I have two more blogs to post in my pre-Christmas series, but have gotten distracted by boxes named gray zipper, blue zipper, black zipper, box 1 and box 2. They look very similar if not the same, but FedEx recommends they not be made out of ticky tacky. Anyway, I hope to return to the four-part Christmas blog series at some point. You're supposed to be keeping the spirit of Christmas alive in your hearts year-round anyway, so just work with me.
One requirement of shipping internationally with FedEx is that a Commercial Invoice must be completed for each box listing each item in the box, the country of manufacture, quantity, unit price, and total price. Imagine condensing your life down to 5-7 boxes, 62 linear inches each, and then inventorying each one in this way. What would you find?
The most interesting thing to me is the various locations our clothing came from. My wardrobe is vastly more well-traveled than I am. So far women's tank tops have provided the most exotic locales, including Macau and Lesotho. A few items are made in the USA but most are not. This begs the following question: What exactly do we do all day? This must be why the economy is tanking.
I am disappointed to see that I only have one item of clothing from Cambodia, as I have heard they have strict laws against sweat shops there. I tried once to look for information about where to buy clothes manufactured in a way that provided good working conditions for the people who made them. What I found was (at that time) there wasn't a good way to pay attention to only one social issue. I couldn't just care about people without caring about animals and environmental issues, too. Those things are ok, but I think I'll only try to save the world one issue at a time.
Merry Christmas everyone! "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Do-over
Note: Read previous post “The Grass is Always Greener on the Other Side of the Fall” before this one if you haven’t already.
Ok, so it could be argued that Adam and Eve did not know what they were doing and could not have guessed what effect their actions would have on their family, let alone the rest of the world. In their perfect environment they were likely not acquainted with anything even closely resembling deceit. How could they have been expected to recognize it and see it for what it was?
So what if we take another man, made in the image of God, well aware of what can happen if he rebels, and let him try again? Even better, let’s pick someone who lived in the awful conditions that came after the Fall (“every inclination of the thoughts of [man’s] heart was only evil all the time”) but still managed to be righteous in the eyes of God. Someone like this would be aware of the evils of the world and would also be experienced in avoiding them. Sounds like a plan. God thought so, too.
“When Lamech had lived 182 years he had a son. He named him Noah and said, ‘He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.’”
This, like all do-overs, could not exactly duplicate all the conditions before the Fall, but it was best shot we had. We could remember what was at stake, right? Having experienced firsthand and perhaps participated in deceit we would be able to identify and avoid it. After seeing the disastrous results of the previous mistake, we would know what we were in for if we didn’t maintain relationship with God. Fool me once, shame on the snake. Fool me twice…doh!
The slate is wiped clean in Genesis chapter 7, waters recede in chapter 8, covenant is established between God and man in chapter 9, and we are good to go all the way through chapter 11. At this time men were apparently united with one another. We might think of that as peace. But apparently after the Fall, peace among men was not the Utopia we picture when we talk of world peace, but rather all men agreeing to rebel against God. Not such a great plan. Back to the drawing board.
Ok, so it could be argued that Adam and Eve did not know what they were doing and could not have guessed what effect their actions would have on their family, let alone the rest of the world. In their perfect environment they were likely not acquainted with anything even closely resembling deceit. How could they have been expected to recognize it and see it for what it was?
So what if we take another man, made in the image of God, well aware of what can happen if he rebels, and let him try again? Even better, let’s pick someone who lived in the awful conditions that came after the Fall (“every inclination of the thoughts of [man’s] heart was only evil all the time”) but still managed to be righteous in the eyes of God. Someone like this would be aware of the evils of the world and would also be experienced in avoiding them. Sounds like a plan. God thought so, too.
“When Lamech had lived 182 years he had a son. He named him Noah and said, ‘He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.’”
This, like all do-overs, could not exactly duplicate all the conditions before the Fall, but it was best shot we had. We could remember what was at stake, right? Having experienced firsthand and perhaps participated in deceit we would be able to identify and avoid it. After seeing the disastrous results of the previous mistake, we would know what we were in for if we didn’t maintain relationship with God. Fool me once, shame on the snake. Fool me twice…doh!
The slate is wiped clean in Genesis chapter 7, waters recede in chapter 8, covenant is established between God and man in chapter 9, and we are good to go all the way through chapter 11. At this time men were apparently united with one another. We might think of that as peace. But apparently after the Fall, peace among men was not the Utopia we picture when we talk of world peace, but rather all men agreeing to rebel against God. Not such a great plan. Back to the drawing board.
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