Right living

Following is the text of an email I just sent out. I’d be happy to receive any responses here, too.

So, I was walking home for lunch and passed a nicely coiffed woman
sitting patiently in her large SUV in front of a certain private
school. I assume she was waiting for her (only) child to exit the
building and enter the safe confines of the gas-guzzler. Not that I’m
being judgemental or anything. 🙂

Anyway, as I passed by, I wondered what her response would be if Jesus
knocked on her window and asked why she was driving such a big
automobile. I imagined her reciting the usual litany of space and
safety reasons. Then I imagined Jesus pulling a socratic (yeah, I
just coined it) and walking her through some questions that guided her
into considering how her life, perhaps, was structured to make her
believe that she needed that car.

By this time, I was home and I enjoyed my reheated Chinese food from
last night. While I was eating, I searched around the web for
references to ‘right living.’ There are some, but not much. This
made me think that I sure would like to read other folks’ thoughts
about ‘right living’ and how I wished there was some kind of community
weblog where people could write stuff and respond in kind, etc. Then
I thought about how easy it would be to make something like that, but
the tough part would be finding high quality contributors.

So you see where I’m going here. It’s pretty easy to make a
straight-up weblog where many people can write about a finely tuned
topic. The bigger problem is finding people who are willing to write
(even occasionally) and think about the topic. If such a place
existed on the web, I’m relatively confident that it would attract a
sizable readership over time.

So here’s the pitch: are any of you interesting in sharing the burden
of writing about ‘right living’ on the web? I am not suggesting any
particular political agenda here–I’m just interested in smart people
writing about their thoughts on ‘right living’, how it is manifested
in their lives, what it means to them, how they struggle with it, how
it ties to their faith, and so on. If you aren’t interested, do you
know anyone who might be? How ’bout passing this along to them? If
there is sufficient interest in such a project, I’d be happy to make
the place exist–and to contribute in my own inimitable way.

8 thoughts on “Right living

  1. Can’t say I have enough pent up feelings on this subject to be one of your writers, but I must say, I’ve really struggled with the “right” way to live over the last several years. Do I buy too nice of things? Should I even be buying things for myself at all? It’s really easy to get in a downward spiral and make yourself feel really guilty really quickly (or to be quick to judge others for that matter).

    Last Sunday, Dick Sartwell preached at our church on what Paul had to say about this in Philippians. Something Dick said that really hit me was that contentment is neither found in poverty nor in having everything you want, but in Jesus. Being poor in itself is not the answer. Paul talks about having everything and having nothing, while learning to be content in all situations.

    I’ve known some very rich people with very nice things who acted extremely selfless with those things. If Jesus were to walk up to their SUV and knock on the window, he would have been warmly invited in and even offered a place to stay at their house. Not to say everyone is that way, but just a reminder that there’s a whole lot of Godly rich people out there.

    So getting back to the sermon, Dick’s point was that it’s ok to have everything or nothing, as long as we’re seeking God’s will and find our contentment in Jesus.

  2. Yeah, great point Jared. That’s really the crux of it, but it seems rare. And does “stuff” get in the way of seeking God’s will? Certainly not for everybody. But what’s the response if it does? And how can we know when it does? Finding contentment in Jesus is right on target, no doubt, but I still struggle with finding contentment on this earth. It’s just too easy to say that I’m cool with Jesus, so nothing else matters….

  3. I struggle with the general state of our world. I look at what we are doing to our earth and have serious questions about the future for our children. This could be said during any generation, but when you can’t even swim in parts of the ocean and our rivers you have to start wondering.

    Living in a city exacerbates this a bit because a city can be quite dirty, but cities also have beneficial things like public transit.

    All this to say I would love to see a site like this and I can see myself contributing. I do a great job of being cynical. I don’t know I could carry on as a frequent writer, but I’d be happy to see how you progress with this . . . Mr. Many irons in the fire.

  4. Well, I wouuld never consider myself a “high quality contributor”, but if I were to meet the atributes of inteligence and insight to the matter, I would love to participate 🙂
    To begin my contribution, I wonder about the morally loaded word “right”. I know what you mean (I think) but it becomes problematic when you open the topic up to the blog world. The following train of thought is what led me to this conflict.

    An SUV, while being less fuel efficient and more environmentally hazardous than many new cars, is by no means the most hazardous vehicle on the road. Take the ’67 Ford truck that I drove in high school. On a good day I got ten miles to the gallon and left a streak of black smoke trailing behind. I would hope that if my economic status changed, (it has) I would become more responsible (I have) and look at environmentally friendly forms of transportation, but at the time, my families economic status did not allow this. My point being, that in this situation, rightness has direct connections to economic status. Is someone living a more “right” life if they can afford a Toyota Prius (fancy new hybrid)? I would argue that most new SUVs have better catalytic converter systems that cut down on emissions than 80% of cars on the road. (That is considering my theory is correct that most cars on the road are 1990’s models or older.)
    I guess the arguement that can be made, is that one should be as environmentally conscience as their situation permits. Maybe Jesus would scold the SUV driver, but would he scold the single mother that drove her 85 honda civic to her $10.00 an hour job, adding a quart of oil a day and emitting twice the carbon monoxied into the air as the SUV?
    We do all need to be more responsible in how we treat the earth, I’m just not sure if you can make it an issue of morality. If so, nirvana is a Toyota Hybrid and vegan diet away.

  5. Your thoughts on economic status are right on, Lu. It’s not a discussion about two economically disparate situations and one universally ‘right’ decision. For the most part, anyway. Since you say you know what I mean about right living, but object to the morally loaded word “right,” I should probably make a note here about *exactly* what I mean, just so we really are all on the same page. My perception of ‘right-living’ stems wholly from the Quaker concept of an external life that is a manifestation of an inward grace. So, if the word is morally loaded, it’s meant to be, though from a more subjective place than a traditionally objective morality.

    My perspective on right-living, like yours, is certainly subjective, and it’s basically this: if you can afford choices, what’s the right choice when you consider, basically, the Sermon on the Mount? And, even tougher, what’s the right response to a given situation when you *can’t* afford choices? I think Jared nailed that one.

    Despite my inital example, I’m not limiting ‘right-living’ to environmental choices, though those are certainly important. I’m more concerned with the whole framework of right-living. A particular choice may not always be the right choice, but I’m interested in how we go about considering what the right choice is.

  6. To clarify then, it sounds like you are interested in establishing a Quaker Framework for Right Living. Though I am not a Quaker, I think I may hold many of the same subjective moral standards, and would love to participate.

    I guess I am still a little confused though. The beginning of this thread, including your original post, led me to believe that “Right Living” was an issue of possessions and financial responsibilities (what do you spend your money on, how does that effect your family and the world around you). I think the example of coifed women in SUVs outside private schools, and Jared’s examples of wondering wether or not he buys to nice of things, had me thinking that you wanted to create a socio economic morality. I can’t wrap my mind around this when I think of those people whose socio economic status is dictated for them based on there current living situation.
    It seems then that you are talking about a framework that is concerned with a group of people of like socio economic status and like morality. Am I way off here?

  7. I dunno about the “Quaker Framework for Right Living” but that’s my only exposure to the topic. So my comments would probably be reflective of that. I’m not going to pan anybody’s honest responses and queries, but my approach is going to be tied back to the Sermon on the Mount. Your approach might include a different “anchor.” I’d be just as curious about your approach and how it informs your faith, and the larger context of your life.

    Here’s the crux. As far as I can tell, ‘right-living’ has a whole lot of stuff wrapped up in it, and I’m interested in all of it. Here’s a partial list to help folks get a better sense of where I’m at:

    * environmental concerns
    * interpersonal relations
    * God and faith
    * simplicity
    * parenthood

    Am I making any sense yet? I’ve got a big idea in my head and I’m pretty sure I’m not articulating it very well…

  8. No, you are articulating just fine, it just took me awhiled to recognize the breadth of the framework. Keep me updated on this project. I would love to contribute if you would like me to.

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