"The future will not belong to those who are content with the present. The future will not belong to cynics and people who sit on the sidelines. The future will belong to people who have passion and are willing to work hard to make this country better." - Senator Paul Wellstone
SERMON #6
I've written a lot about the crap with which we fill our lives--possessions that tie us down, that only distract us from who we are trying to become. But what about the people we surround ourselves with? Are they people who ignite our passions, who spur us to greater self-mastery? Are your relationships full of meaning or are you just going through the motions? Don't you want to dig a little deeper, reach another level? Or are we all just looking for the easy, the convenient? The people we choose to spend our lives with are the people who share our journey--are you surrounded by crewmates or pirates who steal your time?
appropriate quote
"He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." - Matthew 10:39
SERMON #5
Ever tried to jump off the consumer carousel and spend some time alone? Not just alone but alone in nature--no commercials, no visual distractions but the birds and trees. I've been dipping into Thoreau lately--"For every walk is a sort of crusade."
Nothing to buy out there, nothing to sell. Nothing to throw away, nothing to think about.
In seclusion, "real" life seems self-indulgent and superficial. Gossip, chatter, role-playing--our daily lives are the longest running off-Broadway play in history. We just don't know about it.
Is it a waste of time to watch a starling for an hour? To lie on a bed of green grass and gaze at the clouds? My man Thoreau also said, "He who sits still in a house all day may be the greatest vagrant of all".
We are meant to be alone in nature. The word "lonely" never comes up.
Nothing to buy out there, nothing to sell. Nothing to throw away, nothing to think about.
In seclusion, "real" life seems self-indulgent and superficial. Gossip, chatter, role-playing--our daily lives are the longest running off-Broadway play in history. We just don't know about it.
Is it a waste of time to watch a starling for an hour? To lie on a bed of green grass and gaze at the clouds? My man Thoreau also said, "He who sits still in a house all day may be the greatest vagrant of all".
We are meant to be alone in nature. The word "lonely" never comes up.
SERMON #4
Let's talk today about consuming something a little different, shall we? How about the feast of celebrities we all dine on?
What are they up to? Who's getting divorced? Who's got the eating disorder? Who's cheating on a spouse?
Eat it up--first by the spoonfuls, then by the wheelbarrows, then by giant Mack trucks filled with gossip and tidbits and CRAP about other people's lives. People who have done absolutely nothing to make a difference.
Why are you concerned with people who don't care about anything important and don't care one iota about your entire life? Maybe because you don't have one (a life, I mean).
And while you're at it, make sure those TV's are going all the time--round the clock sitcoms and "info-tainment."
Eat! Stuff yourself! There's always more. Step right up--your 15 minutes of fame have arrived! Let us worship you! Talk into the mic, look into the camera--we want to know EVERYTHING about you.
And after we've picked your bones clean, we'll move onto the next victim.
See those skeletons over there? They are all that remain of the celebrities you used to worship. That one on top? He was a member of one of those boy-bands you used to tear your hair out over.
Such a shame.
Such a waste.
What are they up to? Who's getting divorced? Who's got the eating disorder? Who's cheating on a spouse?
Eat it up--first by the spoonfuls, then by the wheelbarrows, then by giant Mack trucks filled with gossip and tidbits and CRAP about other people's lives. People who have done absolutely nothing to make a difference.
Why are you concerned with people who don't care about anything important and don't care one iota about your entire life? Maybe because you don't have one (a life, I mean).
And while you're at it, make sure those TV's are going all the time--round the clock sitcoms and "info-tainment."
Eat! Stuff yourself! There's always more. Step right up--your 15 minutes of fame have arrived! Let us worship you! Talk into the mic, look into the camera--we want to know EVERYTHING about you.
And after we've picked your bones clean, we'll move onto the next victim.
See those skeletons over there? They are all that remain of the celebrities you used to worship. That one on top? He was a member of one of those boy-bands you used to tear your hair out over.
Such a shame.
Such a waste.
SERMON #3
How about this for a fashion show? On one side of the runway you've got models wearing the trendy clothes kids spend their hard-earned money on. Cruising down the other side you've got the poverty-stricken youth from Southeast Asia who made this collection. The contrast should be enlightening--or maybe just embarassing.
Doesn't anyone else care about the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots? Millions of people wearing the finest clothes, eating the best food, driving the fastest cars, while most of Earth's population eat a small bowl of food, then sleep on a mat for a few hours, reseting up for another 18-hour workday.
Did you know that HALF of the SIX BILLION people on the planet live on less than TWO DOLLARS a day? Less than the price of a cup of designer coffee at Starbucks. Makes me sick just to think about it.
Our STUFF lives better off than most of the people in the world do.
This is to say nothing of how we're treating nature. Drill for oil in the Arctic Circle? Why not? Rich white men need to get richer don't they? Drop the emission standards so gas companies can turn a bigger profit? Sure! Why worry about the ozone layer when we've got stockholders to think about?
Nature is going to mutiny one of these days--"Day After Tommorow"-style earthquakes and floods to evict our sorry butts.
I mean, doesn't anyone remember the Lorax? Who is speaking for the trees these days? We're producing and consuming ourselves into oblivion, completely out of touch with the real world, the natural world. If your life depended on it, could you tell what time it was by the sun? Could you find north without a compass? Could you tell the difference between a white oak and a red maple? Didn't think so.
(In case you're interested, the maple is the one with the wide, three-pointed leaves.)
We're not fit to live in the world anymore; we're tourists, clear-cutting our way across the planet till nothing's left.
Doesn't anyone else care about the increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots? Millions of people wearing the finest clothes, eating the best food, driving the fastest cars, while most of Earth's population eat a small bowl of food, then sleep on a mat for a few hours, reseting up for another 18-hour workday.
Did you know that HALF of the SIX BILLION people on the planet live on less than TWO DOLLARS a day? Less than the price of a cup of designer coffee at Starbucks. Makes me sick just to think about it.
Our STUFF lives better off than most of the people in the world do.
This is to say nothing of how we're treating nature. Drill for oil in the Arctic Circle? Why not? Rich white men need to get richer don't they? Drop the emission standards so gas companies can turn a bigger profit? Sure! Why worry about the ozone layer when we've got stockholders to think about?
Nature is going to mutiny one of these days--"Day After Tommorow"-style earthquakes and floods to evict our sorry butts.
I mean, doesn't anyone remember the Lorax? Who is speaking for the trees these days? We're producing and consuming ourselves into oblivion, completely out of touch with the real world, the natural world. If your life depended on it, could you tell what time it was by the sun? Could you find north without a compass? Could you tell the difference between a white oak and a red maple? Didn't think so.
(In case you're interested, the maple is the one with the wide, three-pointed leaves.)
We're not fit to live in the world anymore; we're tourists, clear-cutting our way across the planet till nothing's left.
SERMON #2
Can we talk about phonies? About people who pretend they're your best friend--no, ARE your best friend--until someone better comes along?
People climbing their way up the social ladder are just as bad as people climbing their way up the corporate one. Moving from one clique to another, checking out the people on the next rung, working their way up like freaking caterpillars until one day--poof!--they leave one rung for good, on to bigger and better things. Then they get rejected by the new clique, of course, and come slithering back to their friends on the lower rung. And you're supposed to sit there like some dope.
Well, I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired of welcoming the same old people back into the fold. Hey, once you make the choice to move on--move on! Don't come back when your new friends leave, don't come back when someone breaks up with you, don't come back when you want to feel like yourself again 'cause you're tired of spending all your energy trying to act like someone you're not and you just want to be accepted by people who always liked the real you.
Tired of keeping up the front of being some witty, gorgeous, happy, considerate person you're not? Tired of waiting for your "new" friends to appreciate your inner self? Well, too bad. Take two aspirin and DON'T CALL ME IN THE MORNING
People climbing their way up the social ladder are just as bad as people climbing their way up the corporate one. Moving from one clique to another, checking out the people on the next rung, working their way up like freaking caterpillars until one day--poof!--they leave one rung for good, on to bigger and better things. Then they get rejected by the new clique, of course, and come slithering back to their friends on the lower rung. And you're supposed to sit there like some dope.
Well, I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired of welcoming the same old people back into the fold. Hey, once you make the choice to move on--move on! Don't come back when your new friends leave, don't come back when someone breaks up with you, don't come back when you want to feel like yourself again 'cause you're tired of spending all your energy trying to act like someone you're not and you just want to be accepted by people who always liked the real you.
Tired of keeping up the front of being some witty, gorgeous, happy, considerate person you're not? Tired of waiting for your "new" friends to appreciate your inner self? Well, too bad. Take two aspirin and DON'T CALL ME IN THE MORNING
SERMON #1
Slip on your Gap jeans, Nike T-shirt, and your Reeboks--or maybe even your Cons if you think that makes you cool and ironic in a Kurt Cobain kind of way. Grab your Adidas backpack, ride to school on your Razor, sip your Starbucks frappuccino, eat your PowerBar, write a paper on your iMac, slip on your Ralph Lauren windbreaker, buy the latest CD from Target, check the caller ID to see who's calling you on your Motorola Krazr, eat your Doritos, drink your Coke. Star at the TV till you're stupefied...
Is there any time of the day when we're not being used and/or abused by the advertising companies? Can we have an inch of free space, do you mind? Some ambitious kids rent their head space--the ourside, not the inside (although the inside space is certainly emptier)--to big companies by shaving ads in their hair for all their friends to see. It's just a matter of time before companies figure out a way to sell you stuff while you're sleeping. Maybe some kind of vitamin that releases visual and sonic enzymes that run like a ticker tape through your dreams--ALL THE LATEST RELEASES NOW AT BLOCKBUSTER... CHEESIER NACHOS AT CHILI'S... BY THE WAY, YOU'RE SNORING.
Am I the only one who sees the irony of sitting in class reading 1984, having a discussion of Big Brother watching out for us like it's some time way in the future? Some science fiction nightmare that is never really going to happen? HEL-LO? Our lives couldn't be more dictated by the corporations if they gave our schools A/V equipment in exchange for making us watch commercials in class.
Oh yeah, they already do that, nevermind...
Is there any time of the day when we're not being used and/or abused by the advertising companies? Can we have an inch of free space, do you mind? Some ambitious kids rent their head space--the ourside, not the inside (although the inside space is certainly emptier)--to big companies by shaving ads in their hair for all their friends to see. It's just a matter of time before companies figure out a way to sell you stuff while you're sleeping. Maybe some kind of vitamin that releases visual and sonic enzymes that run like a ticker tape through your dreams--ALL THE LATEST RELEASES NOW AT BLOCKBUSTER... CHEESIER NACHOS AT CHILI'S... BY THE WAY, YOU'RE SNORING.
Am I the only one who sees the irony of sitting in class reading 1984, having a discussion of Big Brother watching out for us like it's some time way in the future? Some science fiction nightmare that is never really going to happen? HEL-LO? Our lives couldn't be more dictated by the corporations if they gave our schools A/V equipment in exchange for making us watch commercials in class.
Oh yeah, they already do that, nevermind...
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