Posts

Posted on

Reflections on the United States After Visits to Egypt and Mexico

This year, I was blessed to spend two weeks each in Egypt and Mexico. It was the first time in 25 years that I had travelled outside the United States or Canada. My major takeaway from my trips to Mexico and Egypt was a new appreciation for the blessings we enjoy in the United States. The U.S. has its weaknesses, to be sure, but we have a lot of strengths, and our prosperity allows us the resources to work on our weaknesses. What are those strengths?

Before I talk about America’s strengths, let me talk about the strengths of Mexico and Egypt. First, let me talk about Mexico. I knew that Mexico is more prosperous than many Americans think. I went to Cancún and Guadalajara. Guadalajara is right in the heart of Mexico. It is surprisingly prosperous. Its plazas or shopping centers can rival or outdo those of the United States.

One day, an Uber dropped me off near a lower-end plaza. I was waiting for a friend to finish with a meeting. So, I looked for a good place to wait. I was there by the road, and I looked across the street. There was a Starbucks, just one of many that I saw in México. I was actually standing in front of an Autozone. Down the street, there was a Denny’s, because a Grand Slam is a Grand Slam in any language. Walmart and Sam’s Club were everywhere. Mexico is more like the United States and more prosperous than one might suppose.

What is striking about México is the insecurity. Every house seems to have high walls. There is often barbed wire on the top of the walls. Nevertheless, I talked to numerous locals, and they assured me that it was safe to walk in the street during the day in Guadalajara. I had no problems as I did so, though, admittedly, I only did this a couple of times.

In terms of economic conditions, Mexico and Egypt are somewhat similar. The dollar goes a lot further in those countries than it does back home. Egypt did not seem as prosperous as Mexico, though. The conditions seemed more challenging (see this interesting comparison here).

What struck me most about Egypt was the friendliness of people. Everyone was ready to connect with you and be your friend. People would greet you with kindness. For example, I would ask them if they were having a good day. All over, they would say things like, “I am having a good day because I get to see you.” Now, the cynic in me was tempted to think that this was because of American money. However, three things showed me that this was not the case. First, I observed that they always treated each other with the same warmth. Second, when we stayed at a hotel during the celebration of the Feast of Eids, we met numerous upper middle class or upper class people. They were just as friendly as the poorer people had been. They took us under their wing and wanted to be our friends. Third, in Mexico, Melinda and I met two Egyptian women who lived in the United States and were vacationing in Mexico. They were the same way, they wanted to connect with us and were happy to be friends with us. I’ve never been to a place where it was easier to make friends. Continue reading “Reflections on the United States After Visits to Egypt and Mexico”

Posted on

5 Perspectives to Get Us Unstuck

We’re about to start a new year. It’s time to think about new goals, new activities, and new habits. The trouble is, we often end up stuck in the same old ways of doing things. We start something new, and resistance sets in. It’s like we’re walking through deep mud and trying to climb up a steep bank. It seems like everything around us wants to keep us in the same old ruts.

The ancient philosophers of the Western world dealt with big abstract ideas, but they also thought through these common problems. I have found that they offer some ways to help us think differently about common problems that offer new perspectives. They are alternative perspectives on common problems that can help get us unstuck.

1. Change of habits takes time. Aristotle says “. . . men acquire many qualities neither by nature nor by teaching but by habituation, bad qualities if they are habituated to the bad, good if the good” (Eudemian Ethics, 1.1).

My comment: we look at many things we can’t do and think that we cannot do them because we cannot do them now. Aristotle observes that many things involve work over time, habituation. So, it would be better when looking at most things we cannot do to not say, “I cannot do that,” but rather to say, “I cannot do that today.” We can acquire new skills. They just take work over time.

2. How you think will determine how you live. “Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind, for the soul is dyed by the thoughts” (Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.16).

My comment: the way that we think about things has a strong effect on how we feel about them. However, we can think differently about things and so feel differently about them. For example, we may look at mistakes as a disaster, and so we get angry at ourselves. However, we can think differently. We can accept that mistakes are a normal part of the human learning process. This makes it easier to keep going. That’s what these alternative ways of thinking are all about. If our thoughts shape the character of the soul, we can change our thoughts and consequently the character of our soul. Continue reading “5 Perspectives to Get Us Unstuck”

Posted on

Basic Life Rules Applied to the Time of Coronavirus

In March, it began to become clear that the novel coronavirus was going to hit our shores. It was going to cause major disruption. I felt pretty overwhelmed as I contemplated the changes that might take place. Eventually, I started applying the basic rules of life that I have applied to other difficulties. It made a difference. Over time, I was able to adjust and keep going with less anxiety. But people, including me, continue to struggle. So, I find myself needing to go back to my basic life rules in order to keep moving forward in joy and service.

Here are nine rules that I have applied to this time to help me live well. I continue to need them, and so I thought it would be useful for me, and hopefully to others, to reproduce what I wrote back in March.

  1. Don’t take responsibility for things you can’t change. You can’t solve every problem in the world. Let go of as much as you can.
  2. Do take responsibility in your area of responsibility. What are the things that am I most directly responsible for such as loving my wife, caring for my children, being a good neighbor, and being a good church member? Focus on these things. Continue reading “Basic Life Rules Applied to the Time of Coronavirus”
Posted on

11 Fascinating Facts from the History of Egypt

In May, I will be travelling to Egypt for the first time. In order to profit from my trip, I’ve been studying the history of Egypt. It is fascinating. As Herodotus said, “I will speak at length about Egypt because there is no other country like it, nor any other that possesses as many wonders.” I recommend Jason Thompson’s A History of Egypt, as an overview of the whole history. It keeps moving and doesn’t get bogged down yet covers every era in a helpful way. Here are 11 fascinating facts from the history of Egypt. These are the things that stuck out to me. I am curious to see if this list will change after I visit Egypt.

1. Djoser, the second king of the 3rd Dynasty, erected the Step Pyramid. It was the first great stone building in the world. “Described by one Egyptologist as a ‘subterranean palace,’ the underground dimension of the Step Pyramid was never equaled in subsequent pyramids” (22). There were many pyramids built subsequently, but it is interesting to note that there were twice as many pyramids were built in Nubia as in Egypt. You can see these today in North Sudan.

2. Hieroglyphs (not hieroglyphics), the writing of the Egyptians, began in the Old Kingdom. They considered it as a gift from the god of wisdom, Thoth. So, they wanted to keep using the same writing throughout their history. Even in ancient times, people were impressed with the appearance of this writing. It continued from the third millennium B.C. until the Byzantine Empire (around the 6th century A.D., when the last temple (Philae, near Aswan) was closed). Eventually, the knowledge of their meaning was lost. It was not rediscovered until they were deciphered in the 19th century after the discovery of the Rosetta Stone.

3. The Old Kingdom (Ancient Egyptian history is commonly divided into Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms) had no slaves. They used the corvée, which was the drafting of individuals in the kingdom for a month of labor, to construct the great pyramids. The reason they could do this was “a widely shared ideology about the nature of society and how it should function” (34). “The pyramids were certainly designed as royal tombs. Doubts that any society would devote so much of its resources to such a purpose are based on misunderstandings of the Old Kingdom and its driving ideology” (36). Continue reading “11 Fascinating Facts from the History of Egypt”

Posted on

Dealing with the Small Frustrations of Life

Do the small frustrations of life get you really upset or even angry?

How about traffic? Yesterday, I had to drive my daughter to The Island, an outdoor mall here in Pigeon Forge. Normally, I can do this in about 30 minutes. By the time I got to Teaster Road, I realized that this was going to take a lot longer. This was Rod Run. I saw the night I had planned begin to slip away. 30 minutes. 45 minutes. Finally, I arrived at the Island. Then, I headed home. Google found me a back way, but it was along a narrow, winding mountain road with a 20 mph speed limit in the dark. I almost thought of turning around and going through all the traffic. I made it home after more than an hour. Do these sorts of delays ever frustrate you?

What about grilling? Grilling is great, but there’s one problem. You never know when the propane will run out. So, you start the grill and start cooking the meat, and then you realize, there’s no flame! Now, you have to go out into all that Rod Run traffic and get more propane. Does stuff like that ever get you really upset?

These things can easily get me upset or frustrated, but I don’t want to be upset or frustrated by them. I’d really like to be able to meet these little inconveniences with equanimity. I’d like to be better at handling life’s little frustrations.

Fortunately, I’ve developed some tools to help me deal with these things better. These tools are different mindsets and different ways of looking at these problems. When I can look at these little frustrations with a different mindset rather than the emotional intensity of the moment, I can meet these small trials with greater peace. I know my mindset won’t change in a day or a week, but these things can help over time. Also, when I find myself losing composure, I can go back to them and calm myself down. Here’s three of these perspectives:

1. Ride the wave. In C.S. Lewis’ book Perelandra, we meet a new Adam and Eve freshly created and living on the planet Venus. It’s a new, unfallen, untainted human race. They live on little floating islands on a world of water. The mentality of the Lady, the Eve character, is that whatever the next wave brings is good because it is what Maleldil (God) wants. She says, “But how can one wish any of those waves not to reach us which Maleldil is rolling towards us?” She recognizes that whatever one expects, one can accept what God actually brings. This is where the wave takes you. Accept it as good because it comes from Maleldil. Continue reading “Dealing with the Small Frustrations of Life”

Proudly powered by WordPress