Our Easter Sunday earthquake here in Southern California got me thinking this morning. First, wasn’t there some kind of seismic activity the morning Jesus rose from the dead? If not felt physically, it was felt metaphysically, and we still feel the aftershocks today. Thanks be to God!
Second, what does the church have to say about living faithfully in earthquake country? Is this something we should be talking about with our congregations? If you’re a pastor, charged with protecting you’re congregation spiritually, do you have a responsibility to protect them physically as well. How about the rest of the community—in your church or not in your church? I say yes.
With all of the seismic activity around the world recently, many of us here in Southern California are wondering how long it will be until the “big one” hits us. It’s been relatively quite for fifteen years, but seismologists say a massive earthquake is inevitable. Will we be ready? Continue reading 'Living Faithfully in EarthQuake Country'»
My family just returned from a week in Nashville, TN, were spent Christmas with our extended family. One of the highlights of the week was the evening we spent volunteering at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. My sister-in-law, Julie, arranged for our entire family, even our children, to spend an evening volunteering at Second Harvest’s massive distribution center. We spent two-half hours on an assembly line packing boxes of food to be distributed to the poor. I worked with my son Braden and his cousin Aiden, packing boxes of canned meat and fruit. The boys rocked!
I was impressed with the organization. They claim, “Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee is one of the largest and most comprehensive of over 200 food banks and food distribution centers nationwide.” If you’d like to learn more about how it works, check out their History page on the website. There’s a short video that will tell you about how they began and what they do. And if there’s anyone in the Southern California region who knows about an organization similar to the Second Harvest Food Bank, please let me know about it.
I stumbled on David’s Berman’s book Do Good Design: How Designers Can Change the World. I haven’t read it yet, but I like the premise of the book—no matter your profession, no matter your work, you can use your skills to help make a more just society. Berman’s book is primarily for professional designers, but his key question is relevant for any profession: Does your work make the world a better place?
His challenge is very simple. Take the Do Good Pledge, stating you will, 1) Be true to your profession (Ethics); 2) Be true to yourself (Principles); and my favorite, 3) Spend 10% of your professional time helping repair the world (Effort). Check out Berman’s blog and consider making the pledge (even if you’re not a designer). So far 88,000+ hours have been pledged. It’s a simple idea, but I wonder how much better our world would be if we really took the pledge seriously—from food servers to CEO’s. So what do you think?
Thanks for stopping by The Suburban Pastor, the personal blog of Jeff Gang. I’m a pastor at the CrossWalk Seventh-day Adventist Church in Redlands, California. This blog is a place for me to share my musings on life in suburbia from a pastor’s perspective. Along the way I’ll also share a few thoughts on my ordinary life (a Jesus follower, a husband, father of three, friend, and a triathlete in my spare time).
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Our Easter Sunday earthquake here in Southern California got me thinking this morning. First, wasn’t there some kind of seismic activity the morning Jesus rose from the dead? If not felt physically, it was felt metaphysically, and we still feel the aftershocks today. Thanks be to God!
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