Shawn Casselberry
Shawn Casselberry's Blog
Ideas for Change / Mar 8, 12:10 PM
The website change.org is looking for ideas that can change our world. They received 2500 submissions for things we can do to make our communities and nation better. Take a look at the top 60 and vote for the 10 that you think are the best. See what others are doing to challenge the status quo and imagine a different world. Let me know what ideas you think are the best and what these ideas inspire you to do to make a change.
http://www.change.org/ideas
Cracked Vessels / Feb 20, 05:33 PM
We are all cracked vessels. That is what Dr. Cornel West said this past Sunday at St. Sabina Church. I was reminded of this again yesterday while watching the public apology by Tiger Woods. Tiger Woods gave a somber, sincere apology to his family, friends, fans, and business partners. He confessed to irresponsible behavior and selfishness. He expressed his deep regret over how his actions have hurt others and vowed to never repeat the mistakes. The part of his lengthy apology that really stood out to me was when he explained why he did what he did.
“I knew my actions were wrong. But I convinced myself that normal rules didn’t apply. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn’t have far — didn’t have to go far to find them.”
This sounds like something right out of Ecclesiastes. Our Mission Year men’s group was studying Ecclesiastes this week and in it King Solomon shows similar remorse and regret as he looks back on his life.
“I said, ‘Come now, I will make a test of pleasure, enjoy yourself.’ But again, this also is vanity…I made great works; I built houses and planted vineyards…I had great possessions of herds and flocks, more than any who had been before me…I gathered more silver and gold and the treasures of kings…I got singers, both men and women, and delights of the flesh, and many concubines…Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again all was vanity and a chasing after wind.” (Ecc. 2:1-11)
One thing we noted about the passage in Ecclesiastes is how often King Solomon used “I” and “my.” Notice in Tiger’s apology above how often he used “I” and “my” as well. We get into trouble when our life is focused on “I” and “my.” We are cracked vessels because we all naturally gravitate to satisfying our own selfish desires. When we seek our own welfare over the welfare of all, we easily fall prey to the vices and vanities of the world.
Community can help us shift focus from “I” and “me” to “us” and “we.” Community provides accountability so we can remember that leading lives of integrity and character are much more important and enduring than pursuing success and achievement. We all need someone to look us in the eyes (and “I”s) and tell us that we are getting off track and losing our focus. All of us need a community of accountability around us.
We have a lot to learn from Solomon and Tiger’s mistakes. Although we are all cracked vessels, we are much better off struggling together than struggling alone.
What We Do For Nothing / Feb 10, 12:22 PM
The greatest acts of love are typically the things we do for nothing. We would do anything for the ones we love. We do not get paid to love our families or care for our own children (you get tax breaks for having children whether or not you care for them). We do it because love compels us. We also do things because it’s the right thing. We’ve all heard of stories where strangers will jump in front of a train to protect someone from danger. They don’t do it for the fame or reward, but because it is right.
It is an incredible blessing to get paid for doing what you love, but our society does not always put great value on things that really matter. Most of the jobs in our urban communities are done because someone has a sense of calling or compassion. If you saw the salaries for urban ministers, social workers, or educators you’d know that they don’t do it for the pay check. And you can really tell a difference between those that do work for a pay check and those that do it because they love it.
One grass-roots organization where I volunteer has no hired staff. The administration, tutoring, musical instruction, and financial accounting are all completely volunteer. One of our Mission Year partner organizations is Breakthrough Urban Ministries. They are a transitional facility for people struggling with homelessness, drug addiction, prostitution, and unemployment. They have told us many times that they would literally not be able to run their women and men’s programs without Mission Year volunteers. In Chicago, I see many people working with at-risk youth, empowering the homeless, and running after-school programs for little or no pay. Not because they couldn’t use the money, but because they see great value in people and it needs to be done whether they get paid for it or not.
When I would recruit for Mission Year at colleges I could always tell the inner struggle young adults had with giving up a year of their life to serve in the city. On the one hand, many Christian young adults are driven by compassion and a holy sense of calling to serve sacrificially for others (their Christian side). At the same time, they feel a strong pull to seek financial security from the various voices in our culture (their American side). It is especially hard for those considering doing volunteer work in a troubled economy. Yet, now more than ever, people are needed. Many social service organizations have had to close down or cut staff and programs to stay afloat. We need people who will respond to God’s call of compassion over the call for comfort and money.
Money is such a strong motivator in our society. Often when it comes down to living for money or for others, money trumps all. We want to be compassionate and sacrificial, but we also want to get paid. When we are able to do what’s right for nothing in return, we show that money is not our idol and not our master. Scripture is clear, you can’t serve God and money.
This doesn’t mean we never get money for what we do for God. In our society, you can find jobs that involve helping people and getting paid. Oftentimes, Mission Year team members get offered jobs at the places where they volunteered during their year of service. These organizations figure that the best people to hire are those that would be doing it even if they weren’t paid. Others return home and find ways to continue serving God in similar organizations.
But, I am seeing a new trend out there that kind of scares me. Everyone is offering incentives for people to do good. Not only that, the incentives appeal directly to our self-interest. The result is, nothing we do for others is solely done for others. For example, many schools require community service hours in order to graduate. So, you don’t really know if they are there because they choose to be there or if they are there simply to meet the requirements. Corporations like Apple and GAP get us to buy Ipods and Red T-shirts because they donate a couple bucks to a cause. Why can’t we just not buy the Ipod and send it all to Africa? See, I’m afraid we will not be able to do what is right and good if there’s nothing in it for us. One of our Mission Year church partners showed concern when I told him about the Eastern Masters program that Mission Year people can apply for after Mission Year. He was afraid people would start doing Mission Year for what they can get out of it rather than for purely altruistic reasons.
I’m afraid we will never fully understand love, God’s agape love, if we are always looking for what we get in return.
I am starting to think that what we do for nothing really has the greatest value.
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Real Hope For Haiti / Feb 2, 11:46 AM
Haiti has been on many of our hearts and minds over the past couple weeks. Since the earthquake, my inbox has exploded with emails from dozens and dozens of organizations appealing for support in their relief and rebuilding efforts in Haiti. Churches and youth groups across the country have been asking for special offerings and raising money to assist those most affected. Television ads and celebrities have called our attention to those suffering in Haiti asking for our generous donations.
And as a country, we have responded.
George Clooney and Haitian-born Wyclef Jean helped raise $61 million during their “Hope for Haiti” telethon. The Red Cross announced this week they have raised $200 million in aid relief for Haiti. I heard that one of our Mission Year churches collected $4000 in one offering during a “Save Haiti” service. Many of our Mission Year alumni and staff have been giving to our EAPE partner organizations: Beyond Borders and Haiti Partners (www.eape.org). It is so encouraging to see such an outpouring of concern and generosity from all corners of our nation.
Although it’s amazing to see the response, it makes me wonder why it takes a tragedy for us to notice those suffering around us? Haiti has long been the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. And as one of our closest neighbors, why is it only now that Haiti is drawing our attention and resources.
The Onion had a tongue in cheek article titled, “Massive Earthquake Reveals Entire Island Civilization Called ‘Haiti’ (www.theonion.com/content/news/massive_earthquake_reveals_entire).” It does seem like we are just now discovering Haiti. Likewise, Hurricane Katrina was the first time for many Americans to see the abject poverty and economic disparities in our own nation’s urban communities.
Natural disasters help us see what we are typically able to ignore. Why is it so hard for us to see the poor as victims except when they are victims of a natural disaster? It is much harder for us to see how the poor are devastated through economic forces, public policies, and social neglect. The loss of manufacturing jobs due to economic policies in the 90s had catastrophic effects on urban communities like Chicago and Camden (See David Ranney’s book Global Decisions, Local Collisions: Urban Life in the New World Order). White Flight left many of our urban communities of color with little resources, employment options, political power and basic services. Discriminatory housing programs and unequal school funding policies have led to major disparities in opportunity between wealthy and poor communities. Chicago Public Radio recently reported that the majority of section 8 housing vouchers go to four neighborhoods: Austin, Lawndale, Englewood, and Roseland-neighborhoods already crowded with high concentrations of low-income residents (and also neighborhoods Mission Year teams have been). These policies keep wealthy communities wealthy and poor communities poor. It is easier (or lazier) for us to justify the plight of the poor as poor individual choices rather than examining the forces that are destroying their lives on a daily basis.
Another part of the problem is that we are charity sprinters. We give in moments of crisis for a specific cause when it is utterly necessary and when it is forefront in our collective conscience. After the news coverage dies down and after we tire of the appeals, Haiti will soon fade from our memory just like New Orleans did. Or the rich and powerful will find ways to profit on the rebuilding efforts just like they did in New Orleans. See, charity is short-term, a sprint, while justice is long-term, a marathon. And even though we can have a strong start (Red Cross raised $1 billion for Katrina Relief), if we are not committed to long-term justice, our efforts will only yield temporary relief and not lasting change.
I believe the real Hope for Haiti will not happen this month or this year, but in the next three, five, or ten years. I think this is why we need to think about living in places of need and not just giving to places of need. I love how Mission Year responded to Katrina by sending a delegation of staff and alumni to live in New Orleans and then followed up for the last three years with sending teams of yearlong volunteers there. It’s one thing when you send a check to a place of need and quite another when you plant yourself in a place of need. Instead of staying removed and unaware of the poor, we need to consider living with them and making their struggle ours. That way, justice becomes a lifestyle and not a one-time gift.
Mission Year is not waiting for a natural disaster to hit Chicago, Philly, Camden, Wilmington, Atlanta, Houston, Charlotte, or New Orleans. We are planting ourselves there and committing to work for the long haul.
Won’t you join us!
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American Idle / Jan 25, 09:10 PM
The Kaiser Family Foundation just released the results of a study on the media use among 8-18 year olds. Here’s what they found:
Today, 8-18 year-olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). And because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.
Wow, young people are spending so much time these days tuned into entertainment sources and so little time engaged in things that really matter. And with all these gadgets and game systems, we are getting more and more disengaged from reality.
While watching the show American Idol recently, I was blown away to see the number of young people trying out. Literally, tens of thousands of youth flocked the auditions in hopes of making it big. It was actually very depressing to think about the desperation and dissatisfaction many of these youth had with their lives. People with little to no singing ability waited all day for a few minutes to make a fool of themselves on national television.
One girl who was successful on the American idol video game assumed that her video skills translated into actual music talent. That would be like me thinking I could try-out for the Chicago Bears because I kick butt at Madden 09.This girl couldn’t tell fantasy from reality so the judges had to burst her bubble.
Other contestants dressed up in outrageous costumes thinking that their zany outfits would compensate for their lack of singing acumen. Again, the judges were not fooled and certainly not impressed.
But this show tells me a lot about the young generation. They are longing for something bigger and greater than what they are currently experiencing. They are bored and unsatisfied with simply plugging into computers and playing games 7 hours and 38 minutes a day. They want significance and they long for greatness. In desperation they turn to American Idol to find it. Unfortunately, American idol offers a pretty narrow window for them to achieve significance. Only a small group of people, who actually have some singing ability, make it. One guy was so desperate to make it he refused to leave before security guards had to handcuff him and escort him out (of course this was the guy who picked Amazing Grace for his song). In America, we are obsessed with success. America’s idol is fame. Everyone wants to be great.
But I don’t think that the longing for greatness is bad in and of itself. James and John also longed for greatness. They wanted the fame. They wanted to sit on Jesus’ right and left. Jesus doesn’t chastise their desire for greatness, but he does redirect them in their quest. Jesus said if you want to be great, then you should serve. Jesus didn’t come to be famous, he came to serve. Sometimes I think we idolize famous people like Shane Claiborne because he’s famous and influential, not because we see him as a humble servant (I’m not saying he’s not a humble servant, just that his servanthood is not why we like him). For instance, there’s a janitor at a homeless shelter in Chicago named Jimmie that is one of the most humble men of God I know and I don’t see people lined up to meet him or tell me they want to be like him. Martin Luther king Jr. said anyone can be great because anyone can serve.
In our competitive society there are winners and losers. The winners are served, the losers serve. In the kingdom of God, everyone serves and everyone is served. Greatness is achieved through the level of our service toward each other, especially those that society casts on the bottom. That is how we subvert the system. Imagine if all those tens of thousands of teens saw their significance in how they serve instead of how good or bad they can sing. Imagine if instead of trying to imitate rock stars and Christian superstars, we all decided to develop our unique gifts to better serve the needs of those in our communities. Imagine if we spent even half of our 53 hours a week engaged in service to the poor and vulnerable instead of sitting on the couch playing video games and chatting on Facebook. I believe we would find a lot more purpose and joy than we are experiencing now.
Mission Year is challenging young Americans to stop wasting your time and do something significant with your life. You CAN be great. It’s time to stop being idle and serve.
Apply Now: www.missionyear.org
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