Unpacking Ideas

In recent weeks I have experienced connection synergy.  It means I am experiencing a crashing together of several opportunities to meet with friends, colleagues, and family…folks I don’t get to see very often.  Re-connection and connection. 

Weddings, Conferences, Reunions

A month ago Mom, Dad, and my four siblings converged in Birmingham, Alabama for a wedding.  My sister’s son got married.  The wedding was cool, but the gathering with my family — even for a short weekend — was very cool.  We re-connected through stories, celebration, and lots of food.

A few weeks ago my family and I attended a couple of weddings in the community where we once lived.  We also attended a worship service where we began our Methodist journey.  It was a healthy experience re-connecting with old friends. The same week I attended the annual conference for Virginia United Methodists.  Sounds like a boring annual meeting, but in Methodism we take this very seriously.  It’s in our Wesleyan DNA to gather with members of our conference every year - lay and clergy alike – for a few days of worship, business, and yes, re-connecting our lives.  I talked with old friends and made new friends, and we made some progress ordering the ministries of the Virginia Conference. I was reminded that I’m a part of something larger than me, larger than my local congregation.  I feel better now.  While I never look forward to going to these conferences, I always return home re-energized and hopeful.  Why?

Next month is my 35th-year high school reunion for the Beaver Area Senior High class of 1975.  Go BASH Class of 1975!  We were always the best.  We might be getting old…some of you are lookin’ kind of ragged on FaceBook…but we have not given up.  I’m sorry to say I will miss the event because of another commitment (…c’mon, I have a pretty good excuse…), but I have been privy to the e-mails from the reunion coordinator – thanks, Polly! - who has diligently invited us to register.  She has shared details about the weekend events and sent out special requests for current mailing information for classmates we can’t find….like that guy in Trigonometry, the quiet one with curly red hair who sat in the back.  Does anyone know where he is now?

Why Do I Want To Go?

The reunion e-mail chatter has encouraged me.  I don’t talk often enough with my former classmates, but it doesn’t seem to matter, at least not this summer, because that’s my class.  Those are my people.  And even though the rest of the class of 1975 probably still considers me an annoying dweeb, I belong, I am one of them.  So, I will surely miss the opportunity to re-connect with them.

I wonder, though, why do I want to go?

Good question.  If I’m honest, I’d have to say I’m a loner.  It’s not that I am anti-social (usually), but unless I’m playing Monopoly with my daughters or watching a movie with Linda, I prefer sitting alone reading or writing.  So, I am surprised by my fascination with the ”connection events” I’ve described.  Of all people, I’m the last one to be drawn into connecting with old friends and colleagues.  OK, I understand the wedding in Alabama…most of the food was free, and my siblings have long accepted that I will always be annoying (I’m not a dweeb any more, really).

But the Methodist annual conference and my high school reunion are a stretch for me.  An important stretch.  Why did the conferenc re-energize me?  Why am I interested in seeing old friends from high school?  Maybe this need to connect is a part of my nature.  I wonder if I am wired (created) to be with people, not apart from them.  Duh.  Of course.  In my mind, this point is obvious and needs no further unpacking.  We are created to live in community – whether this is comfortable for us or not.  To put a theological imprint it, I think God’s image in us means we need to connect with other humans because its healthier and safer to live in community.

Blame My Myers-Briggs Classification

How, then, did I come to be such a loner?  I can blame my Myers-Briggs classification.  Every INTJ will understand.  Leave me alone.  

Or, I can blame my North American Protestant culture.  We are raised to thrive on and prefer the frontier where we embrace good ol’ American rugged individualism.  I’ll take care of my bootstraps, you take care of yours.  We are trained to be suspicious of any effort that smacks of “common good” replacing individual rights.  

Or, I can blame my New Hampshire DNA.  “Live free or die” is on their license plates.  Maybe that’s why its so easy to curl up with a book on the porch at the lake in New Hampshire.  It’s the license plate.

I like freedom.  I like my personal rights.  Yay me.  Leave me alone.

Who Gets To Win, And Who Decides?

Consider this as well: If I connect with you, it will be harder to stay alone.  (Another duh.)  Take it a bit further.  If I connect with you, maybe it will become harder for me to hang on to my individual rights.  Or, too bad for you, hanging on to my individual rights could mean you will lose yours….because we are connected.  If we connect, your rights might result in me losing mine.  This tension-filled cycle gets personal.  So, who gets to win, and who decides?

Maybe if I disconnect, I can pretend there is no problem.

The organic tension between my individual rights and our common good has been debated for centuries.  The tension exists within me, and between you and me¹ .  The cycle tuckers me out.  I want to let it go.  I am tempted to disconnect.  I admit, reading a book on the front porch at the lake in New Hampshire sounds very appealing to this loner.

I Won’t Give Up

Take heart.  Encouraged by the BASH ’75 reunion, I might be old and worn out but I won’t give up.  Perhaps this year, for kicks, for the connection-cause, I might dust off an old copy of Amitai Etzioni’s, The Spirit Of Community: The Reinvention Of American Society² .  Etzioni tries to find a balance between the pursuit of common good and the pursuit of personal rights.  He asserts, “strong rights presume strong responsibilities.”  Hmm.  This sounds like middle ground, a very murky, tension-filled, middle way.

Etzioni and others like him (more and more of us, fortunately) have long been convinced there is hearty middle ground where we can obtain a balance between a commitment to community and the pursuit of self-interest.  They believe (me too..) that there is hopeful middle ground where you and I can retain our precious personal rights while also remaining diligent in our pursuit of common good.  We must try.  The alternative extremes will destroy us.  We need the murky middle.

I have hope, if not the energy (for now).  This tired loner has a long way to go to get to that hearty middle ground.  I wonder if a good book in New Hampshire will help.

[Read an article about this topic, Leadership From The Middle.  Find it in the Special Articles category.  This was a lecture I delivered several years ago to a suspicious audience!]

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, PhD (2010).

1. From a systems view it is easy to make the leap from the 1) tension between my individual rights and society’s common good to 2) the tension between my individual rights and the common good of our local congregation, and even to 3) the tension between my individual congregation’s rights and the common good of our Conference.
2. New York: Simon & Schuster (1993).

I’ve been doing this blog thing for a little over a year – 92 articles, and a few of them are good.  Thanks go to you, though.  This site enjoys about 750 unique and remarkable readers every month! 

So, this is an anniversary of sorts – 15 months of self-indulgent writing.  I remain diligent in my confession that this has been a truly self-indulgent exercise, fraught with poor grammar and sometimes poor logic, but filled with rich questions, wonderment and lots of fun. 

I offer a summary of the articles.  I did not plan it this way but during the year the following categories of articles have emerged, roughly.  They are, in alphabetical order, as follows (To read the articles, click the link below or in the categories list to the right.)  

• Carpe Diem Guy — this is about seizing the day in the Church (and my life!)
• Church Leadership — this is about leadership in and for the Church
• Conversation — this is about healthy conversation, which requires a dose of doubt 
• Creation Care — this is my newest category, focusing on the Church’s role in creation stewardship
• Immigration Reform — this is plain and simple talk about doing the right thing for the “strangers” among us
• It’s A Dog’s Life — this is about my dogs and other simple pleasures found in my backyard
• Nobel Laureates — this is about them, those special leaders in our world who have been recognized as extraordinary 
• Organizational Effectiveness — here is my personal niche about what works and how to measure it in organizations
• Orphan Care — this is about a passion of my life, based on my experiences in Russia
• Seventies Nostalgia — this is nostalgic reflection, flash-back to Jack Bogut and those good ol’ days
• The Murky Middle — another niche for me — the political, theological, and behavioral middle — even when murky… gray is good
• Transformational Leadership — loosely defined…this is a sub-part to organizational effectiveness dealing with leadership — from my perspective, and in an organizational context
• Vulnerable Children — this is related to orphan care, of course, but a lot more
• Worm Theology — yes, its true, I have worms, and they teach me good things

In addition to the regular articles, there are a few cool pages, like Cool Books, Tormenting My Congregation, and Special Articles where you can find special topics or items for you to enjoy.  The Cool Books page is especially helpful (in my mind) because it links all the books I have cited to the article(s) in which I mention the book.  Tormenting My Congregation includes a smattering of sermons I have preached over the years.  To my knowledge, no one lost their salvation.  In Special Articles you will find something about leadership in the murky middle, something about a Wesleyan understanding of God’s image, and something about our human drive for community. 

Thanks for reading, whether you agree with me or not.  Thanks especially for your patient reflection in the context of my self-indulgence.  I hope you continue to visit and enjoy.

For several years I commuted every day from my home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia to Richmond, and back.  Lots of driving, lots of books on tape!  In the early morning as the sun rose above the horizon to my left, I drove southbound across the Chesapeake Bay on the Bridge-Tunnel.  In the evening as I returned northbound, the sun would be setting to my left.   

Not-So-Goofy Today

My drives across the bridge every day were a gift from God – to start the day and end the day over the water with its beautiful images…and to enjoy the spectacle of goofy pelicans.  I love these birds, even though they are not the most graceful, elegant birds.  I loved to watch them fly and feed.  Typically three or four would fly together along the edge of the bridge where the fish tended to gather.  Without warning, one of the birds would drop out of the sky and tumble into the water.  

When I first saw this spectacle (there were no pelicans in western Pennsylvania where I was raised!) I was shocked!  It looked as if someone had shot the bird out of the sky or it had suffered a heart attack.  But in a brief moment, the goofy pelican bobbed around on the water’s surface and awkwardly flapped its long wings to rise above the water with a fish in its long beak.  Success!  But very strange.  Very awkward.  No grace.  Goofy, but effective. 

Since then every time I see these silly birds flop to the water for a fish I giggle.  They make me laugh. 

They are not so goofy today.  The picture below is one image among many showing the plight of pelicans in the Gulf because of the oil spill there.  I’m sure you have seen others.  

I am not laughing any more.

An easy search on the web will produce plenty of photos like this one — of pelicans, dolphins, marshland, adult birds, baby birds, turtles, you name it.  And not just the animals.  There are plenty of photos of frustrated workers and boat captains and hotel owners and others who will suffer loss of income to support their families.  It is not news to say that we ache about every dimension of this tragedy.

Not-So-Righteous Indignation

I am curious, though, about my indignation.  Why do I feel bad now?  To be honest, the oil spill will not affect me directly.  The thought crossed my mind that I might have to pay more for shrimp.  Wow.  

Here’s the kicker.  Not only will this not affect me directly, the prospect of such a disaster hardly bothered me before now. 

For how many years — while I was driving back and forth across the bay (enjoying the goofy pelicans), consuming much more than my share of gasoline every day — for how many years did I ignore the possiblity of such a disaster, the odds of which were being fueled by my over-consumption?  My indignation toward BP and other “drill,baby, drill” fanatics today should be tempered by my lack of indignation then — when I did not care, when I did not notice, when I was part of the problem.

I liken this guilt about my oil over-consumption to our concern regarding drug trafficking across the Mexico-US border. We blame our insecure or dangerous border, or those Mexican immigrants hired to carry the stuff when all the while such traffic is fueled by our own (mostly middle class) drug consumption here.  So, when it comes to the oil spill disaster, and my gasoline over-consumption, how righteous is my indignation today?

Let’s face it.  We got what we deserve.  Sure we can point fingers at our relatively unregulated industry, or at our blind pursuit of individual profits over common good — these are old accusations.  But we got what we deserve because all the while we (I) continue to consume energy resources in this country at a pace and proportion far exceeding what we really need in order to care for ourselves and support a growing economy.  Far exceeding.

When I am honest about this oil spill, my indignation no longer feels righteous.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

 [Check out the Ivanovo Daily Log 2010 for a closing reflection by Chris called "Looking Back".  (31 May 2010)]

“The whole universe in its wholeness more perfectly shares in and represents the divine goodness than any one creature by itself” – Thomas Aquinas (1224-1274), in Summa Theologica.  (Thanks to my friend Lee for sharing this quote!) 

A dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets, but one man is still trying to find the answers to life’s persistent questions……..Guy Noir, Private Eye¹.

I was Guy Noir that evening, sort of…trying to find the answers to life’s persistent questions.  The seminary cafeteria was dark that night.  The only sound was the hum of the ice cream cooler next to the cash register.  Most of the students were gone…deposited religiously in their dormitory room or apartment earnestly reading Calvin’s Institutes Of The Christian Religion or translating a passage from Nestle Aland’s Novum Testamentum Graece text.  I was not one of them.  At least not on this night.  On this night I was on a mission to find the answers to life’s persistent questions.

Such as, what is compassion?  Or, more to the point, is there a compassionate way to relate to creation? 

My instructions were clear.  The mysterious caller — my informant and supplier — said only this:  “Go to the cafeteria when it is dark, when the only sound you hear is the hum of the ice cream cooler next to the cash register.  Wait for me there. ”  

OK.  I’m here.  Waiting.  I hear a slight cough (not the ice cream cooler).  A figure emerges from the shadows.  In a smooth, silent motion he (I think it was a he) glides next to me extending his gloved hand outward.  He is holding the book.  Without a word or glance from under the fedora — for a moment I was sure it was Humphrey Bogart, but wrong decade, wrong movie – the book seems to appear in my hands with the same smooth motion that the fedora dude disappears. 

Really, I wanted to ask Sam to play it again.  Sam wasn’t there.

In only a few pages I was back in my rusty VW bug clutching the book.  I was nervous.  Had I been caught with this paperback bit of contraband surely I would receive a severe glare or two, possibly even a direct question.  “Why are you reading Matthew Fox?”  The shame might have been too much for me to bear.²    

Not Just Any Book, A Book By Matthew Fox

A few of my closest friends had recommended this book because the author said things boldly, regardless of the political correctness of the day (that day, that place)³

So, what’s the big deal?  Its a book written by Matthew Fox. 

Not just any book.  Then or now.  Granted, Matthew Fox has tended over the years to annoy his colleagues and supervisors with his controversial and unconventional view of things.  He wrote of compassion as a spirituality not a religion.  He wrote of basic things, ideas that I had come to believe were the ideas Jesus spoke about.  He wrote as if we should assume that as created beings, we are connected to the rest of creation.  Sound good to me.  So, what’s the big deal?  I wondered.

Well, in those days and these days it is sometimes difficult to convince others of a compelling theological argument for the Church to show compassion toward creation.  We own it, after all.  We dominate it, after all.  Compassion, for creation?  Huh?  Creation is ours to control and use, for our consumption, for our need and enjoyment. 

Compassion, one would think, does not fit into a worldview that says we humans are dominant, owners of the natural world around us.  Creation is ours to use as needed.  And so, compassion is not a word we need when talking about creation.  …Really?

Those were the days.  For me, at least.  I was learning and growing too slowly.  I had not yet begun to integrate my thoughts.  I graduated with a B.S. in environmental resource management, and then I changed careers to pursue a masters in theology.  Only now do I understand the connection.  There was not to be a change, only a reconnection for me between the natural environment and theology.

Cooperation, Rather Than Competition, May Be The More Basic Rule Of The Universe

Matthew Fox began to teach me.  Only later did I understand and learn.  We are connected.  As a Methodist I understand ”connection” as the interdependent relationship between me and all other Christians, between my congregation and all other congregations. 

As a human, Fox explains, we are connected to other humans for sure, but also to creation.  “The awareness in biology,” Fox writes, “is the awareness of interdependence…we are not just made up, as we had always supposed, of successively enriched packets of our own parts.  We are shared, rented, occupied…our interdependence is exactly that — a dependence among one another.”

I am connected to the natural processes and forces of God’s natural, created world.  Light, soil, air, warmth, sunshine, food, nutrients.  I depend upon creation.  Creation also depends upon me.  The recent and ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is sadly becoming more evidence of our dependence upon creation, and creation’s dependence upon humans. 

A recognized interdependence between humanity and creation leads naturally to an awareness that another “dimension to biology and compassion is the movement away from the ruggedness implied in the term ‘rugged individualism.’  The presumption that life is at war and that therefore competition is a necessary and indeed compulsive dimension to living simply does not obtain as we once thought it did under a simplistic interpretation of Darwin’s survival of the fittest formula.  Cooperation, rather than competition, may be the more basic rule of the universe.” (Fox, p.154)

OK.  Thanks to the fedora dude.  Perhaps I am discovering one of the answers to life’s persistent questions: Does compassion matter when we consider creation?  Yes.  Because we are interdependent — with one another, and with creation.  We are intimately bound to the life forces and rhythms of our natural environment.  And so, when we care for creation, creation cares for us.  …When we cooperate.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. This is the opening line of most Guy Noir scripts on Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion radio show.  Find it at http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/ 
2. This depiction of events is only partly true.  OK, only a little bit true.  Well, not at all true….but the emotional intensity is close to true, sort of, at least for me.
3. The book is called A Spirituality Named Compassion And The Healing Of The Global Village, Humpty Dumpty And Us by Matthew Fox (1979).  Minneapolis: Winston Press.

[Check out the Ivanovo Daily Log 2010 for fresh news about the orphan care mission team in Ivanovo, Russia!  They are home!  ...or driving toward home.  See the short post...but more to come. (30 May 2010)] 

We love big.  Not just in Texas, everywhere.  Even if it starts small, we want it to grow big.  We tend to super-size everything. ¹   We like  big meals, big houses, big yards, big economies, big churches.  If its small, we wonder, “What’s wrong with it?”

Not so in Guthrie, Oklahoma.  I was delighted to read Joey Butler’s article about the youth group at West Guthrie United Methodist Church.² .  Three members.

Three?  Not to worry.  This youth group is small, but effective.  They don’t seem to realize they are too small to make a huge difference.  Someone forgot to tell them they can’t do what they do.  They are only a small youth group…barely enough of them to call it a group!  But this ambitious team has raised money for several charities, helped elderly members with cleaning and errands, hosted church suppers and children’s ministries, purchased hundreds of malaria nets for Africa, raised over $500 to send care boxes for soldiers, participated in VBS, and helped narrate the children’s Christmas program.  And more.

How does such a small group do so much?  Their adult sponsor believes its their “extraordinary commitment to help others.”  In these days when we are sadly seduced to assume bigger is better, and our attraction to “mega”  overshadows our pursuit of effectiveness, we sometimes miss the little examples of extraordinary goodness happening all around us. 

In fact, we ought to be concerned about our attraction to “mega”.  There is a growing body of data suggesting that as a church increases in membership, the proportion of members actively engaged in ministry decreases.  Have we forgotten about making disciples?  The youth group in Guthrie Oklahoma remembers.   This three member group has a 100 percent participation rate.  They have heart.  They are small…but effective.

Bravo to the West Guthrie, Oklahoma youth group for reminding us that small is beautiful³ and effective!

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. I suppose there is now one exception.  After a generation or longer of experimenting, we’ve decided big cars aren’t so cool.
2. Butler, Joey. Small youth group makes a huge difference. Virginia United Methodist Advocate, May 2010, p.23, courtesy United Methodist Communications
3. I couldn’t resist the link to economist E.F. Schumacher’s 1973 book, Small Is Beautiful (New York: Harper & Row Publishers)

[Check out the Ivanovo Daily Log 2010 for fresh news about the orphan care mission team in Ivanovo, Russia!  Just posted Tuesday morning -- a new update from Chris (25 May 2010)] 

We’ve been thinking about mission a lot around here.  Our friend Chris is in Russia to re-connect with the orphan graduates.  We are in the midst of a Mission Celebration (www.missioncelebration.com) this weekend.  Every United Methodist church in our District will enjoy a special presentation by a mission interpreter — a fancy name for someone – regular folk or clergy folk – who has gone somewhere for mission and is willing to talk about it.  My own congregation is also gearing up for Vacation Bible School for the children in our community in June.  In July, we’ll be sending a team to Summers County, West Virginia to work with Appalachia Service Project (www.asphome.org) to do house repairs for families who can’t afford to do it themselves.  All cool stuff.

Yes, we’ve been thinking about mission a lot around here — locally, regionally, and globally.  But I wonder, why do we go?  Why do we do all this stuff?  Maybe I am asking too many questions.  Just go.  Don’t think about it, just go.  Well, that’s OK if we have unlimited resources…but we don’t.  So we should wonder, we should ask: Why do we go?

Guilt?

Do we go because we would feel guilty if we didn’t go?  I suppose there could be worse motivations for helping someone.  I hope, though, that our mission motivation is a bit more constructive.

Arrogance?

I wonder — now I’m meddling – do we go because we think we are bringing Jesus to the ones we help, and if we don’t go Jesus won’t be there?  Let’s be honest – sometimes, for some of us, we assume that if we don’t go, if we are not there, then those we seek to help will not see Jesus?  As if Jesus needs me to carry him there (…in a box, in my back pocket)?  …I’m not sure we would ever admit such a claim aloud. 

I think this is closer to the truth:  God is huge (too big for my little box), and God does not need to be carried anywhere.

There is a secular version of this motivation.  We might call it altruistic arrogance: If we don’t give the money or supplies or time, then the recipients will surely suffer — as if we are the only ones who have anything to give.  Or, my contribution is the only one that will be effective.  This is arrogance, whether we are talking about faith-based mission or secular  philanthropy.

I Want To Be Wherever God Is Doing Amazing Things     

Consider a different motivation.  When I was a little kid I hated to go to bed early because I was sure I’d miss out on something exciting.  I hated to miss out on the exciting things that might happen when I was asleep.  I gave my mother fits because I never wanted to go to bed! 

I wonder if I could have the same motivation today when I consider a mission opportunity.  I want to be wherever God is doing amazing things.  I don’t want to miss anything! 

Frankly, I need to be reminded that God will do amazing things in this world with or without me.  God’s love is there whether I am or not!  God is present long before I get there with my meager gifts and inflated self-perception.

I like this motivation for mission.  I want to be where the action is!  I want to be wherever God is doing amazing things around the neighborhood, across the state, or across the globe.  I don’t want to miss out.  And if I am lucky, if I am willing to go and be present, God might even use me to accomplish something amazing.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

This is not much of an article…but an opportunity to share some excitement about what is about to happen this week.  Starting Thursday, May 20, one of our orphan care ministry members, Chris, is travelling with the Centreville United Methodist Church (Centreville, Virginia) mission team to Ivanovo, Russia. 

This is huge for us because Chris will be able to re-connect with our Petrovsky graduates, like an ambassador.  He can carry gifts and money – that’s the easy part — but he can also carry love, and his presence.  Being there is enormous.  The mission is incarnational.  Chris’ physical presence will be evidence of our continued love for the young adult orphans.  His presence will be proof that we have not forgotten them, proof that we want to stay connected with them, that they will not be alone….ever.  He will be evidence of incarnational love.  Chris will be there. 

This is tough for me, though.  Incarnational ministry is a fabulous and biblical idea…but this time, this year, I am trusting in Chris’ incarnational presence for me.  Instead of me.   We have loved them for so long.  And now, I must trust that they will trust the one we send.  Chris is a safe bet.  Chris knows them.  This is Chris’ third visit.  The orphan graduates will recognize him and welcome him. 

Our Journey Together, Regardless Of Who Goes

This is our journey.  It is most important that someone, anyone goes.  Anyone can help show the orphan graduates that we have not forgotten.  While the mission team is small this year, they come from a large faith community.  Chris, and the three members from Centreville UMC, represent an entire faith community the extends from Centreville UMC in northern Virginia to Brosville UMC in southern Virginia, and even to Franktown UMC on the Eastern Shore and the other churches there who have traveled often to see the Petrovsky orphans and the graduates in Ivanovo.

Starting on Thursday (we hope), we will post daily updates on the Ivanovo Daily Log 2010 page.  We will hear from Chris and the other team members about their daily activities, and especially about our young orphan graduate friends.  We ask for your prayers and encouragement, and your continued interest in these precious young adults who are not forgotten.

[To learn more about the ministries of Centreville United Methodist Church see http://www.centreville-umc.org/.  To learn more about the ministries of Franktown United Methodist Church see http://www.franktownumc.org/ .  To learn more about the ministries of Brosville united Methodist Church see http://brosvillemethodistchurch.webs.com/ .  Thanks! ]

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

I’m a bit miffed that nobody asked (whine, whine, whine). 

In my last article on Creation Care I reported that Costa Rica scored the highest on the New Economics Foundation’s most recent Happy Planet Index.¹  

Nobody asked the obvious next questions.  Is anyone curious which country scored the second highest, or where on the list the United States was ranked?  (Perhaps I am avoiding the more painful point that nobody read the article.  Am I in denial?)

You recall that the Happy Planet Index is a quality of life measure developed by the New Economics Foundation (not at all like the familiar Gross Domestic Product or GDP) that accounts for a nation’s 1) average life expectancy, 2) average life satisfaction, and 3) ecological footprint.  A nation’s ecological footprint is a measure of the amount of resources used per person in the country.  For details about these measures, read the report found at http://www.happyplanetindex.org/ .  It is quite interesting and very well-written.²  

A Measure Of A Nation’s Ecological Efficiency

The Happy Planet Index is a fresh approach to measuring quality of life because it does not overemphasize wealth or production (a weakness, I think, in our over-used GDP measure), plus it includes the extent to which a nation consumes more than its per capita share of the earth’s resources.  In short, the Happy Planet Index is a measure of nation’s ecological efficiency:  Units of well-being delivered for the population per unit of environmental impact by the population.  I like it.

Perhaps you are not surprised to hear that wealthier nations scored fairly high on life expectancy and life satisfaction.³  There are exceptions, of course.  Four of the 35 countries with life expectancies over 77 years also reported a GDP per capita of less than $20,000.  Three of these four nations are in Latin America….hm. 

Costa Rica, for example, with a relatively high life expectancy of 78.5 years and GDP per capita of only $10,180 (one-fourth the US GDP per capita) scored the highest of all nations by a wide margin on the life satisfaction scale.  What’s in their water?  …I think it’s because they take afternoon naps. 

This much is clear.  Wealthier nations (with higher GDPs) tend to score lower on the ecological footprint scale (meaning their environmental impact is greater).  This is no surprise since wealthier nations tend to consume on a per capita basis more than their fair share of the earth’s resources.  With our money we buy and consume more stuff. 

This is a good time to remind ourselves how the Happy Planet index is calculated.  The Happy Planet Index is a measure of efficiency, asking this question:  On average, how many units of well-being are delivered for the population per unit of environmental impact caused by the population?

The highest scores on the overall Happy Planet Index are found among Latin American nations, followed closely by South American and Southeast Asian nations.  The top three highest scoring nations overall are Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica.  The United States ranked 114 out of the 143 nations on the Happy Planet Index.

I Think An Afternoon Nap Is A Means Of Grace 

Consider the top three.  What’s up with this tiny country in Central America and the two Caribbean island nations?  What makes them different?  I have a theory.  Naps.  Originating in Spain (we think), the traditional siesta is an early afternoon nap designed to lower one’s exposure the sun’s heat at its most intense time of the day.  The practice of an afternoon siesta is more common, therefore, in hotter climates, like in Latin American and the Caribbean.

I am particularly fond of afternoon naps, so I’m a bit biased as we consider the source of Latin America’s level of life satisfaction.  But life satisfaction is only one part of the Happy Planet equation.  So, experts are still trying to sift through the data to understand why Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Jamaica are the three highest scoring nations on the Happy Planet Index, which is based on a formula including three measures: life expectancy, life satisfaction, and ecological footprint.  

A Less Materialistic Culture?

Our top three are not the wealthiest nations as measured by the traditional GDP.  They are not the largest nations.  Is the answer found in their ecological footprint score?  Some experts, including the New Economics  Foundation,  are suggesting that some nations seem to have a culture that is naturally and historically less materialistic. 

If it’s true that our top three nations are less materialistic culturally, it would explain their better scores on the ecological footprint scale.  But it begs the next question. Why does one nation have a less materialistic culture compared to another nation? It’s a complicated issue, of course.

The Not-So-Fancy Way To Be A Happy Planet:  Take More Naps

I think afternoon naps are still the answer.  Think about this.  When I am taking an afternoon I am not eating.  During a nap I am consuming very little…a bit of air, some electricity perhaps….so my ecological footprint is fairly low during a nap.  When I take an afternoon nap I am less stressed, and probably healthier.  Maybe afternoon naps will help me live longer. 

This isn’t very scientific sounding, is it?  This isn’t very technical.  But I like it.  Here’s my theory — afternoon naps will improve our score on the Happy Planet Index.  Of course, I’m biased.  I love my afternoon naps.  For me, naps are like a bit of God’s grace, a surprise gift…but it just might help the planet too!

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. For a summary of the Happy Planet Index research process and to download a full report, go to http://www.happyplanetindex.org/ .
2. Here’s a quickie summary of how the index is calculated: A nation’s scores on life expectancy and life satisfaction are combined into a measure of well-being which is compared in a ratio to the nation’s score on ecological footprint.  A good well-being score is a higher score; a good ecological footprint score is a lower score.  The result is an efficiency measure:  Units of well-being delivered for the population per unit of environmental impact by the population.  A couple of statistical constants are included to prevent any of the three measures from being overly dominant in the final score. 
3. The link between wealth and life satisfaction is less obvious, however.  A thirdof the 35 countries scoring  highest on life satisfaction also reported a GDP per capita of less than $20,000.  I am reminded of what we learned about the United States from David Myer’s book, American Paradox: Spiritual Hunger In An Age Of Plenty…wealth does not satisfy us. See the citation for David’s book in Cool Books. 

[This is the second part of a developing series on Creation Care.  Check out the first article and its emphasis on a few basic theological ideas, Awesome Earth, Part I . ]

Many of us are watching helplessly as the oil creeps closer and closer to the tender estuaries along the Gulf Coast near New Orleans.  Why don’t we stop it?  Why did it happen?  Who is to blame?  How can we keep it from happening again?  What will happen to the complex and beautiful ecosystem?

Who Can I Blame?

There is a natural tendency at times like this to point a finger at someone, like the “drill, baby, drill” advocates who surely (we say to ourselves) must be responsible for that oil rig.  But let’s be honest.  Sarah Palin and her friends did not put the rig in the Gulf. 

So, let’s slow down. Its too easy to blame the entire petroleum industry for one spill, much like its too easy to blame the entire coal industry for not protecting the miners in West Virginia.  Pointing to isolated examples of dysfunction will not solve our systemic, long-term problems.

We’ve Got Problems

Of course (…in my  view) there are systemic problems.  Of course (in my view) when it comes to any advances in energy resource management there will be human error and technological failure.  Of course (..in my view) we need to change the way we live or we will slowly kill the planet.  We would be insane to ignore what’s going on around us.  What’s that definition of insanity….doing things the same way and expecting the same results?

Here is what I think (…it’s a place to start the conversation):  If we hope to make systemic, long-term improvements in the way the human community interacts with our natural environment we need to take a serious look at patterns of human consumption. 

This much we know.  We Americans consume more than our fair share of the earth’s energy resources (In part, though, to produce more than our fair share of the world’s goods and services, which everyone seems to enjoy around the world without much complaint.)¹  

Careful.  I need to respond with some integrity.  What about my own pattern of consumption?  Before I offer my typically “green” rebuttal to the obvious examples of dysfunction in the news lately, I need to consider how much plastic I toss in the trash every week (because I am too lazy to do otherwise), and how much fuel I burn in my vehicles every week (because I am too lazy to conserve.), and how much electricity I waste in my house (because I don’t want to be bothered when I want more light or cooler air). 

My consumption habits (and yours, I suspect) are part of the problem.  Consumption rocks! ²  We could blame the suppliers, but we are in cohoots – the suppliers would not have customers and profit if we did not demand so much and consume so much.

Do I Have The Right To Consume Anything, Anytime, Anywhere? 

I know…fiscal conservatives might rise up and shout back — wait!  Do not criticize consumption.  We need it!  Let the market be free!  Consumption (or demand) is sacred.  Do not threaten the holiness of demand in our supply-and-demand religion. 

Sometimes I wonder, though, if the recent trend to protect individual liberties (check out the Tea Party mantra) is actually a veiled preservation of my right to consume whatever I want, as much as I want, whenever I want it, regardless of the consequences.  Just leave me alone and let me buy and own whatever I want. ³   

But consider this (you’ve heard this before):  Can we enjoy personal freedoms without personal responsibilities?  I add this qualifier question:  Is it possible that personal responsibility is intimately linked to a responsibility to the common good? 

I wonder if the resistance to protecting our environment is rooted in a more fundamental resistance to the notion that as humans, we are connected — by land, by air, by water.  Didn’t Iceland’s volcanic eruption teach us anything about our natural connected-ness?  So consider this question: To the extent I recognize that humans are connected across the globe, how much more must I recognize my need to set aside some individual freedoms in favor of our common (connected) good? 

Let’s Measure Ourselves Differently  

I happen to agree with the management expert who said “what gets measured gets done.”  And so I wonder about the efficacy of our national productivity and quality measures.  Our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is one measure that concerns me.  Our GDP is the market value of goods and services made within the borders of our country in a year.  We tend to be satisfied when this number increases. 

But check this out.  The goods and services used to calculate our GDP include lots of different things — like the money we spend to contain and clean up the oil spill, and the money we spend on our growing prison population, and the money we spend to treat medical conditions associated with obesity, to name a few.  

Not All Growth Is Good Growth.  Not All Consumption Is Good Consumption.  

The GDP is sometimes used to assess a country’s standard of living (or quality of life?) suggesting that the higher our GDP, the higher our standard of living.  But lately, some economists have begun to wonder if everything we include in a growing GDP actually contributes to an increased quality of life.  Surely, emergency room spending associated with injuries in a gang fight, or spending by the Coast guard to clean up the oil spill are not evidence of a higher quality of life.   

In short, maybe we should consider: Not all growth is good growth.  Not all consumption is good consumption.  Perhaps, some of my consumption actually hurts me (and you) and contributes to a lower quality of life for my family or community, or for the natural environment.  So, if we really want to know how we are doing, maybe we need to measure ourselves differently. 

One example of a different way to measure our country is the Happy Planet Index⁴ .  Did you know, according to the Happy Planet Index’s latest figures, that Costa Rica is the happiest nation of all?  This tiny country in Central America scored the highest of all 143 countries in the world, from data collected in 2005. 

The Happy Planet Index measures a nation’s overall quality of life in three ways: 

• life expectancy of its people,
• life satisfaction of its people, and 
• the country’s ecological footprint or impact. 

The Happy Planet Index explicitly includes the impact of a country’s human population on the natural environment, and so I am intrigued by this measure.  I admit this is a new measure, but it is one worth studying and watching over the coming years.  And it is especially relevant for this discussion because it links a community’s lifespan and satisfaction and its eco-imprint to the quality of life of a nation overall.

I Wonder If I would Be Happier If I Consumed Less…

Its good for me to consider these things.  Maybe I would be more satisfied with life if I consumed less.  Maybe I would live longer if I consumed less.  And maybe I would do less damage to the beautiful and complex natural world around me if I consumed less.  This could become the Happy Jeff Index.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. Roughly, the US is home to about 5 percent of the world’s population and we are responsible for about 25 percent of the world’s total energy consumption.
2. This is similar to the argument that suggests we ought not blame the Mexican drug cartels for shipping their drugs north to the US if we don’t bother doing anything about our US drug consumption problem.
3. See my previous article Awesome Earth, Part I for my theological view of ownership.
4. This is a relatively new measure being developed by the New Economics Foundation in Great Britain: http://www.happyplanetindex.org/ .  Another social progressive measure is the Genuine Progress Indicator developed by Re-Defining Progress in Oakland, California: http://www.rprogress.org/sustainability_indicators/genuine_progress_indicator.htm .  These indices and others are based on the general principle that not all growth is good growth, and that sometimes, smaller is better.  Some of the early ideas motivating today’s new economic measures were explored by an innovative economist E.F. Schumacher (1973) in his book Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered.  New York: Harper & Row Publishers .  

The following is the text of a letter I submitted to three local newspapers in southern Virginia — gulp.  I went public.  Will I lose my job?  Will I lose my friends (if I had any…)? 

None of the papers have published the letter yet — and I admit it is a bit too long for a local paper.  Here it is for your edification (or heartburn).  These are not new ideas, but a summary of a few key points I have shared elsewhere.  For more on this topic, see my articles in the Immigration Reform category to the right.  

Let me know what you think.  If you really want to see the articles published (because you care about immigration reform, or you want me to lose my job … or friends), contact the Roanoke Times, Martinsville Bulletin, and Danville Register and Bee, all in southwest Virginia.  Ask them to print it!

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Comprehensive immigration reform makes perfect sense.  Arizona’s behavior is like a canary’s warning to the rest of us.  “We will not be like them!”

Immigration reform makes sense biblically.  As a faith leader in my community I am convinced we need to do something to fix the broken immigration system now in place. 

As we consider potential legislation for immigration reform, several key issues must be considered:

• First, from a biblical perspective, I stand in a long line of religious folks who believe what the Bible says about God’s special concern for the most vulnerable among us.  Most of our nation’s immigrants come to us looking for hope and safety.  How we treat them is a decidedly biblical issue.  Most followers of Jesus agree that we should love them, welcome them, and care for them. 
• Second, I believe we need a rational and humane approach to securing our nation’s borders.  Security is a good thing.  Comprehensive immigration reform must address our border issue.  Let’s agree, most immigrants are good people.  But some immigrants do seek to harm us and enter our country for illegal purposes.  There must be a rational and humane way to secure our borders so that those seeking to enter for work and safety are welcomed, while those seeking to enter for illegal purposes are stopped.
• Third, let’s be reasonable about how to deal with the close to 12 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S.  We could spend billions of dollars to hunt them down for deportation.  Raids make good evening news, but they are not very effective, and cost a ton of money.  Also, since a large portion of our undocumented immigrants have been here for many years, deporting them tends to split families, leaving behind millions of parentless children (who are legal residents because they were born here).  Good policy should not create more orphans.  If we care about families, we need a better way – a legal pathway to becoming a U.S. citizen.
• Fourth, let’s be reasonable about making it easier for potential workers to enter our country safely and legally.  The current system is so restrictive that an enormous and dangerous underground illegal system of  exploitation exists.  Immigration fueled by clandestine illegal operations encourages human trafficking and unsafe workplace conditions.  The truth is, even with our difficult recession and employment problems here, our economy needs immigrant labor, so let’s help them to help us, legally.

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© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

Sometimes “rule of law” rhetoric is a smokescreen to cover our unwillingness to tackle tough issues in the murky middle. 

For example, along with the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S., there are about 4 million children in those immigrant families who were born here.  In Who Are These Kids? I reported that nearly half (47 percent) of the undocumented immigrant households in the US consist of couples with children. ¹  These children are citizens, even though they are children of undocumented immigrants.  When Arizona’ s wingnuts have their way and round up their illegal immigrants, who will take care of the children left behind? 

Maybe What’s Happening In Arizona Is A Good Thing

Let’s not worry about Arizona.  Perhaps what’s going on there is a good thing in the long run.  I predict their extreme wignutty rhetoric will awaken rational, sensible folks among us who are willing to do hard (compassionate?) work and tackle this tough issue in a reasonable fashion.  The murky middle is not for the weak.  The murky middle is not a place for wingnut rhetoric.   

Perhaps Arizona helps us see what we might become — our dark side.  Arizona’s behavior might alert other more reasonable folks to say, “Hey, I don’t want to become like them.  I am not that way.  We are not that way.”    

Trail Of Dreams

Not every child in an undocumented immigrant household is a citizen.  Some of these children – estimated at about 65,000 today — were brought here at a young age and yet today are still undocumented because their parents are undocumented.  When they arrived, many were enrolled in school and eventually graduated, hoping for a productive future in this country in college or in military service.  Because of our current laws, they face the prospect of having no where to go.  Without legal status they are unable to enter military service or enter a college as residents of the state in which they live.       

For a decade, we have simply ignored the issue.  No more.  On January 1, four immigrant students left Miami, Florida for a four month-long journey to Washington, DC – on foot. These brave students are walking the Trail of Dreams in order to unite support for rational immigration reform.  They highlight the need for humane reform, especially for the children of undocumented immigrants.   

You can read about them in their daily blog: http://trail2010.org/ ² .  In March 2010 they were in Georgia and were confronted by a hostile KKK rally.  Today, in late April 2010 they are in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, only a few days from their destination.  

Carlos, Gaby, Felipe and Juan tell their stories as they march toward Washington and toward the hope of an immigration system that keeps families together.  They hope to draw attention to their desire for full citizenship in the country they consider home.  They want a chance to go to college or enter military service. ³ .  They want a home.  They want a future.

Listen to what they say:

“From our first steps in Miami, Carlos would continuously proclaim: ‘One step closer to DC, one step closer to DC….’ After a few minutes his statement would become ridiculously annoying but now when I look back I see that he was right. Every step we took, it moved us forward towards our objective. The question that remains unanswered is whether our leaders in DC will have the same courage we had when we departed. Will they shy away from their responsibility or face this challenge? While many walk half way, we walked the whole way.” – Felipe

“I remember Felipe breaking down next to me in Albany, GA as he heard 10 year old Oscar plead President Obama, in front of news cameras, to keep his parents from getting deported … I remember the undocumented student in Raleigh, North Carolina, who was deeply inspired by our journey.  For her, words were not enough to express how committed she felt to the movement.  – Carlos

In Who Are These Kids? I wrote that a policy that blindly removes undocumented immigrants from their homes and workplaces will likely split families.  My hunch (note the sarcasm) is that it’s not a good idea to develop a policy that creates more single-parent families, or worse, more orphans.

At Least For The Children

For a moment, for the sake of good conversation…at least for the children… let’s try to set aside a knee-jerk emotion that provokes us to “hunt down all illegal immigrants and deport ‘em”.  For this conversation, let’s at least wonder together, let’s be open to doubt.  Let’s doubt our assumptions just long enough to allow for a more humane treatment of our children and their families. ⁴   

For the children, let’s consider that our lingering resistance to comprehensive immigration reform might need to be questioned.  Instead of knee-jerk, wingnut extremism that is rooted in fear, let’s consider a careful, comprehensive approach for change that tackles this tough issue in the middle.  Let’s get a bit closer to a rational policy that cares at least for our children.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, Ph.D (2010).

1. An undocumented immigrant household is defined as having at least one undocumented immigrant living there, usually an adult.  See the Kids Count Data Center of the Annie Casey Foundation, http://datacenter.kidscount.org, or the Pew Center’s 2009 report on unauthorized immigrant families, http://pewhispanic.org/reports/report.php?ReportID=107.
2. For details about Trail Of Dreams and other comprehensive immigration reform issues, see http://reformimmigrationforamerica.org/ 
3. One response to this special problem has been the submission of a bi-artisan bill called the DREAM Act, which has yet to be debated and brought to a vote in Congress.  For details about the provisions of this bill and its qualifying requirements see http://dreamact.info/ 
4. Doubt is especially good for this conversation…I think.  See my articles on doubt and a good conversation in the Conversation category to the right.  Try this one for example: Doubt Is Good, Certainty Is Bad, I Think .

There.  I’ve already ruined it.  Part I…?  I know.  Sorry.  It sounds a bit scripted and structured, but I am so sure there will be more.  This is a huge topic and we’ll never talk about everything in one article.

Earth Day Is Next Week

Earth Day is next week, Thursday, April 22¹ .  I remember the first time I became openly aware that Earth Day existed.  I was living in Philadelphia at the time and wandered onto an Earth Day Celebration in Fairmount Park.  I enjoyed lots of information about the environment, re-cycling, protecting endangered species, and opportunities to join the “cause” by signing up with this or that organization.  There was plenty of good food, but not a single Styrofoam cup to be found!

Earth Day was first envisioned by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin when he announced his idea for a nationwide teach-in day on the environment in 1969.  One thing led to another and by 1970 Earth Day was born.  We celebrate Earth Day every year on April 22, like Earth Day’s birth day.  It rhymes! 

Our First Environmentalist Was A Theologian!

Some think this date was chosen because it is supposed to be the birth date of the world’s first environmentalist, St. Francis of Assisi.  Senator Nelson said he wanted the celebration to be scheduled sometime during this particular week in the year because college campuses are still in session and the big Easter/Passover services are over.  Who knows why the date was selected.  I like the connection between St. Francis and Earth Day.  Our first environmentalist was a theologian!

I often wonder about the theological implications of the environmental movement.  How should the Church engage on this issue?  Like any other advocacy issue there are usually two, compassionate, sides to the debate.  One can care deeply about the plight of farmers trying to eek out a living with a dwindling water supply while also caring deeply about an endangered species that might be threatened if we divert water for the farmer.  Compassion often has two sides…or more!

Awesome

My approach to Earth Day and the environmental movement is rather simple.  So far.  Awe.  This is where I start.

Awe.  When I look around, when I finally notice, when I “stop to smell the roses” I am in awe about the complexity and beauty of Creation.  I know.  As soon as I say “creation” I place myself in the God-believing camp, and not in the other camp of folks who choose to believe our earth came into existence by some other means.  For now, though, let’s agree that regardless of how the earth was formed, it is awesome! 

Our earth and its contents and dynamics are complex and beautiful.  When I stop long enough to notice, I am in awe.  OK, its also true for me that in my next breath I say “thank you God for this beautiful and complex creation.”

Our Earth Is A Gift

Also, regardless of how Earth was formed, it is a gift to us.  It is a treasure that we cannot possibly control or own or hoard for ourselves.  It is a gift we share equally across all nations and classes and races and generations.  Unfortunately, in our country perhaps more than anywhere else, we have come to assume that owning a few acres of land means controlling it.  Silly notion.  Our Earth — every piece of it — whether we carry a legal document suggesting ownership or not — our Earth is a gift (from God in my view).  Perhaps we can say that the legal document gives us special rights and responsibilities as a borrower.  We might consider our need for a more healthy balance between rights and responsibilities when it comes to land we “own”.

Our Earth is a gift that must not be wasted or abused or ignored.  I forget this sometimes.  Too often I am overly absorbed by my own stuff that I forget the everyday choices I make (usually about consumption) can abuse or waste the Gift. 

So, for me, I need to return to the fundamentals of caring for the Earth.  No policy suggestions here (yet), no radical theological claims (yet).  Just awe.  Our Earth is a complex and beautiful gift for me to enjoy, and when I slow down long enough to notice I am in awe, and I must care!

This time of year we are blessed to watch the goldfinches turning bright yellow.  And we are blessed to watch plants and trees only weeks ago dormant now budding and blooming delightfully into beautiful greens and every color of blossom.  And my worms are happy.  I haven’t forgotten my worms, beautiful in their own way, certainly complex and full of surprises theologically.            

So, let’s keep it simple for now.  Prepare for awe!  Earth Day is next week, April 22.  Let’s slow down, notice, and enjoy our awesome gift – Earth.

© Copyright by Jeffrey Y. Harlow, PhD (2010).

1. Not to be confused with it’s near neighbor in April on the 20th, or “420″ to those in-the-know, especially those teenagers in San Rafael, California in 1971!