Berry '08

Some thoughts on The Economy by Wendell Berry....

When I hear the stock market has fallen,
I say, 'Long live gravity! Long live
stupidity, error, and greed in the palaces
of fantasy capitalism!' I think
an economy should be based on thrift,
on taking care of things, not on theft,
usury, seduction, waste, and ruin.

-from The Mad Farmer Poems

"I think of the old slavery, and of the way The Economy has now improved upon it. The new slavery has improved upon the old by giving the new slaves the illusion that they are free. The economy does not take people's freedom by force, which would be against its principles, for it is very humane. It buys their freedom, pays for it, and then persuades its money back again with shoddy goods and the promise of freedom. "Buy a car," it says, "and be free. Buy a boat and be free. Buy a beer and be free." Is this not the raw material of bad dreams? Or is it maybe the very nightmare itself?"

"...national prosperity...was not permanent; it was not to be depended on; the predictions and promises of politicians and their experts were not to be depended on; if it all had come to nothing at once, it all could come to nothing again."

-from Jayber Crow

And, of course, my personal favorite, which should never be excerpted but always read prayerfully in its entirety:

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

Peace.

Just when you thought Rob Bell couldn't get any more brilliant.....

I was reading an article about Rob Bell and his new book Jesus Wants to Save Christians, when I noticed a code in the text (some of the letters were bold). Here is the article:

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=7569

(Spoiler alert) I cracked the code and it gave me an email address to which I got this response, apparently from Mr. Bell himself:

A student at a Christian college recently told me
that his theology professor's answers to his
questions about God and Jesus and the Bible
actually turned him away from the Christian faith...

I find this fascinating. How is it that people
who really do want to speak for God can end
up leading people to be less interested in
their god...Jesus referred to some of the
religious leaders of his day as "hypocrites,"
which was actually a Greek theatre term.
(How did Jesus know so much about the
theatre? Did he attend plays?) The word is a
reference to an actor who would take the
stake holding a mask to his face, pretending
to be somebody he's not. Jesus was very
aware of the dark side of religion—that
lamentable scene you find yourselves
in when the Spirit, like Elvis, has left
the building.

I think this truth about the dark side of
religion is alive and well today, specifically
in regards to a group like "Citizens of Virtue."
I'd say they got the first part right. They're citizens,
which means they have a responsibility to behave morally.
But the last part—the Virtue part—that's where
things get dodgy. They embrace words like Kindness and
Charity and Temperance, but every move they make
reinforces the corresponding cardinal sin. They have a
new campaign called the Seven Virtual Virtues. They're
Virtual, all right—"Virtual," as in, "not quite real."
They don't act—they play-act. Jesus talked about this.

From what I've been told, there are seven people inside the Citizens
of Virtue that desperately want to get out. They only know
each other as The Seven. Each has contacted me in some way,
but I'm not able to help them directly for fear of causing
them harm. I need your help to get them out, and together
we can carefully undermine the Citizens' efforts. I don't
know them by name, except for one. The Citizens of Virtue
have been listening and watching and throwing stones
at me for a while now, but they aren't watching you. Not yet, anyway.

At http://www.jesuswantstosavechristians.com, there's a way in.
It's a small way, but sometimes the biggest help comes from
the smallest of moves, doesn't it?

You can help The Seven.
You can stop the Citizens of Virtue.
You can save someone today.
And in the process,
you just might save yourself.

rob

Game on.

Guatemala updates

Well I am resurrecting this old blog of mine, mostly just to give updates on this beautiful relationship between Norwood, OH and Guatemala. You can get "more in depth coverage!" over at our site:

web.mac.com/jeremiahgriswold

As I write this, Sarah is on her way home from an eight day trip to stay with Tita and visit friends in Guatemala City. It has been nearly a year already since we moved back from Guatemala to Norwood, OH. It was a hard decision, but we felt that we were called to come home and make others aware of what God is doing in Guatemala. We also felt that we could probably be more effective by trying to create a simple lifestyle that would enable us both to have extra margin to support Tita and other ministries in Guate, and have more time to take groups down to work and dream. It’s been a challenging year laying the foundation for such a lifestyle, but things finally feel like they are taking shape. We found a home, while a fixer-upper to say the least, that cost us less than 1/6 of what our last home did. My tattoo apprenticeship is beginning to pay the bills and gives us freedom to take off when I need to for groups and trips. In fact, the Mothers Tattoo crew I work with are hoping to take some trips down to do cover-up work on gang tattoos!

We are grateful that more and more folks are forming life-long friendships with our brothers and sisters doing kingdom work in Guate. Our dear friend Rebecca Gant is down in Guatemala spending two months serving alongside Tita. Monica, Tita’s sidekick at the school, will be arriving this Thursday to spend two months with us in Cincinnati! If you would like to meet her or have her share about this incredible ministry with your church or group, please contact us!

We have also met some friends in Raleigh who spent some time with Tita and have formed an organization to sponsor the 200+ kids at the little school in La Limonada. They will be in Cincinnati doing a presentation and showing a film about the school on August 10 at 10am at Vineyard Central. If you would like to sponsor one of the children, many of who would not get any education at all were it not for this little school, head on over to www.lemonadeinternational.org.

Finally, if you are feeling the urge to visit Guate for yourself or with a group, contact us. We are willing and able to help you put together a trip to meet your needs. Peace!

the guatemala blog

This web journal of mine will probably be seeing a little less action over the next few months as I'll be focusing more on our website dedicated to the trip to Guatemala. The new site allows us to post photos, podcasts, videos, and more of our journey. Check it out at:

web.mac.com/jeremiahgriswold

I'll also be working on some other writing projects but I'll keep this blog open for a few random posts, and will likely to return to it with full focus as these other projects settle down. Thanks for reading.

goodbye ol' house

Well we officially handed over the keys to the old house yesterday. We had lots of help moving out last Sunday and spent the rest of the week packing up, cleaning up, and settling in to our temporary housing. My parents were kind enough to let us use the empty 2 bedroom apartment in their duplex for the next two weeks until we depart. We fly out of Chicago on Feb 20, but will likely head to the windy city on Feb 16 to spend a few days with Sarah's sister first.

We got to go to church as a family today, and really look forward to doing that. We have not been able to do that for the last six years since I worked at a church on Sundays, and it was really refreshing. Dave Barr shared a great teaching that was both challenging and encouraging; reminding us that sometimes following Christ does not seem logical, but it sure feels right.

to mars and back

This past weekend I made my first pilgrimage up to Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI with my new pal Chris Leeds for the "Isn't She Beautiful?" conference. "She" being the church, that is. I sometimes wonder, but the way Rob Bell described her...yeh, she sure she is.

I have felt like a distant member of Mars Hill as I have dowloaded the sermons every week for the last few years. We shared a couple meals with Don Golden and he said that they called people like us "the diaspora," named after the scattered tribe of Israel. It was great to experience Mars in the flesh, especially since I almost took a job there last year with the student ministry, but turned it down after getting more involved with our beautiful little Norwood community. It was so affirming to discover that even though God is doing something amazing up there, I am right where I need to be.

Rob Bell spoke four times, each talk about an average of two hours each, and I could not get enough. He covered some great topics from "heaven, hell, who's in, who's out, and the end of the world as we know it" to "the absolute necessity of endlessly reclaiming your innocence." Bravo Rob. Your work is setting so many of us free from the bondage of religiosity.

Mothers Ink.

I had the first sitting for my new tattoo yesterday at Mother's Tattoo in Covington (or Covingtonky as Chris Leeds would say). I was so pumped, being my first tat in nearly 7 years....making the ceremony that much more sacred.

Adding to the meaningfulness of the experience is that the tattoo artist and owner Craig is a Christ follower and we instantly hit it off. As you can see by the pic below, Craig is an amazing artist (he books up several months out, so if you want in make your appointment now!).

This was already a very meaningful tattoo for me on many levels....St. E was a Franciscan, and I have been a longtime fan of St. Frank. She is the patron saint of gypsies....and I inherited a gypsy heritage (and nomadic tendencies!) from my grandmother. St. E is the patron saint of the homeless, and we are currently homeless as we prepare to leave for Guatemala! I am inspired by her desire to give her wealth away to the poor. Last but not last, the VC folks at St. E's have been so wonderful to my family. It's also very cool that Rains and Smitty are getting the same tat, and maybe others.

I go back in two weeks to have the halo added and some more garment at the bottom, and will need a third sitting if I decide to add color. I have a feeling this could be the first of many more by Craig.