Life as a Lego block

Legos.  As a kid I got a new Lego set almost every Christmas (usually one of the little $5 sets) and would spend hours putting it together one way and then taking it apart and putting it together to make something else.  It’s amazing how many different things you can make with the same pieces – a spaceship, an off-road vehicle, your lower intestine, etc.  The key to Legos ability to be so many different things is simple – they have these in little connectors that allow one block to connect to other blocks.  Some blocks have 12 connectors and some have only one but very few (only parts that are made for a very specific purpose) have none.  These connectors are the key to the success of Legos.

Recently a friend introduced me to the “Lego Theory”.  This is that we are all like Lego blocks with our connectors.  Some of us are people who can connect to many people (so they are a block that has 20 – 30 connectors) and there are those that can connect to only a few (say they have only 4 or 6 connectors) but each of us has connectors.  The amount of connectors we have isn’t the important point but what we do with those connectors is.  As we build relationships, we fasten to one another using up our connectors.  Some relationships are stronger and require more of our connections points while others may only intersect at one point.  Since each of us has a limited amount of connection points, we have to be strategic about those connections that we make.  Some will be assumed connections such as with our family and co-workers but some are choices.  Who do you choose to connect with?

I think we as Christians sometimes make bad choices in whom we choose to connect with.  Instinctively, some of you read that and went straight to the opposite of what I’m trying to say.  Many of you immediately thought that I was saying that if you made connections with non-Christians it was bad but THAT IS NOT WHAT I’M SAYING.  I actually believe we more often have too many Christian connections and too few non-Christian connections.  As Christians many of us go to our church buildings every time the door is open, we hang out with our church friends, we go to businesses that are Christian owned, we listen to “Christian” music and go to Christian concerts, and we even have our own Christian fast-food (I like Chick-fil-a, just sayin’).  These are all fine things and we as Christians do need to have fellowship with other Christians but not if it takes up all of our connections.  We need to have connections with non-Christians otherwise no one will ever see the Gospel truly lived out (note: not spoken but lived!!).  So I ask again:  Who do you choose to connect with?

Scare Tactics in the US

Ok, I’m going to try to keep this short but honestly, I feel like I’ve got to say something.  Since being in the US, I’ve seen a lot of “news” articles and even billboards that seem to have this scare tactic approach about Islam in America (and in other Western nations).  I’m not denying that there’s an increase in the amount of Muslims living in western countries as it’s something we see daily in Europe however I really have to question the whole use of ‘scare’ tactics.  When you use scare tactics, what is the result?  Yes, some people may never look at the reality of what’s going on without these methods (hence the reason the nightly news almost always has a teaser of something like “What have you touched today that will surely kill you?”) however when people come to an understanding of the what is going, what will their response be when you use scare tactics?  Usually something not productive.  It wasn’t so long ago in US history that we heard similar rhetoric about Communists and we even had “witch hunts” for communists within our government.  The response wasn’t an end to the situation but a 40 year “Cold” war.  The reality is that most Western thinkers do not understand how those in the Muslim world think and most in the Muslim world do not understand how Westerners think.  Using scare tactics is not going to help us understand one another but is only going to drive an even larger separation between us.  Since most people that read my blog are Christians, let me say to you — If you seriously want to understand what is going on, talk to and befriend a Muslim.  To help you get some perspective, I recommend going to the website –>  Why Do You Fear Me?

On another note, as a Christian, I believe that if we give into or promote these scare tactics then we are denying that Muslims have the right to see the Gospel lived out which the Bible repeatedly says otherwise.  No one is to be denied this right.  I love the following video and believe this should be our response in light of what is going on these days:

Friends from Lava Lamp Productions on Vimeo.

Cross Culture Reversal

My German is nothing special.  I can get by in some pretty basic conversations and only if the other person is really patient.  Since we’ll be in the US for a full year, I’m really concerned that I’ll lose what little German I know if I don’t use it.  That’s why I went to a German Conversation Group the other night.  We met at a local restaurant and out of the 11 people there, 7 were native German speakers.  It was great to hear so much German being spoken and as we introduced ourselves just hearing about the different areas of Germany was really exciting.  I was very homesick for Germany at that point.  As the evening went on, I found it fun to hear the Germans talking about American culture.  This is something I know we do with other Americans in Germany so it was great to hear the reversal.

One of the subjects was the idea of vacation.  The Germans thought it was amazing how little vacation time Americans get and the most astonishing aspect was that most Americans don’t even take all that they are given.  In most of Europe, workers get 20 days of vacation (4 weeks) plus many holidays (if in a Catholic area, there can be 13-18 holidays observed).  But here in American, most workers start off with 10 days of vacation (2 weeks) and it can take 5-10 years of employment before they can earn any more than that.  They may get an additional 5-10 days for sick/family care time if they work for a more “progressive” employer.  One of the Germans said that she was out sick for a few days with a fever and when she returned to work, her co-worker asked her how her vacation was.

But one German really nailed it on the head about why Americans don’t even take all of their vacation time – they’re afraid that the company might find out they don’t need them and there might not be a job to return to when the long vacation is done. (Outside observers to a culture can sometimes have a better understanding of what is really happening – it’s great) In Europe, governments do a lot to ensure job security for employees which is why you hear about a lot of unrest when anything is done in government that might jeopardize those rights.

So this begs me to ask the question – are we/you doing something that has worth? Well, this blog may be a little quiet again as I leave for vacation in a few days.  Be back in a few weeks as I’m confident there will be work for me when I return.

Feeling like a hobbit – returning to your home country

I was watching TV the other night when I flipped to see the ending scenes to The Return of the King (last part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) There is a scene where Frodo and the gang have returned to the Shire and are sitting in the tavern drinking their pints. They’re looking around in amazement. They’ve been on these great adventures in places the rest of the hobbits know little about. Their friends and neighbors have carried on living life as they always have without them. So they sit there huddled together with those that understand the adventures they’ve been on in the midst of what was once normalcy. While their appearance doesn’t seem to have changed, their experiences have changed them but its almost hidden. I understand how they feel exactly.

Krista, Alex and I have been back in the US for two months now. We’ve been huddling together some as we observe so much of how life here has gone on as it always has but also observing the changes that have occurred. We’ve talked to people who haven’t changed and say that we haven’t (well, at least me – Alex has definitely changed to everyone) – but deep down I know all of us have had experiences that have changed us.

I know there are a lot of people out there that may have gone on short term mission trips this summer or, like us, are returning after having even longer adventures.  You’ve changed and that’s OK.  People around you may not recognize it but know that that is OK.  The key is not to ignore your experiences but to now live them as Sam did.  In the scene that I described above, Samwise approaches the barmaid and does something (we don’t see what it is) but it makes the rest of the guys giggle and look at each other and then we go to the next scene where Sam is marrying her.  This is something he never would have done before their adventures but always wanted to do.  What about your experiences that have changed you now and how are you going to choose to live out those changes now that you are back in your home country? Did you experience helping less fortunate – so now how are you going to do that once you are home?  Were you challenged to share your faith abroad – are you looking for those opportunities now that you are back where you speak the language?