certain scenario, maybe you and I are just as capable of atrocities. When it comes to humanity, what is there to be hopeful about?

UNPAUSE

To say that the God of the universe is infinitely good and powerful is true, but it doesn't say it all. Simply put, He was also willing to get bloody. His bountiful love was bloodied love, that we might find life in Him. He painfully experienced the depths that humanity can sink to, but He also knows the heights to which we can rise once redeemed. Our hope is in the redeemer, Jesus of Nazareth, the man who was God and who is alive today.

(a la Andrea Summers)
You know you’re in Rapid City when…

1. 35mph wind all day
2. 50% of the buildings or shopping strips have Rushmore in the name
3. A silo is one of the tallest buildings in town
4. It could be -23 one day and +50 and sunny a couple days later
5. For a certain percentage of the population the cowboy hat, boots, and belt buckle make an appearance every day of the year, not just on Halloween
6. One has to drive over 400 miles to reach the nearest city (city = 250,000+) – Denver happens to be two states away
7. A new restaurant comes to town and it’s the rave for a good long while (i.e. IHOP or Olive Garden)
8. Theoretically you could enjoy a competitive curling match at the local ice arena in the morning and take in the nation’s largest indoor rodeo later in the day at the Civic Center
9. All the ‘big shows’ (concerts, off Broadway, etc.) are mid-week because the groups are passing through on their way to Denver or Minneapolis for the weekend
. . . and the clincher . . .
10. Instead of bikes or snowboards affixed to the top of vehicles, you see deer carcasses from successful hunting trips

A year ago today I was in Southeast Asia as part of my around the world venture. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was in northern Thailand. Well, in memory of those fine adventures I want to share a little flashback with you. Keith Jagger and I walked several miles outside of Pai, Thailand to an elephant sanctuary. For the equivalent of about $10-15 we took a full-grown elephant for a spin for about an hour and a half. The first bit was a jaunt around the local hills and then we moved toward the river. The whole experience was surreal. The contant back and forth motion created by his massive haunches; his unbelievable ability to navigate incredibly steep terrain; the surprise of his trunk suddenly lurching out and snapping a tree in half for food (think drive-thru); the way he would spray himself (and us) down with his own spit to cool off; and of course the moment he started jogging toward the river because he was so excited to be in the cool water.

Prior to this ride, I didn't realize that elephants are geniuses. Our elephant kindly took us over to the far side of the river to a place where we could easily dismount. We put aside anything we didn't want to get wet, then he took us back into the middle of the river. From that point on it was fair game for "rough-housing". The elephant knew how wild and crazy to get without hurting us - thankfully. Those minutes while he was bucking around were some of the most amazing moments of my life for sheer enjoyment. Far better than any roller coaster or equivalent thrill. The following was filmed my Keith on my digital camera. I'm riding with our Thai guide who didn't speak a lick of English. Notice who was able to stay on ;-)

Click image to play video; be sure your volume is up. Enjoy!

If you haven't already, be sure and check out the "10 Fun/Handy Things You Should Know About" below.
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From age 4 to 10 I lived on the outskirts of Lexington, KY. Kentucky is crazy about its Wildcat basketball!!! I was infected at a young age. Kentucky blue has run through my veins ever since I first stepped foot in Rupp Arena. Imagine over 24,000 fans, standing room only, and an unexplainable energy as every fan is cheering and screaming at the top of their lungs. This is where I saw Shaquille O'Neal and his LSU Tigers get whooped. I high-fived Jamal Mashburn there. My loyalty to a college basketball program was forever sealed in that building. Even when I lived right in the heart of Hoosier hysteria for a dozen years, that loyalty never waivered.

And what a program to be a fan of! Let me just go ahead and make the case for why this is far and away the best baskeball program to be a fan of:
- Winningest college basketball program of all time by a safe margin
- 7 National Championships . . . second only to UCLA (Duke, Kansas, & UNC don't even come close!)
- More NCAA Tournament wins than any other team
- 20 times UK players have been named consensus first-team All-Americans; that's more than any other program.
- This is their 15th straight bid to the NCAA tournament, bringing their total up to a record setting 47 bids altogether!
- More 30-win seasons than any other program with 11.
- More AP Top Ten and AP Number One finishes than any other program (38 and 8 respectively).
- 90% winning percentage at home (over the last 30 years at Rupp Arena)
- They've racked up 9 Coach of the Year awards from stellar coaches such as Adolph Rupp, Rick Pitino, and Tubby Smith
- In addition to their 7 National Championships they've been to 13 Final Four's and 28 Elite Eight's.

Need I say more? Check this stuff out for yourself in the UK Basketball Media Guide.

OK, so this season hasn't been the greatest for the Wildcats; I'd even call it an outright miserable season. But you know they'll be back on top in a heartbeat. And this Thursday when March Madness kicks off, anything could happen!

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