Why be thankful
Today is Thanksgiving 2009 and we all have so very much to be thankful for. There are cliche’s like “counting your blessings” and having an “attitude of gratitude.” And those are good things. And there are even better things.
My journey of finding a more vibrant and thriving life is getting beyond the obligations of what I should do and responsibilities of what I have to do. Life is so much more rewarding when life can be what I want to do and what I love to do. And, all the better when this lines up with what the world needs, and translates into how I can better show love and kindness to people around me.
The power of gratitude and giving thanks is more than something nice to do on this annual holiday. It does a body good!
This short list from a beliefnet blog itemizes some of the distinct benefits of a daily dose of gratitude:
- Increased joy in the simple things in life.
- Ability to recover quickly from life’s setbacks and disappointments.
- Improved relationships – people prefer to be around people who are grateful.
- Greater physical stamina and energy.
- Increased happiness and acceptance.
- Stronger, healthier immune system.
It’s more than making a list and counting it twice. It’s seeing my life, the people around me, and the world, with new eyes. To see more than I can see. To give thanks more. To give more.
Be thankful because it’s good for you. Be thankful because it’s good for the people around you. Be thankful because it’s good for the world.
Asian Americans don’t look or think alike
Family resemblance. Twins look alike. Siblings look alike. People who have a few similarities can easily confuse others who aren’t familiar to them. You see, the world is really way more complicated than the market-driven society we live in that values simplicity.
The thing is, the Asians you know does not represent all Asian Americans nor the 34+ Asian ethnicities, cultures and languages that are lumped together under the umbrella of “Asian Americans.” Let’s not over-simplify.
The recent incident around the Deadly Viper book has stirred quite the confusion, particularly when the reaction from Asian Americans is very mixed. While some Asian Americans have been vocal about the offensive cultural insensitivities, other Asian Americans did not notice anything wrong. Those who didn’t see anything wrong remarked:
- “While the images may have been offensive to some and uncomfortable to others, I know their intent was to actually try and honor Asians“
- i myself wasn’t offended before… and am not offended now. but apparently, i may be the only chinese person out there that’s not.
- irritated about the whole Deadly Viper thing. irritated. really? ya had to shut them down?
- Hey Zondervan. I just showed my deadly viper book to 3 asians at Starbucks. They LOVED it.
- I’m sorry, but it’s soo dumb that this happened. http://deadlyviper.org/ My ASIAN WIFE totally agrees, too.
- I’m Hispanic,my son is Asian, @MikeFoster cn wear a sombrero & hold maracas 4 all I care.DeadlyViper chnged MyLife
Some say offensive. Some say not offensive. This suggests there are (at least) 2 very different groups: sensitive and non-sensitive.
Is it good for the non-sensitives and non-Asians to bear with the concerns of the sensitives? From Romans 15:1, “We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this…”
To those without the gift of mercy, without this sensitivity, the stereotypical alpha male, the end of Deadly Viper as we knew it, appears to be censure, along with confusion. And in our haste to move things forward, move on, and get past “it”, I fear the loss of this huge opportunity to address the elephant in the room — why can’t the church talk about its racism, especially the unintentional and systemic ones? Now there’s a “backlash” of disbelief over the decision, and to say anything is akin to walking on egg shells, like:
- Why can’t the church rise above all this being offended garbage? In Christ I can rise above taking things personally.
- I am at a total loss of words after reading this: http://deadlyviper.org
- unbelievable, was shocked. Glad that I got to be a part of Deadly Viper just in time. #deadlyviper
- frustrated and confused by #deadlyviper being shut down by @mikefoster and @judwhite.
- I am deeply disturbed w the news of @DeadlyViper website bein shut down. I was just finishin #dvca. I feel robbed.
- Why does it feel like “assassination” of 1 culture trumps character/integrity assassination for all cultures?
- Ticked about the #DeadlyViper controversy & shutdown. I was considering it for group study.
- disappointed that zondervan caved to hyper cultural sensitivity and pulled deadly viper
- You guys did NOTHING wrong.
To those who don’t think it’s a big deal, conversations will not make it a big deal for them. Or, some may think the very valuable content can override smaller issues over form factor. I don’t think the non-sensitives will care enough to use their time to learn more from the sensitives. Sensitivity, or lack thereof, varies for both Asians and non-Asians.
I’m most bummed that the book being pulled, the website’s sudden shutdown, and the sensitivity of the issue prevents us to talking about this more in depth in the open. I feel censured too.
How to find a mentor for yourself
Where have all the mentors gone? It saddened me to hear that Kyle Reed asked a dozen people to be his mentor, and to be turned down and rejected. What’s up with that?
Watch this interview to hear what Kyle wants to do to change this situation:
Kyle (on twitter @kylelreed) may very well be right, if a young person can’t find a mentor in their church for the Kingdom of God, they’ll find one elsewhere outside the church. So, add your comment below and get this conversation going!
Let’s get missional, missional…
Missional communities are the conversations du jour among church leaders, escalating during the past few years. Now there are gatherings (conferences) that revolve around how we can be more missional. (Several local and regional gatherings have already happened, though I haven’t been counting.)
A regional (free) unconference about missional churches is happening this weekend called Verge LA. I’ll be there most of today. Definitely want to hear Kevin Doi, currently scheduled at 1:45pm, and you can watch via livestream at ecclesianet.com. And, I’ll get to meet in person, JR Woodward, host of the unconference. (cf. my interview with Kevin Doi)
But wait, there’s more!
A national gathering is ramping up in Austin, called VERGE: Missional Community Conference.
Listen to my interview with Michael Stewart (one of the Verge organizers at the Austin Stone Community Church) about this national Verge.
I’m putting together a social media team for the Verge in Austin, those who will host online conversations around becoming & being missional communities, both before and during the Verge conference. Start those conversations via blog, Twitter, Facebook, podcast, Youtube, etc. Verge wants to empower and release conversations both online and on-site. Undoubtedly, (our hope is) the convos will continue even after the Austin gathering. Want to be a part of this social media team? Add a comment, especially if you’d like to win a free registration. One spot left.
And one more thing. I’ll be there, at both Verge’s — would love to meetup with you on-site there!
How to raise up minority leaders
Asian and Latino. Techie and Non-techie. Conference junkie and conference rock star. DJ Chuang and Rudy Carrasco. We’ve been friends online and offline. Now we’re thousands of miles apart. Web technology has kept us connected.
And one of the burning issues we often banter about is raising up minority leaders. People and organizations say they want to collaborate and have more diversity in their leadership, but it’s so hard to find qualified leaders to work with. Why is that?
We had a conversation about that in this wetoku-powered video. Watch it:
I have a feeling this is just the start of an on-going conversation. There are other issues, factors, challenges. On both sides of the aisle – those in the majority and those in the minority, racially and ethnically speaking. Chime in with a comment.
Impact matters more than intention
Wow. These blog post comment threads at here and here about unintentional racial stereotypes is blowing up. Big. Time. [cf. summary]
I think that discussing highly-emotionally charged issues in an asynchronous public forum like the online blogosphere is mostly ineffective. One party describes the pain of the impact from the (alleged) offense, while the other party tries to describe the original intent, all sincere and good. To quote Sam Chand, “The difference between reality and expectation is conflict.” Both sides have unmet expectations. Both sides have different perceptions of reality. Conflict ensues. It’s more than misunderstanding.
I’ll confess that I’m rather new to the impact of public communications by influential leaders. I prefer a world of open book open source unfiltered communications, and am learning to filter and edit based on readers’ response. But realizing that words mean things, and sometimes words can be mean things to the listener even though the speaker didn’t intend it.
I’d be curious how other influential Asian American leaders like Eugene Cho, Dave Gibbons, Charles Lee, Ken Fong, would respond. My guess is that a direct conversation between Mike Foster and Soong-Chan Rah, in a safe private environment, will bring faster resolution than any further color commentary.
[update 11/4] Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite have issued a public statement that “some of our earlier messages … were mixed in with some defensiveness on our part. … we deeply regret anything we did to offend our Christian brothers and sisters in the Asian and Asian-American communities. … that is why are we reaching out this afternoon to hear the concerns and the best way to move forward together in a positive way that corrects past mistakes, respects individual viewpoints and, importantly, advances the ministry for everyone.”