PUBLIC Service Announcement

I have officially decided that I like anything with the word “public” in it.

And, while I’m pretty sure my rePUBLICan readers may officially label me a democrat for my love of all things PUBLIC (for the record – I am a registered “independent”)… I am willing to take that risk and BEG that they hear me out. Lets start with a few of the basics:

PUBLIC transportation simply cannot be beat – it saves me an insane amount of money, and as a 25-year-old without a driver’s license (go ahead and mock me with laughter… I’m used to it) I don’t know how I would get from point-A to point-B without it.

PUBLIC schools get a bad rap these days. I, myself, was a private school girl; but after visiting an African nation where PUBLIC education is minimal at best (only provided through elementary school), you start to understand the value of a “free” education system that is [nearly] fully functional.

PUBLIC Theatre may be one of the coolest of the PUBLICs – where else can you see your neighbor in tights reciting Hamlet? (p.s. If you have an alternative answer to that, I would like to PUBLICally announce my concern)

National PUBLIC radio is my primary news source (this may be the moment where I have officially lost my rePUBLICan readers). And, beyond that, it is the broadcaster of hidden entertainment gems like Saturday morning’s “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell me!” (if you have yet to enjoy this program, PLEASE listen to it HERE asap!)

PUBLIC restrooms are notoriously disgusting... but then again, where would we be (or, more accurately, where would we pee) without them?

PBS (PUBLIC Broadcasting Service) is undisputedly loved. Because, lets face it, Mister Roger’s Neighborhood and Sesame Street make up for all the years of Barney and the hours upon hours of their Fundraising Drives.

Hey, I even don’t mind PUBLIC Enemy! I mean, what would the world be like without Flava Flav? Sure, there would be a lot less crappy reality dating shows, but we also would have never thought of using wall clocks as accessories… and thats not a world I care to imagine.

But, my absolute favorite has to be the PUBLIC library.

Have you been to these places? You sign up for a Library Card and you instantly have access to free books, movies, CD’s, internet access… you can even use $300+ online Rosetta Stone language curriculum for FREE (seriously! I’ve done it!). Every time I stop by one I am instantly mesmerized and wondering how it can all be FREE.

Of course, PUBLIC services have their drawbacks.

Trips to the PUBLIC library are often quite eventful. You may find yourself glancing over at the computer monitor next to yours, only to find the man at your side is silently scrolling through page after page of pornography (although, at least he was doing so silently, right?). On another visit, you may stumble into the restroom and find a homeless woman washing her hair in the sink. Perhaps you will suddenly find there are headphones on your head and be invited by the young man to your right to give feedback on the “sick beat” he recently laid and placed on his MySpace page. Or, upon checkout, you may just find out that you have $58.00 in library fines (which makes me wonder… is the library like Blockbuster? Are they in business because of late fees?).

Whatever may happen on your adventure (and, in case you were wondering, those ARE all things that have actually happened to me during library visits)… I can promise it will be worth the trip. Cause you can take PUBLIC transit down to the PUBLIC library while listening to a National PUBLIC Radio podcast so that you can get some books to help you research your next PUBLIC Theatre role!

And, that, my friends, deserves some PUBLICity.

Kids These Days...

Being the wife of a Youth Director (and, by default, a youth volunteer) certainly has its perks... and I'm not just talking about how I get to wear my chucks on a regular basis without being mocked by my peers (I was a punk at heart before it was trendy!). I get to keep my finger on the pulse of youth culture, because some of the people I spend the most time with are under the age of 18. And, even with an average of 10 years between us... you might be surprised at just how much we have in common, not to mention how much I've learned from them. For instance:

• I've learned that the human heart can survive the consumption of 5+ energy drinks within the span of 2 hours (although the inevitable caffeine crash leads to MAJOR grumpiness on the part of the consumer and all those in their company).


• I've learned that Edward Cullen (aka Rob Pattinson) is to 2009 what Jonathan Taylor Thomas (aka JTT) is to 1996. (P.S. Where is JTT now?!?!)


• I've learned that modern high schools are giving homework assignments that I seriously envy. I turned in 4 page book reports written in cursive pencil... these days you get an "A" for a rap video about Beavers that includes the lyrics, "Oh hot Jam, this is my Dam." When did teachers start appreciating creativity? (shout out to Maggie Morgans!)


• I've learned that dodge ball ALWAYS results in injury... and Red Rover should NEVER be played unless you are willing to lose a limb and possibly your life.


• I've learned what it means to "Ghost ride the Whip"... and why mothers are terrified that their children are trying it.
  
• I've learned that if you are on a retreat and come back from a leader's meeting early... you just might find teenage girls dancing around in costumes with their iPod (contraband, no less) blasting out Jonas Brothers tunes.
  

And thats really just the tip of the iceberg. Cause when you take the time to listen to what the younger generation has to say about faith, politics, culture, etc... (and I mean when they are REALLY talking here... not just when they are regurgitating what their parents or teachers have said) They have some incredible insights and ideas.

But, there are some things out of balance within youth culture today.

I could spend some serious time analyzing how much technology has changed the life of a teenager. The mass quantities of entertainment they consume is OUTRAGEOUS, and (speaking in MAJOR generalities here) its beginning to take a toll on how they relate to the real world (And, if your mind conjured up images of MTV's reality series there... its affected you too!). Remember the days of your mom picking up the phone to interrupt your call with a friend because she needed the phone? LONG GONE thanks to cell phones, text, facebooking, and IM. Movies that would have been just popular before.... now CONSUME their lives with ads everywhere, celebrity appearances, YouTube posts, Facebook quizzes ("Which Harry Potter Character are You?" - Um, what?!), Music videos, Award shows, etc.

Which brings me back to the Twilight MADNESS that currently exists in our culture. Now, I'm not immune (see my "Confession" post).... but I think we are just beginning to see how much the Twilight media blitz has taken hold of the brains of our teenage population...

During a late Spring youth group, Jake brought an interesting question to the table:

"Let's say you found out you were dying right now. You only had enough time to write ONE LETTER. Who would you write to and what would you say?"

Wowsa. This one had even me tripped up for a second. Jake pressed for some answers... but it seemed everyone was stumped. After sharing that he, himself would write to his wife (you're darn right you would!) we finally started to hear some answers trickle out...

Some were predictable: "I guess I'd write to my parents and tell them thank you." A reasonable enough answer... I couldn't help but wonder how that letter would go -- Dear Ma & Pa, Thanks for birthing me so I could live these few short years. Oh yeah... and thanks for always buying me Cool Ranch Doritos. Peace out.

Some were not so predictable: "I'd write to [insert Pokemon character here] and ask him to come save me." Yeah... references to Pokemon seem to come up a lot in youth group. Jake and I have taken to responding as if Pokemon actually exists. I'm pretty sure Jake said something like, "No. Not even Pokemon can save you. You are dying."

And, one answer in particular has puzzled and amused me ever since. So thoughtfully, one girl raised her hand and gave us this little gem of an answer (in all sincerity, mind you) --

"I would write a letter to my favorite author of fiction, Stephanie Meyer. And, I would tell her how much I loved her books and how much they changed my life and just how great they are."

Just in case you don't know... Stephanie Meyer is the author of the Twilight series. Jake instantly looked at me with "I told you those books are ridiculous" written all over his face... and nearly all of us couldn't help but laugh. But she DID NOT back down. She was convinced that this would be the most important thing she could say in her final hours on earth.

Which, of course, has me wondering how our youth (even if only a few of them) could have their priorities so confused. But in a world that bombards them with media, entertainment, and trends while at the same time building up technology walls that allow us to have "relationships" without ever needing to speak face-to-face (or, really, even SPEAK at all) -- why should I be surprised? I probably know less than 100 of my 352 facebook friends better than I know the fictional Edward Cullen. I mean, honestly! I may read their status updates, but I certainly haven't (and probably wouldn't) read 4 books about their life!

So, I guess the question at the end of the day is: Who WOULD you write your final letter to? Cause if we measured our love for people or the impact they had on our lives by the amount of time we spend with them... I feel many of us would be stuck writing letters to people/things who could (or would) never read them.

And, here I am rambling on about being present in my life again. The idea of being invested in my life is always swimming around in my brain. Are we conscious about what we consume? Are we intentional with our time? Are we investing in things with lasting value?

These are the questions that I can't put down... and these are the questions we should ingrain in the brains of our youth generation.

On a Serious Note...

I'm sure we all look around our world and can see problems that need fixing. Problems with our society... problems with our or others' values.... problems with our faith communities... problems with our politics... problems with our environment... the list goes ON and ON. Often, I feel like I can look at a situation and know whats NOT working... but I can't always come up with a solution. And, that's frustrating. For instance....

Its clear to me that there is a biblical mandate to care for the poor. I am convinced that this is part of the call of my faith... of that I have no doubt. But, what this looks like on a practical level is not always easy to translate. And, even once translated, its not always easy to swallow.

Let's say I'm passing someone on the street who is asking for money. We've all been told we shouldn't give such people cash because they may go spend it on alcohol or drugs. And, I've heard some helpful alternatives such as: ask them if you can go buy them some food/coffee, give them bus passes, or help direct them to the nearest shelter or aid center. But, I can't help but wonder if this is complete. Where in the Bible does it say, "But when thou doest give, be sure to only give to people who will assuredly use what you give for good." I just looked -- can't find it. But, here is what it DOES say...

1 John 3:17-18 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Proverbs 19:17 He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done.

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

It seems to me that God requires us to give, and do so freely. And, while I can say that with full assurance; again, I bring up the practical difficulties of such an awareness...

There is a woman who lives in my neighborhood who often approaches me asking for money. I've noticed that her story is always changing, and have figured that most times I am getting the run-around. But, as a general rule, I try to get at the root of her need and meet it when possible (I've given her everything from bus passes to tampons over the last year or so). Here is an ACTUAL conversation that I had with her on probably our 10th encounter (though she always approaches me as a stranger... with no memory of our previous meetings):

Woman: Hello, miss. I was wondering if you could spare me a few dollars. I need to catch a bus to Monroeville. I have no way to get home and Im stranded here, so if you could please help me!

Me: Absolutely! I have a few extra bus passes I would be happy to spare... you'll probably need two for the long haul out to Monroeville.

Woman: Oh. Bus passes? Well... ok. The truth is I'd really just like some cash so I can get some cigarettes and something to eat.

Me: Oh! Well, lets walk down to the Shell station. Its a block away and I'll get you some food and a pack of cigarettes if thats what you really need. [This was a stretch for me -- buying someone cigarettes was not my first choice. But, I figured it might give me a chance to talk to her while we walked.]

Woman: Listen. You seem really nice. Can I be honest? I'm really just trying to score some weed. I haven't had it in a long time, but I had a really bad day. Could you please just throw me a few dollars?

Me: Um, no. I'm sorry. I really don't feel comfortable with that... and, I don't have any cash anyway.

And, I walked away feeling so defeated. Cause, here I was trying to be generous... but the need was something I simply couldn't support. And figuring out what the RIGHT thing to do in that kind of situation seems easy (I mean, God couldn't possibly want me to give her money for weed, right?)... but it doesn't always feel so right.

And, I say all this ONLY to point out that the world is not full of simple solutions. I think the times when we feel we have "RIGHT"and "WRONG" figured out 100%, we are pobably the latter. And figuring out how to live out your faith and participate in Christ's redemption of the world is a really complicated thing. Again -- we may be able to see the problem... but can we come up with a RIGHT solution?

My mind is churning all this over because of an NPR article I read yesterday. The whole thing was about "economic psychology" and how to motivate humans to do the RIGHT thing. One program they referenced really shocked me, and clearly still has me revelling a bit...

"In the city of Greensboro, N.C., there's a program designed for teenage mothers. To prevent these teens from having another child, the city offers each of them $1 a day for every day they are not pregnant. It turns out that the psychological power of that small daily payment is huge. A single dollar a day is enough to push the rate of teen pregnancy down, saving all the incredible costs — human and financial — that go with teen parenting."

Does it strike anyone else that this may be the WRONG means to the RIGHT end? My first (albeit irrational and skeptical) responcive thought was, "There has got to be at least one girl out there getting pregnant for the first time so she can start collecting her $365 a year." But, my musings aside -- this is bizarre. Of course, I'm all for having less pregnant and single-mom teens -- I was beginning to wonder if the Juno craze would start some bad trends -- but are government sponsored cash incentives the way to go?

Then again, who am I to judge? There is no simple solution to lowering teen pregnancy rates. The problem is a complicated cocktail of an over-sexed society, absent/unattentive parents, faulty sex education, the ever-raging teen hormones, and probably a number of factors that I could never identify.

But I guess the point that I am trying to make with this VERY long rambling thought-jumble is... Just because a visible problem does not have a visible solution, does NOT mean we should stop talking about, working on, and caring about the problem itself. We should, as human beings (and certainly as Christians), be shedding light on brokenness when we see it. It needs to be named... analyzed... not forgotten. And, we need to retain hope that as we labor towards redeeming this world, the solution WILL show itself.

Just a thought.


If you are interested in reading more about the teen pregnancy project or "economic psychology", visit NPR's article.

"Fear Itself" -- the only justified fear?

Anyone who has been around me for a length of time could probably tell you that I have a variety of FEARS. Some are common… some are irrational (my husband would probably have put a MOST before that adjective)… some I’ve had since childhood… some are newly developed. But they ALL seem to come up fairly often.

For instance: my arachnophobia. Common enough… this one has plagued me since the time I was about 6 or 7, when I lost my plastic heart ring in the grass, only to find an unpleasant surprise when my finger searched in a hole in the ground (word to the wise: NEVER put your fingers in random holes). And, fear of spiders is a really annoying fear to have! I don’t know if you non-arachnophobes have noticed… but SPIDERS ARE EVERYWHERE. Over the years I’ve been chased by boys with ziplock baggies housing the itsy-bitsies themselves… accidentally set up a tent-free camp on top of a nest of silver dollar sized RED spiders… moved into a house infested with the horrifying HOBO spiders (see picture… and then try to imagine waking up to that thing crawling on your comforter, inches from your face!)… and walked through more webs than I care to remember. They are impossible to avoid – and thus I eternally feel like a terror-stricken Miss Muffet.

And I WISH I could say that was my only fear. But, unfortunately, I carry with the following:

• Panic around birds (see earlier post Birds of Feather)
• Claustrophobia (thankfully, this one comes up a lot less often since outgrowing “Hide and Seek”)
• A love-hate relationship with Roller-coasters
• Emotional fear of abandonment (eek… maybe to serious to mention?)
• Waking nightmares when I’m alone in the apartment for a night
• An aversion to alleys because of rape fear (I’ve found most women share this one)
• The belief I’m more likely to be in a plane crash every time I fly (this one is so consuming, that I often imagine who I would call and what I would say when the plane starts going down)

Its a pretty common thought that fears are often born of naivety and immaturity. But, the scariest part about my fears (oh no! another fear!), is that they’ve seemed to pile up as I’ve gotten older. I have more fears… AND they are more intense. So, what exactly is going on here?

I think my “certif” (don’t ask), Katie, said it best recently. On a girls’ reunion trip, we were playfully confronting her about her tendency to worry about the “worst case scenario” (and, we weren’t exaggerating… this girl is always verbalizing the fears that most just think and quickly dismiss… like, “Wait, but COULD a golf ball fly over here, hit us in the head, and kill us?”). She called the culprit of these irrational fears out – a need to feel in control. To Katie – if she thinks through all possible BAD scenarios, then she feels more confident in her ability to handle the situation should the worst-case suddenly erupt.

And, I think my growing list of fears is a bit related. While Katie considers the worst so she can feel in control of the present – I DO NOT think ahead, and then find myself unable to handle my emotional response when I let my brain really imagine what COULD happen in the moment. My imagination takes over – and, before I know it, I’m letting my brain experience the thoughts and emotions of a plane crash (or spider poisoning… or bird attack… or rape contraction of a STD… or the rollercoaster car flying off the track… or being alone in life… or whatever).

But, come on. Today I turn twenty-freaking-five (one event, unlike my friends, I was NOT afraid of). And, back in the glorious teen years, I was FULLY convinced that 25 was the “it” age -- that I would have arrived to adulthood by my mid-twenties. As the Four Seasons and Fergie have sung to us over the years – “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” Its time for me to grow up and start thinking of the world as my oyster… instead of my fear-tar-tar on a plate.

So today I’m choosing optimism. I’m not going to imagine the elevator cables snapping as I head up to my 51st floor job…. I’m going to grab a paper towel if I see a spider instead of bursting into tears and running away… I’m going to think about feeding the pigeons on my lunch break (eek!)… and I’m going to take shortcuts through dark alleyways late at night (j/k! I’m not an idiot!).

Who knows? -- Maybe by 30 I’ll be fear free!