Believing the Commercials

I've just finished reading Through Painted Deserts, by Donald Miller. This is the second book I've read by Don and just like Blue Like Jazz, it hit me where I live.

The theme that hit me hardest was the idea of "believing the commercials." Our (my) society has been completely sucked in by the idea that having more stuff (iPod) or eating at certain restaurants (mmm...Chipotle...mmm) or going on fancy vacations or any of the other lies the advertising agencies share with us will make us feel better (or at least different) about ourselves, that we will have a better life because we possess some magical "IT."

My trap is stuff. I think that the next purse or the next pair of shoes will make me complete. Obviously, I'm not stupid, I know ultimately, it will make no difference, but I dare to dream.

I want it out of my system. Sometimes I feel like it's gone. I don't buy anything stupid for weeks, even months. Then, I decide one thing I want is alright and it starts the cycle of spending to make myself happy all over again.

God, help me be responsible. Help me understand that I don't need any thing to make me happy or contented.

I'm Not a Blogger

I wonder if anyone reads this blog. None of my friends knows about it, so it seems unlikely that I am developing a huge audience.

I've been thinking a lot about my faith lately. Brian McLaren's book, Generous Orthodoxy, is resonating somewhere deep in my soul. He's written so much that I completely agree with, but could barely express without using the phrase "I don't know" every other sentence.

It seems that is part of the point of the Emergent Church movement; the ability to admit one's lack of understanding seems paramount. How could it be otherwise in discussions about God? Every day I become more convinced that what little I think I know about following Jesus
is probably mostly wrong.

I have a Livejournal account. I wrote about my interest in the Emergent Church movement and someone had the nerve to (anonymously) ask me if I really wanted to go to seminary. I was under the impression that seminary was not a place in which to be indoctrinated, but a place in which to grow in our understanding of God and our ability to help others along their faith journey as well. Alas, I'm not terribly surprised that I got such a reaction.

I just hope that attending seminary will help me to better serve the world.