Ideology vs. Values

I have been reading The Audacity of Hope recently. Early on, Obama makes an important distinction between ideology and values. Certainly no one would doubt that values have a depth that ideology fails to plumb; my first thought is that an ideology is built on top of the bedrock of an individual's values.

Obama uses an illustration that he says occurred in the Illinois senate; a Republican colleague argued vehemently against against a school-provided breakfast program for Elementary school children. The Senator used as a reason not to create this program the argument that providing free breakfast for children would rob them of their self sufficiency! Obama countered that he has never known elementary school children who were self sufficient to begin with, and his side actually lost--in his words, Illinois school children were spared the debilitating effects of cereal and milk.

His point is that values can inform whatever situation or issue a person comes to, while an ideology is rigid and tends to blind people to the big picture in favor of minutiae. No one claiming to be a public servant would deny poor children breakfast, especially since studies show how difficult it is to concentrate when a student is hungry, yet in the name of fiscal conservation--an ideology--the value of feeding the poor is lost.

Pretty interesting, if you ask me. What do you think? In you own life, what motivates you more, ideals you adhere to, or values you carry inside? Wouldn't we all be better off if we identified our ideals and our values in play when we are thinking through various issues and situations?

I have a new cell phone number

Last week, I sat on the edge of the bathtub to help Mia--that's nothing new. However, this particular instance, my Upstage phone was in my back pocket. I picked that phone because it was slim and small and could easily fit into my pocket; the thing is, you know how in relationships, often the thing that attracts you to your mate is the very thing that drives you to despise him or her? Well, the thing that attracted me to that phone was what led to its demise.

I took that opportunity to abandon Sprint (at last!) and move to AT&T so I could finally get the phone I have coveted for so long. She is a beauty--so much more than just a phone to me. I am beginning to creep myself out, calling my phone "she."

Anyway, my new number is (903) 920-2617. My sweet friend, Nicole, suggested that I post this information here, so I took her advice. Had I taken her advice more often in the past 14 years, who knows where I would be today! :o)

This is Sluggo the Easter Egg (a.k.a. "The Enemy")

Have a Happy Easter Time

Raising a child in a Christian family sometimes creates quite a contrast, to me; I verge on pure hypocrisy, especially at Easter. I mean, it is springtime, complete with birds chirping and budding flowers on the ornamental pear trees. We drive down the highway with our windows down and with the laid-back cant that comes only with the change of seasons. There is a bit of Spring fever beneath the surface of everything--I say this as someone who lives in Texas, where winter lasts nearly two weeks; I cannot comprehend the effects Spring's arrival must have on my friends in, say, Minnesota. I suspect they are truly hardier people than are we, that is until summer hits Texas.

The problem is this: I don't want to explain the Christian reason for Easter, especially in the face of chocolate bunnies and bright-colored eggs and joy and birds and happiness to Mia. So, I compromise, and tell her about Jesus (a G-rated version a pretty far cry from Mel Gibson's Passion).

See, I like to see Mia hunting eggs, despite the fact that doing so is arbitrary to me. I mean, aside from the fact that I used to hunt eggs at my Nanny's house on Easter, there is no personal reason for me to enjoy seeing Mia do so. There should be, however, a personal reason for me to tell her all about Jesus and the cross and His victory over it. If Easter is nothing but chocolates and eggs, and Christmas is just another holiday boost to sales, all fruitcakes and Santa television specials, then I wonder about just how much I must believe in Jesus. After all, if I believed Jesus was who I say He was, and if I am who I pretend to be on Sundays, then shouldn't that Easter story trump the one about Peter Cottontail when I am talking to my daughter, the person dearest to me on this planet?

Leah, Morgan, Mia and Stacy prepare to color eggs

I will keep on thinking this through. Meanwhile, pass the egg dye....

Mia making eggs look great!