2010/Jun/09/Morning - Kie, The Kibbutznik?
What inspires you about how the early Christians lived in the period directly following Jesus' Ascention, as described in Acts 2:40-47?
Coming from a political studies background, I have to say that the first thing to hit me is that they seem a bit communist. Acts 2:44-45 states, Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all, as anyone had need. This presents an interesting dilemma for someone who wants to follow the example of the Bible, but is living in a capitalist, individualist world. Selling everything in my apartment and heading for a kibbutz does not seem like a particularly valid option. To put aside the economic implications of communism, I am left to consider the community in which the early Christians lived. They were close to each other. They made efforts to eat together and also prayed for each other (See Acts 2:42 and Acts 2:46). That is an area where I could use a little development. I do a small bit of chitchating on Sundays after Church, but generally scoot out of the place faster than many of the other congregants. I have the Small Group on Monday nights, which I attend steadfastly because it happens in my living room: In the past when I have signed up for groups I have found it very easy to make excuses for skipping. Outside of that, I rarely, if ever, meet up with people from Church. It is not at all like my days growing up when I spent more time at Church than I did at home, going five or six days a week for hours at a time. It is partially a question of peers, most of the people I know from Church here are slightly mismatched to my spot in life. They are either still students or already married and being grown-ups. There are few post-teen Peter Pan types like me. Back in my old town, there were literally dozens of people from my Church at exactly my level of development; it was easy to be in community with them, and from there to reach out to the older and younger people around. Perhaps I need to be a bit more courageous (That was definitely a trait of the early Christians!) and do more to engage with my community here and now.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever you hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going
It sounds a bit macabre (Like the rest of Ecclesiastes!), but this verse has an important message. Our time is limited, so we should make the best use of what we have. Life is too short to grumble, and too precious to waste with half-actions. While I appreciate the sentiment of the passage, applying it to my life becomes tricky. What has my hand found to do? Nothing! Nothing, at least in terms of economically gainful employment. When the author of Ecclesiastes writes about everyhing being vanity, vanity! I have to agree, since navel-gazing is pretty much it for me right now. Reading Ecclesiastes is a bit like being pulled in two different directions: Half the time we are told that work in this world is wholly temporary and will pass away, but then the other half of the time we are reminded that we, too will return to the dust so we better well make our mark while we can. For me, though, I feel unproductive and like a fool, though not necessarily out of choice. Still, I know that eventually my hand will find something to do. At that time, I hope I do put all of my might into it.
Last week I travelled across town to hand in a résumé. I think I have a good shot at that job, since it is very closely related to the work I did in my old city for several years. I also know that very quietly behind the scenes, my other applications are moving. I got an e-mail yesterday asking for a supporting document (Which I sent right away, and of whose receipt I received confirmation) for one of my applications. If they are still asking me for test results, that means I am still in the running. Since that competition closed in March, I can only hope that they are getting close to a final decision, which makes me cautiously hopeful that I still may be being considered. On the front of another application, I received an e-mail that the mark for my all-important French test should arrive at their office by the end of this week, and be sent to me by the end of the month. I wrote that almost a month ago. I just need to be patient with it. Also a month ago, I was interviewed for a particularly attractive job. They told me it would be about a month before I heard their result, and so far no call or e-mail has come. I am keeping my chin up, confident in my competance, but with a heart guarded so as not to be devastated if they choose someone else. My chances are slightly better than 1:5 for that job, and even less for the others to which I have applied. I have surpassed even tighter competitions in the past, though. Even if I am idle right now, I am still determined to do great things in this temporary, dusty world. Once my hand finds what it must do, look out, world!
Coming from a political studies background, I have to say that the first thing to hit me is that they seem a bit communist. Acts 2:44-45 states, Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods and divided them among all, as anyone had need. This presents an interesting dilemma for someone who wants to follow the example of the Bible, but is living in a capitalist, individualist world. Selling everything in my apartment and heading for a kibbutz does not seem like a particularly valid option. To put aside the economic implications of communism, I am left to consider the community in which the early Christians lived. They were close to each other. They made efforts to eat together and also prayed for each other (See Acts 2:42 and Acts 2:46). That is an area where I could use a little development. I do a small bit of chitchating on Sundays after Church, but generally scoot out of the place faster than many of the other congregants. I have the Small Group on Monday nights, which I attend steadfastly because it happens in my living room: In the past when I have signed up for groups I have found it very easy to make excuses for skipping. Outside of that, I rarely, if ever, meet up with people from Church. It is not at all like my days growing up when I spent more time at Church than I did at home, going five or six days a week for hours at a time. It is partially a question of peers, most of the people I know from Church here are slightly mismatched to my spot in life. They are either still students or already married and being grown-ups. There are few post-teen Peter Pan types like me. Back in my old town, there were literally dozens of people from my Church at exactly my level of development; it was easy to be in community with them, and from there to reach out to the older and younger people around. Perhaps I need to be a bit more courageous (That was definitely a trait of the early Christians!) and do more to engage with my community here and now.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever you hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going
It sounds a bit macabre (Like the rest of Ecclesiastes!), but this verse has an important message. Our time is limited, so we should make the best use of what we have. Life is too short to grumble, and too precious to waste with half-actions. While I appreciate the sentiment of the passage, applying it to my life becomes tricky. What has my hand found to do? Nothing! Nothing, at least in terms of economically gainful employment. When the author of Ecclesiastes writes about everyhing being vanity, vanity! I have to agree, since navel-gazing is pretty much it for me right now. Reading Ecclesiastes is a bit like being pulled in two different directions: Half the time we are told that work in this world is wholly temporary and will pass away, but then the other half of the time we are reminded that we, too will return to the dust so we better well make our mark while we can. For me, though, I feel unproductive and like a fool, though not necessarily out of choice. Still, I know that eventually my hand will find something to do. At that time, I hope I do put all of my might into it.
Last week I travelled across town to hand in a résumé. I think I have a good shot at that job, since it is very closely related to the work I did in my old city for several years. I also know that very quietly behind the scenes, my other applications are moving. I got an e-mail yesterday asking for a supporting document (Which I sent right away, and of whose receipt I received confirmation) for one of my applications. If they are still asking me for test results, that means I am still in the running. Since that competition closed in March, I can only hope that they are getting close to a final decision, which makes me cautiously hopeful that I still may be being considered. On the front of another application, I received an e-mail that the mark for my all-important French test should arrive at their office by the end of this week, and be sent to me by the end of the month. I wrote that almost a month ago. I just need to be patient with it. Also a month ago, I was interviewed for a particularly attractive job. They told me it would be about a month before I heard their result, and so far no call or e-mail has come. I am keeping my chin up, confident in my competance, but with a heart guarded so as not to be devastated if they choose someone else. My chances are slightly better than 1:5 for that job, and even less for the others to which I have applied. I have surpassed even tighter competitions in the past, though. Even if I am idle right now, I am still determined to do great things in this temporary, dusty world. Once my hand finds what it must do, look out, world!