Meditation On Mortality

Over the last few days, I have had circumstances happening around me that have led me to really think deeply about my own mortality. A few weeks weeks ago, I received a phone call that let me know that the principal chief of my tribe had died at age 55 from a heart attack. More recently, I found out that another close friend of mine had recognized early signs he was having a heart attack, and was able to arrive at a hospital in time to save his life, he’s 42 years old. My dad suffered a massive heart attack in 2009, and his life was saved because it happened in a hospital.—he’s still going strong though. My mom died at age 61 in an inspirational fight she lost to stage four cancer, high-blood pressure, diabetes, and congestive heart failure.

As each of these events have occurred, they have brought into focus some basic truths to which I personally don’t like to give a lot of thought. Every single one of us will meet the end of our days one day.  When life events calls me to freshly consider the bigger questions of our mortality and purpose, I do not place my focus in pop-culture platitudes, but rather to ancient and timeless truths of the scriptures. This life will end. Saul of Tarsus tells us that it is appointed for each of us to die, and then after that comes the judgment. James, the half-brother of Jesus of Nazareth, warns that our life is a vapor and that tomorrow is not promised. One of the Hebrew Psalmists encourages us to learn to number our days. And with all of these myriad warnings, and the daily reality that there are people who are dying from various causes, I feel like we can lose sight of this reality.

But the last few weeks, have been a megaphone for these truths. So what does a person do with the reality that this life is temporary? I find myself looking to the wisdom of scriptures, and considering the application of the wisdom of the ages. In my estimation, the scriptures are a guidepost for living life on purpose, in light of our earthly mortality, and in light of the fact that each of us are, as the philosopher Dallas Willard has said, “unceasing spiritual beings with an eternal destiny in God’s great universe.” The ancient theologian Saul of Tarsus has also written an exhortation for the ages to, “Make the most of the time because the days are evil, and understand what the will of the Lord is.”

When I consider these truths, that my life is short, and that I’m seeking to make the most of the time, I still find myself in need of guidance. We live in a world FULL of chocies, at least most of us in the West seem to have limitless choices. I’ve spent enough time in other areas of the world (and honestly even here) to know that our circumstances can sometimes limit our choices—but we ALWAYS have a choice of some type. So, again, I look to ancient texts for truths that have stood the test of time. An Ancient Hebrew Prophet laid it out this way, “What is required of you o man, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”

These are powerful words, but we need more than wise words to live by, we need to cautiously and humbly seek to apply these words and embody them in our lives. The reason I encourage caution and humility is because, if these words are meant to move us toward a life of purpose from the perspective our own mortality, then we need to be willing to course-correct if we may be mis-applying the wisdom. We need to be in a place to listen to the feedback of others. We need to be open to suggestion, but at the same time, we need to be resolute. If we aren’t resolved to a degree, then we will waffle and waver from our purpose, and we will likely live a less fulfilling life.

So as I consider all of the events swirling around me, death of a close friend, near death of another close friend, and the arrival to this earth of our first child, I consider this text in the following ways.

Do Justice—This is an active part of our life rhythm. In order to be able to do justice, I need to wisely steward the limited resources I have, in the limited time I have, for the good of others. This encourages me to pursue my own physical health, not so much so I can live longer (although there is a correlation between physical health and longevity), but more so I can do more in terms of justice. If I am healthy and strong, I can give more of my resources to service. I can volunteer. I can run and play with my child. I can help friends move, and it just leaves me in a place where I have more to give.

Love Mercy—There is so much wrapped up in this phrase. This phrase helps me to more fully be present to all that is going on around me. If I am loving mercy, I am willing to walk in forgiveness—I’m neither carrying bitterness toward others, nor toward myself. There are times in our life where all of us “do injustice” to ourselves and to others. There are times when we will have injustice done to us. It is in those times we have an ability to love mercy and extend mercy toward ourselves and others. Carrying bitterness, anxiety, and disappointment are not the way of mercy, and they will rob us of our life long before we breathe our last, if we let them. In this spirit, I strive to make space to choose to believe the best of myself and of others, and to extend mercy rather than enmity.

Walk humbly with your God—This is probably the least popular aspect of this ancient nugget of wisdom. Our pride screams defiantly at any form of humility. We want to do things in our way, according to our time schedule, and according to our own priorities—we do not like the thought of anyone or anything dictating how we should spend our time, talents, and treasures. And yet, when we walk in humility, we are able to have eyes to see our own shortcomings. When we walk humbly with God, we are choosing to listen to the ONE voice that desires the best for us, and has the clearest insight into how we can live the most fulfilled and purposeful life, the wisdom and guidance of God nudges us to the best life we can live. And by taking time regularly to listen and to respond, we can truly make the most of our limited window of time on this earth.

I would never claim to execute these three principles perfectly, but I believe they offer each of us guidance toward how we might each live our lives in a way that truly “makes the most of the time because the days are evil.” May we each strive to walk in a way that is mindful of our mortality, and that savors and makes the most of each magical moment of our lives.

Labor Day and Linking Together To End Extreme Poverty

I remember so vividly the summer of 2007. I had recently watched my mom leave this world to be with Jesus and had been laboring together with a number of friends to start a coffee shop in downtown Morgantown during a time when ideas like "fair-trade" were just starting to get traction in the US. I was leading out the college and young professionals ministry at Chestnut Ridge Church and had just finished my Master's degree in English at WVU. My friend John Hancox and I had chatted a couple of times about our own passions for social justice and the many great tragedies our generation was witnessing in the world, along with what another mutual friend, Jake Harriman, had been doing since he left the Marine Corps. Jake and I were starting to talk as well, although we were literally about a half-a-world apart. He was doing an internship with an organization called One Acre Fund in southwestern Kenya.

Jake and I had not been in as frequent contact after our undergraduate years, but through technologies like g-chat and Skype, we began to reconnect. He shared a blog he had started to capture some of his experiences in Kenya, and sent a business plan for an idea he had to make a significant impact in fighting extreme poverty called Nuru International. The business plan was the culmination of work of  several of his classmates, professors, and friends at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. 

During our undergraduate days, there was was a group of us dreaming big dreams about changing the world--the group was much larger than Jake, John, and myself, and amazingly we had all stayed in touch by varying degrees. We had moved forward in our various career paths with passion and a deep desire to make our lives count.  

Jake and I had committed to meeting up on Labor Day 2007, to talk in more detail about Nuru, and how it might make sense to work together. We discussed different movements we had grown to appreciate like Invisible Children and ONE, and how they were helping generations move forward in fresh ways to make a difference in the world. We had originally committed to meeting for about an hour, but we ended up meeting all day. Jake, John, and I drove from Morgantown to Hancock Maryland to meet with another board member to discuss the process of taking this idea and making it viable by legally registering as a nonprofit. The day was filled with laughter, dedicated thinking, and meaningful conversation. It was a wonderful reunion among like-minded friends looking to work together to do their part to make the world a better place. 

And now, nine years later, many of the ideas discussed back then have moved from abstract concepts to concrete realities. Nuru is no longer just an idea, but an organization filled with dedicated and hard working individuals from around the world who are passionate about seeing the end of extreme poverty. Together, with the support of thousands of supporters in the US and abroad, we have been able to see literally thousands of households in Kenya and Ethiopia take tangible steps to begin lifting themselves out of extreme poverty permanently. When I think back on what has been accomplished, I am filled with joy, and when I look forward I am thrilled about the potential legacy for my soon to arrive child--if we can keep moving forward and building momentum, together, we will see the end of extreme poverty, and a brighter world for everyone!

May we never forget to pause and reflect as we move forward to make the world safer and brighter for everyone!

Reflection: Nuru Summit 2015

One of my favorite experiences of any given year since we started talking about Nuru in 2007 has been the Annual Nuru Summit. In 2007 and 2008, the ‘summit’ was less official and was more of an informal gathering at my friend John Hancox’ house in Morgantown WV. Over the years, the summit has become the one time each year when all of Nuru’s staff have gathered together in one location—typically a location in California, and most of the time in Orange County.

Last year, we gathered for four days in Huntington Beach, CA and talked in detail about some of the challenges and highlights of the past year, as well as the path ahead for what we are striving to accomplish in 2015. I love the philosophy that our team has with regard to planning as well as with regard to assessing our activities for the sake of continuous improvement, but that was not the highlight for me. Nor was the highlight seeing my friends at Nuru who have been pushing forward in this fight. Those are both great things, but not my high point.

My highlight for last year’s summit was a renewed focus on our ‘why.’ Sometimes, no matter what our vocation, we can get caught up in the ‘what’ or the ‘how’ of what we are doing. And we need to be aware of those things—if we don’t it becomes easy to go off mission, or to undermine our values. But, ‘why’ is the thing that gets us up each morning, and helps each one of us keep going.

The week started off with a teary-eyed Jake sharing his why after sharing his sadness over the loss of a visionary Kenyan leader, PhilipMohochi, earlier in 2014. Throughout the week, individuals shared their unscripted why as they shared other updates for their program and for Nuru as an organization. Without a why, I think it would be hard for folks to keep going.

For me, I could talk at length about my why, but in short form, I believe my why comes from my faith, which has set ablaze in me a desire to care for other people well; to seek justice, do mercy, and walk humbly with my Creator. In an even shorter form for me it comes down to this—People matter. Every. Person. Matters. And so I personally keep pushing forward with this mission to give people meaningful choices.

What about you? What is your why? What inspires you to keep pressing forward with supporting and furthering Nuru’s work? What keeps you on mission in your life? What is your why? If you have not considered it, carve out some time for reflection and keep that why in front of you. When times are tough, it is easy to want to throw in the towel, but if you know your why, you will be able to resist ringing the bell or giving up.

Keep pressing—the world needs you to show up and stay on mission!

Review: Selma

Every winter since we started dating, Jamie and I have a bit of a tradition. Neither of us can recollect making this an intentional tradition, but the pattern emerged, and we can both trace it back to winter 2008. Winter is our moving watching season, but not just any movies, we end up watching really serious historical/biographical films that give us an opportunity to think about justice and the perseverance of the human spirit. This winter has been no exception.

One of the movies we watched this winter was Selma, a movie that tells the story of the planning and events that led to the march 54 miles from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama on March 7, 1965. As I started writing this post, I just had the realization that today marks 50 years since that march. The march itself led to President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights act of 1965, and was a massive milestone in the civil rights movements of the 1960s.

I won’t go into the details of the film, but I do recommend you go watch it. I recommend it for a couple of reasons. First, it is a great film. Beyond being a great film, it carries the viewer back 50 years to a very different United States, and portrays just how overwhelming the opposition was to equal voting rights in parts of this country, and also carries the viewer to see how that opposition was overcome. Movies like Selma are a reminder that as Dr. King said many times, “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” May we all remember that the path toward a better world may not be an easy one, but it is always worthwhile to labor for the betterment of others. 

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day 2015 Reflection

Although the actual day of observation was January 11, I believe it never hurts to be writing about the issue of human trafficking so more people can be aware of this issue and be watchful for signs of trafficking in their community.

Human trafficking is one of many forms taken by modern day slavery. Did you know that there are conservative estimates that there are 27 million slaves in the world today? That's more than at any point in history!!!

For many who are at least aware of the issue, they see it as a problem that is seen in other countries, but there are an alarmingly high number of people estimated to be trafficked within the United States. And honestly, even if one person is being trafficked or forced into slavery, the number is too high!

I have a friend who is doing preliminary research on different forms of aftercare available for victims of human trafficking including homeless shelters, safe houses, and job placement programs. Her plan is to pursue a graduate degree at Princeton to develop a model for quality aftercare. If you are wondering what I mean by aftercare, I’m talking about the long process of rehabilitation and restoration for the trafficked person. These people are often hooked on drugs by their traffickers as well as forced into prostitution. The trauma they undergo is unbelievable.

And this issue is not just a ‘big city’ issue. My previously mentioned friend who is conducting research recently met a woman who was trafficked from Columbus OH to Pittsburgh, PA to Morgantown, WV repeatedly. She was forced into prostitution for years and is currently working toward restoration after years of damage to her body, mind, and spirit.

Want to know a great way you can prevent trafficking? Get involved in the lives of young people. Runaways and young people who do not have a mentor or role model in their life are some of the top targets for traffickers. Support programs in your community that provide mentoring and a healthy environment for at risk young people. Groups that come to mind for me are Boys and Girls Clubs, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Girls On The Run, and YoungLife. While the focus of each of these groups is slightly different, they provide young people with options and potential role models.

Also, be aware of what is happening in your community. Are there strange vehicles rolling in and out of your neighborhood? Do you know your neighbors? Get to know them! Is there a business in your community that seems suspect? Keep an eye on it. If you see something suspicious be sure to document as much as you can and then call the Trafficking In Persons (TIP) Hotline to share what you observed. As the saying goes, “If you see something, say something.” 

Review: Where Am I Eating by Kelsey Timmerman

Just as Nuru International was getting started, so was the writing career of a former diving instructor from who hails from Ohio but currently calls Indiana home. Back in 2010, I had the privilege of reading and reviewing Kelsey's first book, Where Am I Wearing?, and I had the additional privilege of sending signed copies of his book to some of our first monthly supporters at Nuru International that he and his publisher had donated.

Last summer he sent me a copy of his latest book, and I had the intention of writing a review of it last summer, but I never quite got around to it. And the real shame in that is that I had a hard time putting it down once I started reading it, and I really wanted to share my thoughts about it with others. Better late than never, right?

So first off, I was really impressed with Kelsey's first book and while I was expecting a variation on a theme with "Where Am I Eating?", I found that Kelsey's skill as a writer had developed, and the stories he shared were even more compelling.

I also admittedly thought I would read Kelsey's book and find it interesting and compelling, but at the same time I felt like I was pretty well informed on food. Jamie and I eat pretty healthy--she researches tasty recipes with healthy ingredients using Pinterest and other internet tools. We tend to buy local at the Morgantown Farmers' Market and belong to a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) called Mountain Harvest Farm. If you live in/near Morgantown WV, you should join it next year! If not, you should find one in your community and support local agriculture!

In the meantime, let me tell you more about this book. Kelsey started his book with coffee. He traveled to Colombia with a Starbucks bag in an effort to connect with a coffee farmer who may have been related to the coffee he had enjoyed back in the US. The book starts here, and then Kelsey takes us on a journey with the farmers of Colombia who work long hours growing and picking coffee. He joins with these coffee farmers in their labor and does the same with banana, cocoa, lobster, and apple farmers as the book progresses. And as he labors and shares his story and the stories of the people he meets, I feel like as I read, Kelsey is taking me (and anyone else who has the privilege of reading his book) on a journey into the lives of farmers around the globe. And this is not an investigative journalist kind of journey. I believe that Kelsey walked away from each experience having made new friends, and having a better understanding of our global food economy than most people, and because of his writing, I may not have made friends, but I understand much better.

I don't know about you, but as informed as I think I am, I run through my daily life on a number assumptions. I want to trust that most of the food I see and/or purchase in the grocery store comes from the United States. But I feel like I made a number of discoveries in the book. I thought that Maine is the place where the majority of our lobster comes from. I was wrong. It's Nicaragua. I figured most apples and apple juice come from Washington, Michigan, or Virginia. They're grown in China.

I'm really tempted to go into detail on each section of the book, but I'll truncate this already long post with a simple encouragement for you to buy it, read it, and let it inform your choices about what you eat, and where you eat. Kelsey writes in a way that is winsome. He's not an angry protester. He's a man who is just trying to wrestle through wise decisions for himself, his family, his community, and his world. And maybe we all need a little nudge of encouragement to wrestle as well.

And Kelsey, please forgive me for this delayed review. The book was engaging, inspiring, and has left me and Jamie thinking deeply about where we are eating.