5 comments

• 

  Joel

  1 year ago

  I am often faced with similar feelings of guilt about traveling during these times of dwindling resources. My family lives about an hour away. While that may not be a great distance, the trip is made several times a year and the mileage adds up. On the other hand, my wife's family lives on another side of the planet. In fact, she is there now visiting her family. She doesn't get to visit them as often as I get to visit my family, but when she does go she really adds up the miles. I guess we have allowed ourselves to become disconnected from our loved ones during times when we thought that resources were plentiful but now will be forced to pay the price for our decisions now that our resources are not as readily available as we once imagined. I guess our only real choice will be to limit even more the amount of time spent with our loved ones.
  reply
• 

  mountainguy

  1 year ago

  A first step could be use more public trasnport and less particular cars (for people who own cars). Use more bike, and try to supoort (or at least, to know about) alternative sources of energy (not necessarily so-called "biofuel"... this seems to be very pollutant, and for its production there are deforestating some tropical forests).
  reply
• 

  Jonathan Roberts

  1 year ago

  I saw an anime series at the comicbook store I work at a few months ago that looked interesting, and significantly out of the norm. No giant robots, no vampires, just a young girl and her talking motorcycle. So I bit. We deal only in used movies and as an employee I am able to "borrow" things over the weekend to "check for scratches". So me and my roommate watched it over the course of a week and were very pleased. In each episode Kino, the girl and her talking motorcycle, Hermes, visit a different "country" and interact with its citizens, only spending three days in each, and only three days so that Kino wont get tied down. Each country was different with its own philosophical conundrum wrestled with.
  
  This whole premise has been a topic of conversation for both me, my roommate, and my girlfriend since. As seasoned travelers, we have all been across the world and back, but we all struggle with it. Telecommunications brings the world together while skyrocketing fuel costs and environmental consequences keeps friends apart. In my romanticized view of the past, each city was its own country like in Kino's travels, with its own unique flavor and traditions, neighborhoods and quirky restaurants owned by cute little old couples. I feel this is historically incorrect, or has been generalized and conformed to a multinational norm of franchises and fastfood restaurants, where downtown Tokyo is as much like Paris as it is New York.
  
  I wonder if we would see the need to travel as far if the city across the river was as unique as the one across the ocean? I think if we could shrug off the jacket of conformity and step out of the "progress" march we could give time to our concrete and marble downtowns, our forested and laked countrysides; instead of looking to build yet another strip mall or aluminum sided townhouse. If I made friends with more people on my block would I have the spare time to spend on friends so far away? hmm....
  reply
• 

  Michael Cline

  1 year ago

  Again, I'm stuck between two "good options." On on hand, there doesn't seem to be anything "wrong" about wanting to spend time with family and friends...to reconnect with old memories and to live "life together" with people who are not necessarily in my closest proximity. Jesus wouldn't mind this would he? Love is the aim, genuine friendship is the goal, etc...
  
  On the other hand, our traveling to make this happen can be destructive and irresponsible. Jesus wouldn't want this would he? Pollution of the planet, over consuming of resources, and contributing our fair share to the plight of the poor (almost all environmental and economic consumption falls harder on the poor) can't be something the Godhead celebrates. So something has to give. Or we have to find a "middle way".
  
  Perhaps Jesus redefines friends and family in such a way that allows us to not feel guilty or lonely when we can't be with our immediate family...because perhaps our "immediate family" has been completely transformed when we encounter the gospel in such a way that our neighbor, in theory and proximity, becomes our new "family." Just thinking out loud...
  reply
• 

  justagirl

  1 year ago

  I often lament the distance between my husband and I and both of our families. We drive little and mostly ride our bikes during the year (when it's snowing, we mostly walk). This makes us not feel as bad about going to see the ones we love, but it still doesn't feel great (for the reasons mentioned in this article). And truthfully, I'm not so sure if I am willing to give that up completely. I agree with Michael that these are two competing values (family connectedness and stewardship), and while the proposal to make those in close proximity "family" solves part of the problem, I still long for my mothers physical embrace.
  
  I grew up heavily influenced by two cultures that value family in a way that would be considered unique to most Americans (who "grow up and move away"--I have followed this pattern myself, but have found it wanting). Maybe the trick isn't to move away from the traditional notions of family, something that we, in the USA, seem too ready to do. Maybe the trick is to not "grow up and move away". But I long for pilgrimage too!
  reply