Xapa to the World

Category: Reflections

  • Christian Halloween Thoughts

    I came across a bunch of my newsletters from when I was in Japan. Considering Halloween is fast approaching, I thought it timely to repost this – my thoughts on Halloween as a Christian. This was originally dated 10/29/08. Take it as you will.

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    Some of you might not agree with what I am going to say in the following paragraphs, but I hope that you will at least read it with an open mind.  This Friday is Halloween.  People everywhere will be celebrating it, and Japan is as well (although they embrace it because it’s something American, and they don’t really do the trick-or-treating but they do have a lot of parties).  On Sunday, I helped out with a Halloween workshop for some kids near Yamaguchi City.  It was a lot of fun!  I really enjoyed helping them carve the pumpkins and playing the games.  We always celebrated Halloween when I was a kid, and I would even dress up when I was up to high school.  There’s just a fun atmosphere around the holiday.

    NipponHalloween01

    Now, I know a lot of people do not like to celebrate it because of its origins.  I completely understand, and if that was what Halloween was in these days as well, then I would not want anything to do with it.  But the truth is that it has changed.  For the majority of people who enjoy it, it is not about worshipping spirits and divination or kidnapping little children and boiling them in stew (although that makes a really good scary story).  It’s the one night of the year that people all over are willing to put down their guard a bit and actually meet their neighbors with their children.

    NipponHalloween04

    Some might say, “Well, it’s just not an important holiday for a Christian.  We have Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving…Those days are so much more important for us to celebrate, we can forget about Halloween and no one will hold to our discredit.”  But I want to ask you…do you know your neighbors?  You might know their last names from their mailbox, you know how many cars and kids they have, how late they keep their dog out at night, but do you know how their parents’ health is doing?  Are they struggling to keep their marriage together?  Did they just move here and have no connections with anyone except at their workplace?

    I think God has given us a great opportunity.  Most people who are not Christians think that Christians are stodgy and cannot have any fun.  They see a Christian’s closed and darkened house on Halloween and think that they have no interest in the community.  I am sad that I can’t be home this year to hand out candy, to show my neighbors my face so that they can know that I am not some religious freak incapable of real human interaction.  Yes, we know that we are very social creatures, within the safety and protection of our church community, but are you willing to step outside of that and invite some less than savory (or so you think) people into your life…people who are not already following Christ?  There is a special blessing for someone who leads another to Christ.

    NipponHalloween02

    Oh, and by the way…I looooove how some churches do the “Trunk or Treat”.  It provides a nice, safe, environment for kids to get candy and play games.  Last year, Mom’s church did that, but we still sat at our home and handed out candy.  As the kids came by, we let them know that they should go over to the church to get a lot of candy.  It was a great way to get people over to the church and see Christians actually enjoying life and in a non-threatening setting.  Just throwing some ideas out there for you…and again, if you don’t agree with this, please don’t hate me.  We have different ideas of evangelism and different people are gifted for different things.  Some of you, I know, do not celebrate Halloween, but you also make it a point to know your neighbors and be involved in your community.  If that’s the case, then good for you!  But if you are a regular “church hermit” and don’t know anything about the people down the street from you, I would just suggest that you should find a way of doing so.  It is a command that Christ gave us – to love your neighbor as yourself.  Can you say you do that?  I know I sure don’t…but it’s something I am working on.

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    The Huz and I will be passing out candy this year at The House. I’m super pumped for it! He said that we don’t get many kids down this street, but I am looking forward to it. We never had many kids at my mom’s, but it was worth seeing the kids and neighbors for a little bit. We are all so isolated in America! Ugh, it drives me nuts and yet I perpetuate it all the time.

    Halloween costumes last year...Goldilocks and a bear.
    Halloween costumes last year…Goldilocks and a bear.

    What are you doing for the holiday? Handing out candy? Taking kids around? Doing something with your church for the community? I’d love to hear how you use the holiday to reach out to others.

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  • Week Thoughts

    I have had quite a few things weighing heavily on my mind this/last week. Here are the chewing-overs. I don’t think I have any conclusion to share, just thoughts. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

    Syria

    I can’t really begin to wrap my mind around the whole issue. I remember the feel of Cairo, the smells, the traffic, the vibrancy of the people. When I think of what is happening in Egypt, my mind is overwhelmed. Even more so with a country like Syria – someplace I’ve never been (that list is pretty big, so not a big deal). I’ll be honest, most of my understanding of Syria is from Old Testament studies in church. I know very, very little of modern-day Syria.

    So, when this came out, I jumped at it. I’m glad someone thought out that most Americans know very little about the country, what is happening there right now, and the ramifications of it. I do not claim to be an expert on any of it. What hits me and provokes me the most thought are: chemical warfare, children, national sovereignty, tyranny…the list could go on. I often throw myself into interaction with people from other countries. What I’ve found is that they are more than not just as patriotic as the average American. We get all, “Go USA!” in our little circles, but most of these people, even after they’ve come to the States, are fiercely in love with their homeland. I want the people of Syria to be able to make their own country and be proud of it.

    I hate bullies, which is what seems to be happening with the Assad regime. When I was a kid, I can remember two specific incidents when I stood up to a bully – not for my own benefit, but for a friend or younger child. I was willing to do what it took to keep them from picking on my friend. I wanted the world to be a better place for them – for all of us – and that sense of justice has always been one of the primary gears working through my actions. Those children…I get sick when I think of what is done to children around the world…Syria is just such another place.

    I get that we need to ensure that nations and groups keep chemical warfare out of their arsenal. That is a big deal. I get ticked off when I have to drive/walk through someone’s cigarette smoke-cloud. I can’t imagine at all what it would be like in a chemical warfare attack. If we know it happened, there should be some kind of action. Not full-on involvement or even half-involvement, because we’re already stretched beyond ourselves (um, economic crisis???). But something needs to be done. That kind of behavior cannot abide.

    Ariel Castro

    This happened. Something in me wants to rejoice at justice being served. I no longer have to foot the bill for this sorry excuse of a person to continue living. And then the mercy in my beliefs and faith come up and say, “Uh, Christ died for him too. What are you going to do with that?” And honestly…all I can say is that if Ariel Castro accepted Christ’s gift of redemption, then God will reconcile the two of us into one family when we reach heaven. Right now, I don’t have that knowledge so I’m just going to leave it. Those women are still rescued and out of bondage. THAT is what I’ll just have to focus on. It’s all I can process right now.

    Loss of Faith

    I have some dear friends who talk about people close to them who have chosen not to follow Christ, are on the fence, or have walked away from it. I have been praying for them in earnest. And then I heard that some of my loved ones have left the Christian faith, in a fairly explosive way. Not only that, but the explosiveness has come from the feedback of believers who were in their circle and local community. My heart just breaks. I am ashamed of the brethren who are acting in a malicious way. However, I wonder how much of it is actually malicious and how much is genuine concern that is being presented as malice because my loved ones want to feel justified at their leaving.

    And it also brings up the question of eternal security – once saved always saved. If the person was truly a believer, can they really recant and not be one? So were they ever believers in the first place? Or are they just walking in sin now and still have their salvation secure? I can’t answer that for these particular people – I don’t know their hearts. But it hurts me to know that the fellowship has been broken and I don’t know what to do about it. Do I do anything about it? Do I just pray? How can it be just prayer and why does that always feel like a token action or last resort when there seems to be no other good solution? Prayer is powerful. Lord, help me to trust in the power of prayer, if not to change them, then to change me.

    Amish Healthcare

    Did you hear this story? I am amazed that the hospital was even allowed to get as far as they did in trying to take over this child’s life. This is just another story that disenchants me to the American healthcare system. I’ve been going to a chiropractor lately and I’m trying to get my body healthier so that I don’t have to use the standard healthcare system. It seems broken. I don’t want it. I say this knowing that tomorrow, I will be going to pick out a Primary Care Physician for myself and the future fam…and also getting an antibiotic for a UTI that has got the better of me. What hypocrisy!

  • 2012 Elections

    English: Ballot Box showing preferential voting
    English: Ballot Box showing preferential voting (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    This has been a frustrating election season for me. I was very fortunate that I was out of the country for the last presidential election. I definitely voted – applied for an absentee ballot and everything – but I was able to avoid all the propaganda. Well, not all of it. I did manage to get one piece of election material, for the Butler County Commissioner, go figure.

    Let me mention too, that I have certain doubts about the voting process. The year following the last presidential election, I was back home and was able to vote. When I returned for the mid-term elections, I was given a provisional ballot because their records showed that I was in Japan still. Even though I was standing right in front of them with my license in hand, and proof that I had shown up in person the previous year, they would only let me complete the provisional ballot, which who knows if those even ever get counted?!

    Anyway, this year has been frustrating. I remember a friend saying on Facebook that she had a conversation with a poller with the Republican Party asking if she would vote for Person A or Person B. She asked the woman if there were any better candidates? That’s how I feel pretty much across the board this time.

    If you’re like me and still up in the air about who to vote for, might I make a suggestion to you? I’m not going to get into who you should or shouldn’t vote for – I want to point you to some great tools to help you decide.

    A few years ago, I found this really wonderful website called Project Vote Smart.  Here’s the “About Us” from the website:

    At a unique research center located high in the Montana Rockies and far from the partisan influences of Washington, our staff, interns, and volunteers are working hard to strengthen the most essential component of democracy – access to information. Project Vote Smart is a non-partisan, nonprofit educational organization funded exclusively through individual contributions and philanthropic foundations.

    I think what I love most about website is that it is non-partisan. Just taking the data that’s out there about the candidates (Presidential and Congressional) and organizing them into a logical format. On the website, you can look at most of the big issues and where different candidates stand on those issues. You can research a candidate and see their voting history, organization involvement in the past, financial records, and more!

    One of the neatest things is something called a “Political Courage Test.” Project Vote Smart sent the Political Courage Test to candidates and asked them to answer questions honestly about a variety of topics: Abortion; Budget, Spending, and Taxes; Campaign Finance; Capital Punishment; Economy; Education; Environment and Energy; Foreign Policy; Guns; Health Care; Immigration; Same-Sex Marriage; Social Security and ; Administrative Priorities. Then, based on how many questions the candidate answers and how indepth they answer, they get a rating on their political courage.

    Might I point out that Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have not completed the Political Courage Test. In fact, they ignored repeated requests for them to complete it. Anyway, I really appreciate having the stance of the candidates in their own words on certain issues. It’s not all of where they stand, but it’s pretty comprehensive.

    There’s also this super handy tool that’s even cooler than the Political Courage Test! It’s the “Vote Easy” matching tool! Check it (here):

    You click which campaign you’re wondering about, Presidential is default, but you can also pick the Congressional candidates too. Then, using the topics at the top, answer questions how you would answer. THEN, the screen will populate with these fancy, awesome, cool picket boards with the candidate faces which will jump forward or backward depending on the percentage of similarity.

    Pretty stinkin’ cool, huh?

    Also, if you are in Butler County, OH, and would like to know what to expect on the ballot this year, you can run over to our trusty-dusty county elections site: http://www.butlercountyelections.org/

    Here are the issues on our ballot this year:

    1. State Issue 1: Question presented pursuant to Article XVI, Section 3 of the Constitution of the State of Ohio
      – Gov’t speak: “At the general election to be held in the year one thousand nine hundred and thirty-two, and in each twentieth year thereafter, the question: ‘Shall there be a convention to revise, alter, or amend the constitution[,]’ shall be submitted to the electors of the state; and in case a majority of the electors, voting for and against the calling of a convention, shall decide in favor of a convention, the general assembly, at its next session, shall provide, by law, for the election of delegates, and the assembling of such convention, as is provided in the preceding section; but no amendment of this constitution, agreed upon by any convention assembled in pursuance of this article, shall take effect, until the same shall have been submitted to the electors of the state, and adopted by a majority of those voting thereon.”
      – Layman’s terms: do you want to vote for a convention to come together to revise, alter, or amend the State Constitution? If there’s a majority in favor of it, then a convention will be formed to decide any changes. If there are any changes decided upon, they can’t be made until Ohioans get to vote on it and get majority. (This issue was started in 1932 and every 20th yr election after that.)
      – (added 11/4/12) My comment: I did a little research on this particular issue. It has been put on the ballot every 20 years since 1932, and I wanted to see if it had ever passed and how often. According to Ballotpedia.org, in the 4 elections that Issue 1 was on the ballot (1932, 1952, 1972, and 1992), it has been defeated. My fiance and I were thinking that if it were passed this year, it would open our state to passing legislation allowing same-sex marriage or other amendments that would not be desirable to a faith-based community. We decided we would be voting “No” on this issue.
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    2. State Issue 2: To create a state-funded commission to draw legislative and congressional districts.
      – Gov’t speak: (1) Remove the authority of elected representatives and grant new authority to appointed officials to establish congressional and
      state legislative district lines. (2) Create a state funded commission of appointed officials from a limited pool of applicants to replace the aforementioned. (There are a whole lot of details on this step…I would check out the ballot for all the details.) (3) Require new legislative and congressional districts be immediately established by the Commission to replace the most recent districts adopted by elected representatives, which districts shall not be challenged except by court order until the next federal decennial census and apportionment. (4) Repeals current constitutional requirements for drawing legislative districts that avoid splits to counties, townships, municipalities and city wards where possible, and when not possible, limiting such divisions to only one division per governmental unit, and also repeals requirements to form as many whole legislative districts solely within a county as possible. (5) Mandate the General Assembly to appropriate all funds necessary to adequately fund the activities of the Commission.
      – Layman’s terms: Appointed officials can put together a new commission to realign the congressional and legislative districts in the state. It will be State funded and the commission will be made up of applicants who are then chosen by a group of random 8 state judges in the Court of Appeals, who were chosen by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio. These will not be elected officials. There are quite a few requirements on how these people will be chosen, to create “fairness” to all political parties.
      – My comment: I personally am not a fan because they are not people who we are electing. I understand that population and wealth may be distributed differently than when the districts were first put together, but let’s find a way to fix that with the people we’re voting for.
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    3. Butler County Issue 24: Proposed Tax Levy (Renewal)
      – Gov’t Speak: A renewal of a tax for the benefit of Butler County, Ohio, for the purpose of funding the Butler County Public Children Services Agency for services to abused, neglected, and dependent children at a rate not exceeding two (2) mills for each one dollar of valuation, which amounts to twenty cents ($0.20) for each one hundred dollars of valuation, for a period of five (5) years, commencing in 2013, first due in calendar year 2014.
      – Layman’s terms: Renewal of a tax for Butler County Public Children’s Services Agency. Good for 5 years. Tax is existing and amounts to $0.20 for every $100.00 earned.
      – My comment: We’re already paying this tax. It’s minimal. This is just to renew it. It’s for hurting kids. That’s a no-brainer to me.

    There might be some city issues/ordinances that come up on your ballot. If you’re in Butler County, I suggest you check out the website and put in your address info to get a sample copy of YOUR ballot. If you’re out of this county, I’m sure there is something equivalent to it for your area. Check it out.

    The most important thing is that you exercise your right to vote. Get out there and stand for what you believe. And if you don’t vote, you forfeit your right to complain about it. The only thing worse than not voting is not voting and then griping about it.