The 4 Eric(k)s

In high school, I was in several different combinations of singing groups. One of those groups was known as "The 4 Erics". It happened that we had 4 Erics (one of us spells his name with a CK) who each sang different vocal parts. We sang a bit of barbershop that, of course, was nothing short of stunning. Many, many fun memories from those days. Most of those memories involve laughing. Hard. Some of those memories still crack me up.

Thanks to Esparza, here's a pic from facebook. From left to right, Eric Contreras, Erick Romero, Me, Eric Esparza.

In The Beginning: Creation Appreciation #10

Remembering our previous discussion about the world's scarcity of resources, we began this class session with the parable of the rich fool from Luke 12.13-21. From that story I tried to reframe how we might usually think of the terms greed and frugality. We sometimes think of frugality as a selfish, penny-pinching type of lifestyle but actually, being frugal with the earth's resources is exactly what we need to do.

Suddenly, the efficient life of my grandparents doesn't seem so strange. The generation that lived through the Depression came to know how to squeeze every last bit of utility out of every resource because they had to. The challenge for 21st century Americans is to learn how to use resources efficiently even though we don't have to. It's a matter of loving our neighbors, both global and temporal.

So this class provides some hands-on ways to use resources more efficiently:


Speaking of my grandparents, it's amazing to me that they produce about 1 bag of trash per month. Table scraps go to the compost pile in the garden. Most things are reused. Some trash is burned. Only plastic and a few other items make it to their garbage cans. My family produces about 5 bags of trash per week.


National Geographic has a site set up that gives some great tips as well. Here is important information about water conservation in the bathroom:


Great ideas for home cleaning without the use of harmful chemicals:


Cut your utility bills and save energy:


Many more tips are available at National Geographic's The Green Guide.

I'm encouraging the class to be thinking about some lifestyle changes they would be willing to share with the class in a couple of weeks. Leave a comment to share what you are doing to be frugal with the resources God has given us.

Scootin

Scooter is here! Took a short ride last night... Pics to soon follow!

The Sun Was In My Eye

I never thought I would post anything about the pseudosport that is gymnastics, but the latest "controversy" is so annoying that I couldn't resist.

The U.S. Women's Olympic Gymnastics coach is blaming the sport's officials for the girls' failure to capture gold. My response: "buck up".

Her claim is that Sacramone was called to the "don't fall off this skinny rail" (DFOTSR) event and then made to wait so long that she lost her concentration causing her to fall. Her fall subsequently caused her to land on her butt during the next event, "bouncy floor", as well. Oh, by the way, her fall on the DFOTSR also caused all 3 American competitors on bouncy floor to step out of bounds.

Really? Is that really the best reason Karolyi can come up with?

To add more fuel to this not-so-hot bed of controversy, iconic Mr. Karolyi claims that the Chinese girls are under age which gives them an advantage. Now, I'm no gymnastics expert but it seems like 20 yr old gymnasts wouldn't mind competing against 12 year olds. In fact, I can't think of any sport in the world where a 12 year old would have an advantage over a 20 year old. Did we have great 12 year olds waiting in the wings that could have brought home the gold, but because we follow rules so closely we sent our mediocre 20 year olds instead?

The commentators don't do this pseudosport any favors either. They constantly question the scoring of the judges. The judges of course have the opportunity to watch the performance in slow motion before awarding a random number to the performance. For instance, if someone does really fast arm swings while on the DFOTSR they might get some penalty points, but someone who arches their backs during a handstand while on the uneven monkey bars gets bonus points.

Look, I appreciate that what they do is difficult, but let's not call it a sport. It's totally subjective. It's great and beautiful, but it's more of an art form. We don't have speed painting at the Olympics where someone's use of color gets them a gold. I don't understand why we all have to get our panties in a wad and come up with ridiculously lame excuses as to why we didn't get the gold. Let's just acknowledge that the Chinese girls, no matter their age, were better. They didn't fall down as much. Hooray they win the gold for not falling down!

Let me know when they put two girls on the DFOTSR at the same time, give them giant q-tips and tell them to knock each other off, a la American Gladiator. That's a sport with a clear winner, and one I'd be more interested to watch.

In The Beginning: Creation Appreciation #9

This post will catch you up to where we are in class. Along the lines of the previous lesson, this lesson deals with consumption of the earth's resources. This kind of conversation seems like it could be a secular issue. Some might say this dialogue should be reserved for civic centers, universities and legislatures. Part of the point of this class is to bring Christians into these conversations so that people with the interests of God at heart will be able to help shape the future of the earth as we steward creation.

As you think about the below ideas, remember that the earth belongs to God (Ps 24.1) and as followers of Jesus, we are called to live humbly, putting the interests of others ahead of our own. See Philippians 2:4-8.

First consider how we use arable land in the world. Land capable of producing crops is a precious commodity. Here's a quick demonstration of how rare the world's arable land is.

This (and the following issues) is a global issue. China has over 20% of the world's population, but only 7% of the world's arable land. Do you see the imbalance? If we are going to love our neighbors and look to the interests of others, we can not turn our backs on the rest of the world and count our lucky stars that we happened to be born into a country that has enough farmland to feed its people. The only word I can think of to describe that way of thinking is "selfish".

Water shortages are quickly becoming a problem as well. Nations all over the world are facing water shortages as water quickly becomes a high priced commodity. This isn't only a problem in the remote parts of Africa. Remember the water crisis in Atlanta last summer? We're only going to see more of this issue.

The term, "water shortage" is somewhat misleading. Others will argue that there is no such thing as a water shortage. Their reasoning is that the world always has the same amount of water. Remember this picture from 7th grade science class?

The earth's water cycle system is a closed system, so in theory, the world does in fact have a constant amount of water. However, due to pollution we are slowly reducing the amount of usable water we have. More than that, with the earth's population rate growing exponentially, we may indeed have a constant amount of water, but the amount of water per person is declining sharply. Water scarcity is already affecting international relations and agendas between countries. But again, this must be seen as a global issue.

*Nearly 450 million people in 29 countries currently face severe water shortages.

*20 percent more water than is now available will be needed to feed the additional three billion people who will be alive by 2025.

*As much as two-thirds of the world population could be water-stressed by 2025.

*Aquifers, which supply one-third of the world's population, are being pumped out faster than nature can replenish them.

*Half the world's rivers and lakes are seriously polluted.

*Major rivers, such as the Yangtze, Ganges, and Colorado, do not flow to the sea for much of the year because of upstream withdrawals.

Our resource of air is important as well. Ever flown into a major city like L.A. and noticed the brown filth that hovers over the city? It makes an impression on you. We've seen and heard this week all the press about the smog in Beijing. Not only does polluted air cause damage to the environment, it also contributes to all kinds of other problems like healthcare. We clearly need to take better care of our air.

Finally, the issue of energy sources is a huge deal. Obviously this issue is very politically charged due to the recent spike in oil prices. As we look to the future, we can not solely rely on nonrenewable energy sources like oil, coal and gas (the "nonrenewable" label is slightly misleading because the earth does continue to produce these resources - it is just a very slow process). Our energy demands continue to increase and at some point (maybe already?) will exceed what the earth can sustain through these resources. Though politics may be deeply tied to this issue, Christians must look for just and responsible solutions to fill the world's energy needs.

Next week, we'll start looking at some practical solutions and lifestyle changes.