Mutunga in Action

I woke up early Monday (as usual) and got off a pre-dawn jog before settling back into the kitchen and pulling out some of the stuff we had purchased and set aside the night before. I found an interesting recipe for 7 bean & barley soup and got started boiling the beans I had soaked overnight. 20 minutes later and some improvisation (sauteed onions and garlic) later, I threw a mess of stuff into a crock-pot and set it to slow … that would be dinner for later tonight.

Meanwhile, I started with the pancakes … for about $1.00 you can make 25 pancakes (4″ size) or so. I measured out a cup of syrup and waited for the kids to come down and eat. I also made a few egg-salad sandwiches for the kids to take to school and cut up the carrots that Macey had peeled the night before.

Everyone was pretty happy to have pancakes and ate their fill…this even fed the little ones who we weren’t really including in the ‘challenge’.

The day went without event – the girls held strictly to what was put in their lunches and only after-school-snacked on the items that we had set aside earlier. I was so proud of them. By dinner time they were all hungry and there were very few complaints about a meal that would have normally resulted in some turned-up noses (although the 5 year old objected strenuously).

All in all, it was a successful first day – I’m so proud of my family! We spent about $7.00 to feed our family for the entire day. Along the way, we had the opportunity to talk about control, waste, poverty, healthy eating and do some math…

What do you play while you work?

About an hour ago, I sat down to finish up a paper that is due tonight. I zoomed up iTunes, selected ‘Classical’ and found some more ‘baroque’ style music (supposed to stimulate your brain a little more than the new U2, I guess). J.S. Bach’s Suite #3 in D, “Air on the G String” started a longish list of pieces that qualified and so, I clicked it (you would recognize it – gets played at weddings all the time). I then minimized iTunes and started working on my paper. This piece is exactly 4:49 long. About 3 minutes ago, I noticed a familiar progression and the violin & I thought, “hmm, after an hour, how am I back to this piece?”

I opened iTunes and lo – this same piece has been repeating for the last 65 minutes and I only just now noticed. Yep, 13 times it played. I don’t know what that says about me – but I’m not sure it’s good.

The good news – I finished my paper. Thanks Johann!

More on Mutunga this week!

Mutunga Challenging – set up

The girls were pretty excited to figure out how we were going to do everything. We spent some time sitting at the kitchen counter with one of them manning the calculator and the other reading off necessary measures for different recipes. After calculating the price of an egg, a potato, a pound of pancake mix and a cup of syrup we headed out to the local “Sprouts” market which sports fresh food, organic stuff and bulk supplies of the cheap staples.

Sierra (13), Nadine (11), Macey (9) and I headed out with a small wad of cash. We wandered around in the bakery for a few minutes, trying to locate a loaf of bread for less than a dollar. We couldn’t find anything and the stuff that was on sale was ‘marble pumpernickel’ – about which the kids were less than thrilled. So, we moved on. We perused the pasta they had to offer and I pointed out the value of pasta – pretty inexpensive. A few minutes later we had loaded up on brown rice, some oats and a 7 bean-soup with barley mixture (about a pound of each). A couple of pounds of carrots and we decided to head over to the local “Ralphs” to find some of that day-old bread. 5 pounds of food coast us $4.20 … not too bad.

We headed over to Ralphs and scored on a .49 loaf of wheat bread – the kids were excited – first time I’ve seen them excited about a loaf of generic wheat bread. Then we started wandering around. I was looking for the Jiffy-Mix muffins which are like .70 for a box and decided to try some Betty Crocker chocolate chip muffins as a treat. They were more than twice as much but didn’t require an egg and milk (like Jiffy Mix). Also, Ralphs only had cornbread and blueberry muffins – no chocolate, desserty-type stuff. So, we got out of Ralphs with a setback of $2.83.

So, we spent $7.03 and figured this food would last us through a few days as we could combine with eggs, potatoes and other things that we already had at home. We went home and had a simple but hearty meal of baked potatoes and roasted pork loin – while we baked potatoes for Sunday night, we threw all the other potatoes we had (4 extra) in the oven so we could cook them and save them for later in the week.

So, Sunday night after much conjecture about what we may or may not buy and then going out and purchasing some bulk staples we were ready for the week. We have plans to eat on $2 per day, per person – after doing the math, it doesn’t seem like the financial part will be that hard. The hard part will be controlling our habits and impulses and planning a schedule that allows us to actually use what we have available….

receipts...

Mutunga Partnership – The Pitch

Coming from a background that has nothing to do with liturgical traditions and remaining a part of that same community makes it a challenge to stay focused on some of the disciplines required during Lent. Of course, it is true with any endeavor that things can be more difficult without support. Thankfully, my wife and family are willing to humor me and more than that – to participate!

Last night as we ate dinner, I suggested to my three older kids (13, 11 and 9) that we take the Mutunga Challenge and live off of $2.00 per person per day for three days. In a family with five children, two of which are still rather young at the ages of five and four I figured it would be very difficult to go a full week. I also figured that it would be hard to include my two younger children. However, it occurs to me that the reality is so many families which suffer from hunger are large families. Inasmuch as I would not want my smaller children to even really experience hunger I began to think about what I would do if I only had $2.00 per day per person. Of course, I would personally sacrifice more in order that my kids would not go hungry. I might ask my older kids to sacrifice something so that their younger siblings would have something extra to eat or snack on. I’m not sure if this would unify us or cause more strife … a thought that causes me to chuckle, even though it is sobering.

So, it will be five of us – my wife and I and three of our kids. Again, my proposal was a three-day challenge. We basically have $30.00 for the five of us for those three days. My wife does such a fabulous job of keeping us well stocked in the food department that our biggest challenge will likely be refraining from partaking of food items that we already have in store. We will purchase the food items this weekend and begin on Monday (a whole week to prepare).

I suggested to my kids that we try to do this as frequently as once a month – I can only guess at the conversations, questions, situations and opportunities that this sort of commitment will bring. I guess we should try to get through the first evolution before making future plans… A telling comment from one of the kids:

“I’m going to not eat anything and at the end of 3 days just keep the money!“

yeah – we may have some work to do …

Week 1 Reflections

I’ve been following along with some of the folks over at Godspace and using the Lenten Guide they’ve released to help direct some of my thoughts and meditations over the past week. The main feeling I have after this first week of Lent is a realization of just how cluttered my life is. Moments which can be filled with quiet reading, reflection or meditation are nearly non-existent in my current daily evolution. I have to create such moments and even that is quite difficult. It used to be easier when I spent time watching TV, gaming on the PC or reading. Now, my PC sits for days at a time without getting turned on (at home). I can’t remember the last TV show I actually completed – the NBA Dunk Contest back on Valentine’s? Oh, wait, I watched that in the bar while out with my wife that night … hrm. All my reading time is spent with school-work right now.

Well, at least Sunday afternoon was spent on a nice date with my wife and a long bike-ride with the whole family afterward.

Anyway – sorry for the rambling … basically, my biggest ‘accomplishment’ this week is to locate and/or make a small, 15 minute time in the midst of my day when I can consistently stop, read, reflect, write and then move forward. It took so much effort to secure this small portion of time that I’m not sure I’ve really gotten anything out of the short time spent just yet. The daily readings and exploring some new material and practices are interesting and I’m excited about the slow, silent effect this will have over time.

I’m looking forward to planning some more proactive and potentially threatening commitments before the day ends.

u2 First Impressions

No Line on the Horizon was made available to the U.S. about 3 hours ago. It’s been streaming on U2.com for the last week or so but I’ve purposefully avoided listening ’til I could get the album in my hands.

The album is diverse yet not quite as edgy as I was hoping. I mean, it is not over-produced or anything (IMO) and has some surprising sounds, actually – but my fist impression is I’m still waiting for some WAIL. My guess is that after I listen in the office, in my car, while I’m jogging, mountain biking and blasting out of my HiFi at home I’ll have a different impression. I fell in love with How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb while running laps on the track at Cal State San Marcos.

My Lenten meditations have been disrupted by this event…

…resuming my mission…

Fat Thursday

Yeah, I know it’s a little backward … but hey, I’m still trying to catch up with all of this. I’m just now connecting the dots with things like Epiphany, Carnival/Mardi Gras and Lent. My ignorance runs deep in these matters. Being from the West coast, my experience with Mardi Gras is virtually non-existent. But I am now understanding that this time immediately preceding Lent was meant as a time for preparation which, like many traditions has gone sideways. I suppose it sort of makes sense that Mardi Gras has turned into a time of debauchery just before the solemn sacrifices which should manifest themselves during the 40 days between Lent and Easter. Having just figured out Wednesday that Ash Wednesday was Wednesday … I haven’t had any time to prepare. So again, I’m playing catch up.

I guess I had my own “Fat Thursday” yesterday where I celebrated with 44 oz. of Dr. Pepper, Carne Asada French Fries and some Dreyers Mint & Chip before bed. I know I’m going to be making some various commitments toward prayer, reading, moderation in certain areas (food and other activities) and continued education/exploration of this season. I’m just not sure exactly how all of that is going to work out.

First off, I’ve been using some of the materials at Godspace where tough questions like “Should I give up toilet paper for Lent?” are being asked. Seriously though, the Lenten guide is a great tool and I’ve been reading through it and sharing it with my wife.

A quick synopsis of Lent, Mardi Gras and some of the different history and symbolism are described rather expertly at The Voice.

Finally, I’m going to be using the Daily Lectionary (also from The Voice). It will take some discipline and planning to remain faithful to this regiment of reading. More so however, if I am to actually spend some time reflecting on the readings. I’ve also picked up a translation of texts written between the fourth and fifteenth centuries by ’spiritual masters’ of the Orthodox Christian tradition known as The Philokalia.

I haven’t had much time to sit and plan and I’m looking forward to the weekend to do just that. The band will be leading worship for a youth event tonight and I’m looking forward to the time with the youth but also the time to actually worship … my prayer is that true worship will take place amidst all the noise.

Attending Mass

My attendance at Mass has been limited to very few occasions in my life. I’ve been to a couple of funeral masses at a couple of different churches local to my area. I’ve observed a couple of other services while living in Mexico. While in Wales, I attended an Anglican Mass one Sunday morning. Otherwise, I’m relatively clueless about much of the liturgy and tradition practiced in the Roman Catholic church (or most other churches, really).

Last night was a good experience. I attended the 6:00 PM mass at St. Mark’s near my home with my mother-in-law and her mom who is out visiting. Standing room only – we stood in the back through the songs, readings, prayers and homily (sermon). Each component centered around either our mortality (ashes to ashes), our need for repentance and examples of penitent Israel in sackcloth and ashes and the salvation brought to us through Christ (particularly, 2 Corinthians 5). The homily was relatively short and to the point. The point being that Lent is not to be a time of long faces and drab appearance. Rather, it should be a time of renewal even if our commitments are exacting or difficult (citing Matthew 6:16ff). The other challenge was that this time, this lent would be different – that commitments would be kept and honored. Because of such faithfulness, God would be glorified, we would be a witness to others and our lives would be changed.

After the homily, we all went forward in orderly procession to receive a rite of penance which is the distribution of ashes (in this case). I do believe it is customary for the priest to say something like “ashes to ashes” or some other paraphrase of that Genesis passage. However, the priest which administered ashes to my forehead was repeating something about repentance and receiving forgiveness in the Lord. He said this phrase while taking his thumb and rubbing/tracing the form of a cross on my forehead – his thumb carried ash which had been earlier blessed and which he carried in a small cup. There were probably 12 different people distributing the ashes.

As they were distributing the ashes, more and more people just kept flooding into the sanctuary from outside. There was to be another service at 7:30 PM and so, after awhile the ushers were instructed to close the doors and announcements were made for people to wait for the next service. There are three separate entrances to this particular sanctuary and each entrance and lobby was filled to overflowing, people spilling outside (into the 68 degree San Diego air – no problem there).

Once the distribution of ashes was finished the celebration of the Eucharist (communion) was begun. I’ve observed this on the several occasions that I’ve attended either a funeral mass or Sunday mass. This particular congregation was much more involved than I’ve observed before. As a whole, the people anticipated various aspects of the ritual either repeating certain phrases or following with certain hand motions without instruction.

Once the communion ritual was completed, I squeezed my way out through throngs of people waiting to get in for the next service. There are certain images and thoughts that went through my mind last night and – I’ll save some of those for later.

Ash Wednesday

So, I’ve never been to an Ash Wednesday Service. In fact, I know very little about Lent, the distribution of Ashes, Lenten Mission or any of that stuff. You’d think I would have picked up at least a little bit on this while living in Mexico through two of these traditional, roman catholic ’seasons’. But no – I’m totally ignorant.

I’m going to try to go to Mass tonight at St. Mark’s by my house – but even if I don’t make it I’ve decided to participate in the Lenten Mission this year. I would tell you more about what that means if I knew … but I don’t yet know exactly what that even means! I’m not being pithy or trite, I do know that I don’t want to wait another year to partake in this tradition that people have been practicing for generations throughout the world. So, I guess I’ll just learn along the way.

As I discover what it is that I’m doing (both wrong and right) I plan to blog. I know I haven’t blogged in a long while and I haven’t done so consistently in a really, really long time. Some of that is due to Facebook and some of it is due to me being too busy to have anything really productive to say.

Over the next 6 weeks I will share resources (online and offline), experiences, thoughts, ideas and generally just journal what’s going on as I try to wrap my mind around this great tradition. My prayer is that it will lead me to a deeper appreciation of the season of Easter. I long to capitalize more on both Easter and Christmas as they are so closely related to our Savior – and by capitalize, I mean use the event, atmosphere and even commercialization of the ‘holiday’ to bring my family closer to one another, closer to the real meaning of the events that are celebrated and ultimately closer to God.

Leetle Beet of Chaos

For reasons I’ll not go into here, I’ve found myself alone in various eateries over the past few days. Without fail, a table near me has been surrounded by 3-5 middle-aged men, dressed business casual, sitting around sternly conversing regarding the economy, the ‘housing bill,’ real estate, mortgages, etc. Sometimes they’re trying to explain to one another what is happening. I’m not sure where they get their definitions or understanding (Rush Limbaugh? CNBC? FOX News?) but it’s interesting to see their disposition. Right now I’m listening to NPR and Terry Gross is treating us to some Wall Street history. Anyway, it seems like everyone agrees on one thing: things will never be the same. Is that a bad thing?

Mostly, I’m just throwing up this post because it’s been over a month since I’ve posted anything. But I’m also thinking to myself that it’s been a long, long time since American and Americans were really into building a Country as opposed to building an Economy. It’s like so many are more into development (technological, industrial, agricultural, political, cultural) that has an ultimate goal of wealth as opposed to true self-sustaining systems on a global scale – or even on a national scale. Quite simply, Christ and the kingdom of God which he announces and indeed ushers into this world (along with the likes of John the Baptist, Paul and others) had and has the answers to these things. That may sound like an over-simplification but it’s true. If the amount of time, energy and money spent inventing all of these different, creative, innovative investment vehicles, opportunities, companies, etc. were to have been spent cleaning, healing, helping, developing, serving, creating something that is real and tangible – that could have really been something. Instead – what we have to show for it are a bunch of homes. A bunch of empty homes. We’re fooling ourselves when we think that we’re making any sort of “progress” when the penultimate example is not some revolutionary invention or way to eradicate disease, some development which curbs the over-consumption of the earth’s resources or bringing stability to mankind. Instead, we have some very creative people who know how to trade paper – in effect: gamble. When that paper looks thin – what we’ve got to back it up is (once again) NOT any phenomenal, revolutionary development.

Today is the 14th anniversary of my wedding day. That was an awesome day – a long awaited and forever favorably remembered day. I couldn’t have told you anything about the economy in those days. I didn’t care. I just needed enough money to make the rent payment on our 1 bedroom apartment. Those were the days! I think we both figured that it didn’t matter what we had or where we lived or what we didn’t have, as long as we were together. Now, 14 years later in these times of uncertainty – I still feel the same – it really doesn’t matter, where or what or how – as long as we’re together in a such a way that we can continue our God given purpose of raising our kids as citizens of the kingdom. If this financial mess teaches me anything it’s that I don’t want to miss the point – I don’t want to congratulate myself for becoming a professional paper-trader. Instead, I want to learn to let God bring true progress, growth, transformation to and among our family – in such a way that it isn’t just an empty (albeit good-looking) shell. I should like that our relationship and our family would become an effective force for true God.

I love you babe and even though I’m hopeful we won’t have to … I’d be glad to live in a shack out back as long as it was with you. You’re all that I think about – and I still can’t believe you’re mine. I’m forever yours!