A Pilgrim’s Odyssey

Our New Original Sin - Chinese Forced Labor

Right now, in some way, you are probably enjoying the benefits of forced labor, some would say slave labor.

It is evil, yet you and I are complicit. It is also, in my opinion, a great factor in the current culture of lying and deceit in our news and media. If you can’t be honest about the great lie, eventually will be tainted by lies.

Now, is all Chinese labor slave labor or forced labor? No, but the surveillance powers of the Chinese Government make it really hard to know what is and what isn't. But ask yourself, if people weren’t exploited, how could they afford to make products in China, ship them overseas, and still be much cheaper than if we made those products in our backyard? Factory workers here mostly make living wages, but they aren’t rich. What is happening to Chinese workers?

In March 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) published a report "Uyghurs for Sale": ‘Re-education’, forced labor and surveillance beyond Xinjiang, which identified 83 foreign and Chinese companies as allegedly directly or indirectly benefiting from the use of Uyghur workers outside Xinjiang through potentially abusive labor transfer programs.“

ASPI estimates at least 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang and assigned to factories in a range of supply chains including electronics, textiles, and automotives under a central government policy known as ‘Xinjiang Aid’. The report identified 27 factories in nine Chinese provinces that are using Uyghur labor transferred from Xinjiang since 2017.

Here are some of the brands that the report found benefited from Chinese slave labor: Abercrombie & Fitch, Acer, Adidas, Amazon, Apple, ASUS, BMW, Bombardier, Bosch, Calvin Klein, Candy, Carter’s, Cerruti 1881, Cisco, Dell, Electrolux, Fila, Gap, General Electric, General Motors, Google, Hisense, Hitachi, HP, Jaguar, L.L.Bean, Lacoste, Land Rover, Lenovo, LG, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Microsoft, Mitsubishi, Nike, Nintendo, Nokia, The North Face, Panasonic, Polo Ralph Lauren, Puma, Samsung, Sharp, Siemens, Skechers, Sony, Tommy Hilfiger, Toshiba, Victoria’s Secret, Vivo, Volkswagen, ZTE.

It’s going to be hard to live in truth if we keep participating in the sin of slave labor, that by the way, makes China and its communist ways more and more powerful and influential in our society.

Make Yourself Heard!

So it looks like the NBA has instructed the Dallas Mavericks to play the National Anthem. Good, the people have spoken!

It is a small example that if you make yourself heard, sometimes, people listen. Especially when it’s big business and they are worried about their pocket books.

In some ways, there might not be a better time to make yourself heard. Entertainment, TV, Sports, all are hurting financially. They can’t take a lot of hits. See an injustice, make yourself heard and be fearless.

Let me remind you of an old Bible story you might not have thought about in a while:

From the book of Joshua:

"When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so everyone charged straight in, and they took the city."

Make yourself heard! Don’t be afraid. The Walls Will Fall!

O, Say Can You See!

I saw today that the Dallas Mavericks have quit playing the National Anthem before games. It got me thinking:

Taxpayers fund or help fund sports stadiums.

Between 1990 and 2010, 84 new facilities were built for the 122 teams playing in the four largest professional sports leagues. The combined construction cost was $34 billion, with $20 billion coming from public funding.

In fact, there are few policy topics on which economists agree more – only one out of 35 of the top economists polled by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business believes that the benefits of sports subsidies outweigh their costs to taxpayers.

If we subsidize sports for the “public good” they better recognize the fact they should promote the public good. Getting rid of the National Anthem is a slap in the face. It’s the one reminder who that stadium is supposed to be for, the public.

Let’s just examine what offends the Mavericks so much:

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by British ships of the Royal Navy in Baltimore Harbor during the Battle of Baltimore in the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the large U.S. flag, with 15 stars and 15 stripes, known as the Star-Spangled Banner, flying triumphantly above the fort during the U.S. victory.

Verse 1 of 4 actual verses:

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;

O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Take A Leap! And Get Busy Living

I was reviewing the upcoming mini-documentary on my battle overcoming suicide and life with my family. It was done at the end of last summer and one of the main scenes is us cliff diving into a lake. Looking outside at the snow, it was a warm, fond memory!

Right before the family jumps, I tell about writing the following poem when I was a young man struggling to find his way:

Took a storm

To crack the mortar

The stone, the aged clay

The walls I’d built to shield myself

From rains I feared to face

 

Took a storm

To clear the rubble

The remnants of my home

To find the lost foundation

Poured before I dwelt alone

 

And the waters flow

So today

I think I’ll swim

 

It may be winter, it may be a dark time in your life. But you can always make a leap and decide to start living.

As Red said in the Shawshank Redemption: “Get busy living, or get busy dying.”

Are You An "A" Student?

Lack of self-awareness and honesty is one of the most crippling things a human can do to themselves.

Teaching your kids to do the same is worse.

As you get older, you observe that a lot of people never learned why they weren’t "A" students in school. Not that an "A" students can't be irrational, they can, but usually to get As requires a work ethic and basic level of aptitude and skill along with a decent level of self-awareness, i.e. if I don’t work hard I won’t get good grades. While "C" and "D" students easily fall prey to a lack of self-awareness of their work ethic, "A" students can easily fall prey to the same thing because of pride and vanity.

All of us are susceptible to it.

Coaching sports has taught me great lessons in this, both by examining myself and watching others. My team and how it plays is a reflection of me, especially the things they need to work on. If they are doing something I don’t like, I’ve learned the first place I need to look is at how I’m doing things, and what my expectations are and should be.

Parents have taught me how easily it is to get blinded to reality. We all believe in our children, but sometimes their performance and abilities don’t rise to our ambitions. If your judgement is clouded, you will eventually lose credibility and it hurts your child.

Honest self-awareness is the key to developing ourselves and dealing with others. Grade yourself: your work-ethic, your abilities, your strengths, your weaknesses, what can you improve? Are you a good listener, do you do your homework, do you have the humility to hear things you don’t like?

Romans 12:3 "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."

Chicken Pot Pie, and The Beauty of Tribes

I can remember the smells and happiness. Sunday gatherings at Ma Dick’s, short for Dickerson, when I was a young boy and my mom hauled me and my brothers down to Mississippi every summer.

Her home was hot, an old simple dwelling, and the kitchen probably got to 120 degrees on Sunday afternoons. It was filled with delicacies, pot pies with dumplings, sweet tea, okra, biscuits, pies, green beans, watermelon and much more that I’m missing.

Every room was filled to the point that men were standing in the doorways and outside scrambled a rat pack of kids of all ages running and hollering.

It is where the seed was planted for big families, and I’m sure it contributed to my desire to have a huge one.

People ask me a lot, especially today when families are small and many people don’t even want one, why, why so many kids?

We are a tribe, and I grew up in a tribe. Tribes can be messy, and if you are not careful, a tribe can be suffocating. But at its best, a tribe has your back, you feel safe, and with the foundation of this safety you believe you can do anything.

Think of the Israelites wandering the desert or early Christians meeting in homes and catacombs. There is strength in numbers, and there are no numbers closer than the blood of a close family.

What if you weren’t raised in a big family, or are single and your family is spread out, etc. Well then create a tribe. I would start small, but keep your friends close and cultivate relationships. Get out of your comfort zone and go to Bible studies, clubs, or heck, move to a small town!

Survival and Pride, Prayer and Fasting

In a facebook conversation yesterday, I said to a friend, “people are far less driven by their conscience than they are by their survival instincts and pride.”

It is true. It is true about me, and it is true about you. It is one of the reasons all humans need “religion” - to train themselves to develop and follow a true conscience. Lose that training, you risk losing your conscience, your compass, and falling victim to your most base instincts.

Of course, I believe my faith, Christianity, isn’t just any “religion”. The core of our faith is the need to recognize that we are always falling prey to our instinctual, selfish, pride-filled side.

1 Corinthians 10:13 tell us:  "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

It is our own desire to do evil, it is deep within us. We don’t need to judge others, we need only look at ourselves to understand why we need our faith

James 1:12-16 follows: "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers."

We talked earlier this week about fasting. And how it should be as common in our life as prayer. We need them both, and with the aid of grace and the comforter, the holy spirit, we can root out the desires of our soul that leads to suffering and death, and replace them with a divine conscience that guides us to peace.

Be Like Toodles, A Sojourner!

My wife and I (girlfriend at the time), were on the homeward leg of a motorcycle journey and we had one last stop to make with my Grandma Toodles. I wasn’t sure what to expect as I approached long-haired on a motorcycle with a strange girl.

But Grandma Toodles never failed, and she had supper ready and not soon after, with a grin, asked if she could try on my helmet! She said if she was younger she’d have me give her a ride. I tried to coax her, but she wouldn’t budge.

You see, there is a sojourner in all of us. A traveler, a part of our soul that knows we are on a journey and when we recognize that life gets exciting.

In many ways, the Bible is a storybook of journeys. From Adam and Eve leaving the garden, to the wanderings of Moses and his people, to John the Baptist in the desert or Christ on the many paths of his ministry.

We are all called to be part of that journey.

In Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Cleaning Our Cells And Our Souls

We are sojourners! How do we war against the things that war against our soul? We go deep! Physically and spiritually!

From a Forbes magazine article on fasting:

"Longo’s hypothesis is that fasting (or starvation) forces your body to “recycle a lot of the immune cells that are not needed” which explains the drop in the white blood cell count. Two of the key mechanisms are an enzyme called PKA and a hormone called IGF-1, both of which are reduced by fasting. Once you start eating again, your stem cells kick back into high gear to replenish the cells that were recycled."

Now that is the potential result from a physical fast. Why wouldn’t a spiritual fast have the same impact? But instead of fasting from food, why not fast from every unnecessary, worldly thing in your life – internet, TV, magazines, gossip. Force yourself to give up on anything extraneous. Maybe go on a retreat, into the woods, the desert, to a monastery. Don’t feed your passions for a few days and see if the desires recede and you begin to focus on more important things.

Just like a physical fast, a spiritual fast isn’t a one-time thing. We accumulate garbage, in our cells and in our souls, and we need to periodically flush them out to see clearly and live healthy.

We Are Sojourners

From a prayer to Christ our King:

“we are sojourners on earth, our true citizenship is in heaven”

Sojourn – a temporary stay (n) or – to stay for a time in a place (v)

Sometimes a stranger helps us when we are broken down. More often than not, they pass you by.

Sometimes you wake up to a happy surprise, sometimes a horrible disaster.

But don’t worry, you are sojourner!

1 Chronicles 29:15: "For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding."

1 Peter 2:11-12: "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."