Living-Deliberately.com

Over a tepid cup of coffee, my right leg falling asleep from being tucked under my left too long, and with a lingering pain in the neck from three days ago, I find myself glad that today is Friday. What is the exchange for spectualar fall colors, mountain vistas, and four beautiful seasons? The hunger for spring fever, color, and warmth when there is really none in sight for at least another 6 weeks or so. It seems most people I know are all suffering from the same late-winter doldrums, so I’m far from alone. The days feel sleepily colorless and that is their own appropriate beauty.

I finished up Crunchy Cons this morning, a book I borrowed and found a few pages in that I was going to have to buy because one must scribble and underline in a such a book. It’s a book that restored our hope in a “conservative” party that actually CONSERVES something; true, such a wonder is not the current republican mainstream, but maybe we think it’s a bit more attainable than we thought at the beginning of the book. It deserves a proper review, a long one that is comprehensive, but the above bland call to hibernate is leading me to post only quotes. I found the book a bit more chewy than crunchy, having been long familiar with most of the traits it described. It’s very approachable and I think anyone who feels disenchanted by politics, and especially the “religious right” kind of politics, ought to give it a read. You just might find yourself surprised.

“Crunchy conservatism is not, as you’ll read here, a political program; it’s a sensibility, an attitude, a fundamental stance toward reality, a pretty good road map to a rich, responsible, fulfilling, charitable, and above all joyfull life. It’s about living a life mindful of and honoring the wisdom in tradition, and in so doing building a tradition to pass on to one’s children, and to future generations……That fundamental stance toward reality is sacremental. In religious language, a sacrament is a physical thing-an object or an action- through which holiness is transmitted…..On a mundane level, you can grasp sacrementality by considering good manners. You might practice good manners because life is more pleasant when people do, or you might practice good manners because you believe it’s a matter of social obligation. A person thinking sacramentally may practice good manners because it’s pleasant and socially correct, but she will do so primarily because treating others with that kind of formal respect conveys her fundamental conviction about human dignity. Someone living by a sacramental vision would therefore treat someone with the same good manners even if it were somehow unpleasant, or there were no social obilgations to do so.”

In quoting Russell Kirk, the author, Rod Dreher offers this challenge, “What can you do….to raise up the human condition to a level less unworthy of what Pico della Mirandola called ‘the dignity of man’? Why, begin by brightening the corner where you are; by improving one human unit, yourself, and by helping your neighbor.” It reminded me of recent quotes I’d read by St. Seraphim. “Aquire the spirit of peace and a thousand souls around you shall be saved.”

“Restoration of a sane economy, one that respects human dignity, has to grow organically, from individual human beings freely choosing to reform, not having it forced on them.”

“We are told that small-scale farming is inefficient- this is true- and that because our factory farms feed the masses, and do so cheaply, we should be satisfied. And that’s a deal that makes sense to nearly all of us: just keep the stuff showing up in produce bins and under cellophane in the supermarket cooler, and keep it relatively cheap, and we’ll ask no questions. But in striking that devil’s bargain, we sign away our responsibilty for what’s in that food, how it got there, and what was done to human communities to close the deal. To participate in a system and a way of thinking in which the act of eating is merely a commercial transaction is to sell out our spiritual and cultural patrimony. I understand the free-market reasons why American’s do this. But I don’t understand why it’s called conservative.”

There’s good stuff in here on communities, neighborhoods, religion (a whole section on Orthodoxy and Frederica is quoted in a few places), the environment, beauty, education, and consumerism. Read it. Let’s talk. Let’s get inspired.

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Speaking of Crunchy Cons and not being alone, check out the new link in my side bar, for my friend Tim. The link is called Living Rich, which is something Tim and his family not only do, but also encourage, inspire, and exhort others to do. One of the reasons my family currently lives in Tennessee is because Tim’s “can do” attitude inspired us to take the plunge and change our lives! Tim lives out loud, lives deliberately, and empowers others to do the same. He’s got a contest coming up for teens and he’s working on a book and he comes into contact with some truly amazing people. Check it out!

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