Jesus, Religion, Race, and Nationality

One morning personal Bible study this week, I got to what I thought was a familiar passage in the gospel according to Luke. Jesus has just returned from being tempted in the wilderness, and, being a good Jew, goes to synagogue. As is the custom, he takes his turn reading from the Scriptures. But the passage he chooses, and the way in which he reads it, immediately draws the attention of the entire room. He reads from the 61st chapter of the book of Isaiah, which speaks of the coming Messiah, upon whom God's Spirit rests, who will do great and redemptive works for God's people. With great dramatic flair, he closes the scroll, hands it back to the attendant, pauses for effect, and then says, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Shocking! Imagine walking into any synagogue or church today and doing this. I don't care how much charisma oozes out of you, or how booming your voice; this sort of antic would be met with either irritation ("get this clown out of here!"), indignation ("how dare you make such a claim!"), or, I suppose if your congregation is a more sympathetic one, concern ("oh dear, it appears our guest has lost his marbles!").

My memory of this passage was that the reaction Jesus actually got was rage: they rushed at him, dragged him to the edge of a cliff, and desired to throw him off the side, although somehow he was able to escape and walk away. But in reading this passage earlier this week, I realized that reaction doesn't happen until several verses after Jesus is done reading. In fact, the synagogue members' immediate response to Jesus' dramatic reading can almost be described as bemused pride: Luke records that they spoke well of him and wondered, "say, isn't this Joseph's son?" Close your eyes and imagine the pleased looks on people's faces and the happy tone of people's voices as they all say or think, "Well, this is simply delightful; our hometown son thinks he's the Messiah!"

So apparently Jesus' audacious and irreverent claim to be the Messiah and to speak Scripture not as one just reading it wasn't cause for sharp rebuke or deep ire, although I hope you can concede why my faulty memory might erroneously make that connection. So what was it that caused the audience to fly off the handle and forcibly remove Jesus to a high place where they could throw him off a ledge?

Apparently it was not so much religion as race and nationality. In his sermon, "Jesus is the End of Ethnocentrism," Pastor John Piper notes that Jesus responds to the crowd's favorable reaction to his bold reading with two very controversial and bothersome stories from the Old Testament. Both stories are pre-cursors to the more expansive view of who constitutes the people of God that the New Testament is more known for, which will start with Jesus' own ministry and then expand greatly through the work of such early believers as Peter, Paul, and Silas. Both stories, in other words, are reminders that this more expansive definition of who can be a child of God will not be a new concept starting with Jesus, but will be very much consistent with the wishes and purposes of God dating all the way back to Old Testament days.

The first story notes that though there were many needy widows in Israel during a particular time of famine, they were left wanting while the great prophet Elijah was sent to help a Sidonean widow. The second story notes that though there were many needy lepers in Israel who were in need of cleansing, they were left untouched while the great prophet Elisha was sent to help a Syrian king who was a leper.

There isn't much context that Jesus provides as far as why he conjures up these two Old Testament stories out of the blue, but the message is clear nonetheless: you may see me as your hometown son, but as the Messiah, my ministry will reach well beyond you to encompass people from other races and nationalities. The response is immediate: "And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things; and they got up and drove Him out of the city, and led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built, in order to throw Him down the cliff."

To be sure, outside the walls of our religious gatherings, the audacious claims that Jesus makes over and over again - that He is the One, and that there is no Truth, Life, or Way to the Father but through Him - are often cause for rage among those who find such claims the height of arrogance, narrow-mindedness, and intolerance. I am scared, though, to consider two things about those of us who reside inside the walls. First, have Jesus' audacious claims lost their effect with us? Instead of realizing just how brazen His statements are, and adjusting our lives based on the fact that they are actually true, do we respond with a pleasant, "Well, isn't that special?"

Second, do we also become enraged at the thought that Jesus is brashly and somewhat abruptly pushing against our notions of who are the people of God, stretching it outward to encompass more races and nationalities? Does it bother us when we are reminded that the true work of God sometimes bypasses "us" (as we define it) for a season to bless "others" (again, as we define it)? Would we rather throw this Jesus off a cliff and make a new one up in our image, which takes care of our own and keeps those different from us away?

Or, are we constantly astounded by Jesus' words and behaviors, realizing how jarring they would be today as they were back then, determining that yet they are true and thus perhaps our own lives ought to be more provocative and bold? And, are we choosing not to fight against Jesus' more expansive understanding of who's in His tent, and instead working cheerfully and eagerly to break down barriers and push out walls so that others of different races and nationalities can be included?

Again, I am scared to consider which it is. Because I have done a little soul-searching and I don't like all I see inside of me. But I am trying to turn it around. And, by God's grace, perhaps we Christians can also turn it around. Thankfully, despite any past wounds we have wrought and any past prejudices we have kept, God is still able to work in spite of us and through us to do a great work of reconciliation and Kingdom-building. People can believe whatever they want to believe, so if you want to make Jesus into your own image, that's your choice. But if you want to say that you truly follow Him, you have to get used to Him making bold religious claims about His kingship, and doing bold work to push the boundaries of that kingdom past racial and national boundaries. And you have to decide that, yes in fact, this is the One that you are going to call Lord and Savior.

Winners

The World Series is now a best-of-five, as the Phillies and Yankees split the first two games in New York, and the series shifts to Philadelphia for the next three days. But, as a Philadelphian, I have to claim victory, however premature that may seem.

First, I think I can speak for many locals when I say that no matter how the rest of these playoffs play out, you have to tip your cap to the home team. To win last year's World Series and then win the division and make it all the way to the World Series and at the very least not get swept by the mighty Yankees is certainly grounds for claiming a moral victory. Not many pundits picked the Yanks to lose, so even though the series is only two games old, most would have to concede that the two teams are a lot closer in quality than first imagined.

Second, you have to like the combination of confidence, grit, and looseness exhibited by the team in red. From Jimmy Rollins' brazen prediction of "Phillies in 5" on Letterman to Cliff Lee's cool glovework in Game 1 to Pedro Martinez not being able to resist a wide grin as he exited to catcalls in Game 2 to the Philadelphia Daily News' snarky headline the next morning ("Yanks Avert Sweep"), the Fightin's are having fun even while they kick butt and take names. Was it just last year that this franchise was known as the first to reach 10,000 losses? Have swagger, success, and serenity replaced the agony of defeat and the choke collar?

On a related note, it is fun to live in a city whose sports team is on an extended run of success. Hey, we still have a lot to clean up, literally and figuratively, whether it's our politics or our schools or our streets. But the home team has galvanized a citywide spirit of happiness and pride the likes of which haven't been felt in, well, maybe ever. (The additional boost from sales of Phillies gear and hosting playoff games doesn't hurt the local economy, either, for that matter.) And, starting tonight, the world will take notice of how much more boisterous Philadelphia fans are than the New York fans who were eerily quiet in Yankee Stadium for most of the first two games. (Recall that, even before the start of a game, Phillies fans can even outshout an indoor auditorium packed with Obama supporters on the eve of a historic election.)

So while I have a strong rooting interest in these final games - got to support the home team, and I have a visceral hatred for the Bronx Bommbers - I can watch them without biting my nails or dreading a colossal letdown, and simply enjoy the contests for what they are: well-played, taut matches between the last two teams standing. Now that said, let's hope the Fightin's beat the Yanks' brains out over these next three games. Go Phils!

Tempted

Our first parents succumbed to temptation in the garden, choosing to do something expressly forbidden, in the belief that somehow God was withholding the best from them, despite all evidence to the contrary in the form of literal paradise and plentiful physical and spiritual provision. Our forefathers succumbed to temptation in the desert, grumbling aloud about how much better past enslavement was than present wandering, failing to accept and lay full claim to the sureness of future abundance. Meanwhile, our Savior was exposed to but did not break in the presence of great temptation, in the form of challenges to His identity, promises of future power, and even seemingly plausible interpretations of Scripture.

What about us? We are made of the same stuff as our fellow humans, we look to the same Savior, and are assailed by the same tempter. When we are tempted - to lust, to cheat, to grasp at something that isn't ours - what lessons can we draw from these past markers? It seems clear to me that I would do better to remember the following:

1. Our adversary is wily and he doesn't play fair. It helps to remember this, rather than be surprised by it.

2. It may sound trite - in fact, I think I may have seen a bumper sticker to this effect - but we can anchor ourselves against the winds of temptation by remembering who we are and whose we are. When we doubt our identity as children of God, and His identity as our protecting and providing Father, there is an opening to act in ways that reflect that we know better what is best for us. In other words, trouble awaits.

3. To elaborate on that point, there is a past, present, and future element to that anchoring. We claim a relationship as a child of God as a result of a past act - the work of Jesus to not only pass this early temptation test, but get Himself all the way to the cross and to the redemptive act achieved in His crucifixion. We look to a future exaltation and perfection, which buffets against false present outlets for exalting or pleasing ourselves. And yet, for all the importance of look back and look forward, we can only live in the present, and so we must daily, constantly secure ourselves to a living belief that to take the straight and narrow path is in fact the most life-giving, rewarding, and secure way to go.

As John Piper aptly points out, no one sins out of duty. We sin because we believe in the moment that that choice is in our best interest. Sexual sin satisfies our bodies' response to physical pleasure, cheating holds the promise of quick gain, and self-exaltation makes us feel good about ourselves. The problem with such responses to temptation is not that there is nothing to gain from them; it is that such gains are temporal, false, and destructive, and that they poorly substitute for other gains that are ours to be had if we will believe in the goodness of the provision and presence of God.

Easier said than done. We will never cease to be assailed by temptation from now until the end of time, and many times we will fail. But, considering these past instances of temptation - in the garden, the desert, and the wilderness - let us be caught off guard less often, about the wiles of the enemy of our souls, the ways in which we can be motivated to respond incorrectly, and the anchors that we instead should secure ourselves to so as to be in the best position possible to respond correctly, and to truly live right lives as a result.

Design Matters

Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of participating two panels at the American Institute of Architects Philadelphia’s annual Design on the Delaware conference. In the morning, I moderated a panel on commercial corridors, which featured brief comments by me on the citywide landscape of retail corridors and then remarks about two of the more fascinating and vibrant parts of the city, the Frankford Avenue Arts Corridor (as described by the New Kensington Community Development Corporation) and the Lower Italian Market (as described by the Passyunk Square Civic Association and by Interface Studio, its planning consultant). In the afternoon, I was one of three participants in a discussion about transit investment planning, which ran the gamut from the intersection between design and transit-oriented development to the political and financial mechanics of making a project happen.

Spending the day with design professionals never ceases to simultaneously energize and intimidate me. Design is, thankfully, infiltrating itself more ubiquitously into economics and policy. As rational and functional as we economists can sometimes imagine humans to be, aesthetics still matter. Design can differentiate between product success and product failure (hello, iPod!), transform distressed neighborhoods, and bring disparate groups together. In other words, if you want to get something done, whether it’s to make a buck or carry out a public service, you have to be mindful of design matters. Thanks to all the attendees for letting this inartistic and cold-blooded participant circulate amongst you.

Pay for Rain

Earlier this week, I had a morning meeting with my two pastors at our church. As we all ducked inside from the steady downpour, we each made our snide comments about the rain. But, I offered after we were done chuckling, we need the rain. Then I added somewhat sheepishly, "Although local basement owners may beg to differ."

But I have been trying to be more thankful for rain. For while water falls from the sky for free, it doesn't fall in equal amounts everywhere in the world. And, because it is costly to clean, move, and store, water may very well become just as contentious a liquid as oil, geopolitically and economically. I've always maintained, for example, that it is just a matter of time before oil decreases in importance and water increases in importance to the point that it is water and not oil that causes conflicts in the Middle East.

Closer to home, I believe it was California that Mark Twain had in mind when he famously said, "Whiskey is for drinkin', and water is for fightin'." Indeed, I love this quote from a recent Economist article about the Golden State's north-south water wars: "Californians hate rain but love water, so three-quarters of them live in the arid south, spurn the wet north where three-quarters of the rain falls, and expect water to come to them by pipe, canal or aquifer, preferably courtesy of the taxpayer."

Pretty soon, it's going to be clear that there can no longer be any free lunch (or, in this case, free water that has been treated for use in drinking, bathing, and watering plants) in Cali. This is a battle that pits north against south, farmer against farmer, and has race, ethnic, and class dynamics. Oh, by the way, infrastructure is crumbling, and in case you hadn't heard, Sacramento has no money.

The long-term story is that if we can price water correctly, we will eventually get to an efficient use of it, as well as an efficient way of distributing it. Not insignificantly, we may very well move ourselves towards a more efficient way of distributing ourselves and our land uses: if you want to have a golf course in the desert, you have to either expect to pay dearly for it, or else otherwise adjust your expectations.

All well and good to consider in theory, but Californians are rightly holding their breath as they think through the political, economic, and engineering consequences of having to move towards such a structure. In the meantime, I'll continue to be thankful for the relatively abundant amount of rainfall we get in the Northeast. Tony! Toni! Tone! once catchily sang, "It Never Rains in Southern California," symbolizing an easy and breezy way of life in La-La Land; I wonder if someday the title is spoken of more as a lament.

Do Looks Matter

I was lunching with my pastor earlier this month and trying to explain to him what I do for a living. I offered our firm's recent study of retail in Philadelphia as an example of something we work on. After noting that one of our key findings was that interventions that tended to send an aesthetic signal that a corridor was clean, safe, and attractive were the most positively contributing types of interventions, he asked me a beguiling question: "To what extent do you think that is true of churches?"

It brought me back to leadership discussions I remember from earlier this decade, when our team was split pretty evenly between folks who found the current physical plant completely unacceptable and wanted to spend lots of money to make things nicer, and folks who were leery of using physical enhancements to attract newcomers. While I saw the merits of both sides, my take was always much more practical: having just become a homeowner, and being a proponent of the old adage, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," I thought our facility decisions should be made based on how we could best steward our financial and physical resources, choosing to spend money on the building when it would prevent us from having to spend more money later.

But my pastor's question made me reconsider where I now stand on this issue. To be sure, American churches spend a disgusting amount of money on physical plant. I say "disgusting," given the fact that a church is not supposed to be about physical things or even about its own congregation, but is rather meant to be outward-oriented, ever pushing the principles of the Kingdom of God into the geographic and relational spheres of influence of its members. I recounted to my pastor my guilty pleasure of leafing through a free magazine I subscribe to called Worship Facilities, which caters to mega-churches seeking to utilize the latest and greatest in church exterior and interior design. He in turn noted a mega-church he had visited in the South which was so big and so rich that they made regular arrangements to fly their senior pastor by helicopter from one sanctuary to a second sanctuary.

We got a good chuckle out of these exorbitant examples of the use of the physical to enhance the spiritual. And my pastor has spent 15+ years in the mission field in Africa and South America, so he knows firsthand that the most vibrant of Christian communities can be housed in the most rudimentary of structures. But we both agreed that the notion could not be dismissed out of hand. Sub-consciously, the aesthetic does matter. Our congregation should know, filled as it is with artistic types who have often used their gifts - musical, sculptural, visual - to enhance our services and our structures.

More practically, my pastor noted that little things like clean and safe places to change your infant's diaper, delicate touches in the ladies' bathroom, and making sure not to leave paint jobs in prominent locations half-done, can convey an appropriate sense of care and consideration to a visitor. Conversely, being sloppy about such things, whether it registers prominently or subliminally, can tell a newcomer that a place isn't for them.

Ultimately, God draws people to himself and to groups through spiritual and relational means. But the aesthetic is not to be completely dismissed. Christianity is the earthiest of religions; why, God saw fit to come in human form. Aesthetics can mask a dead congregation: consider Jesus' comment about the leafy but unfruity fig tree. But aesthetics can also signal deep spiritual facts: consider Nehemiah's lament over the broken walls of Jerusalem.

Perhaps it is time for another discussion amongst our leadership team about our physical plant. Perhaps we will be similarly divided among those who want to make major improvements, those who are skeptical about utilizing our scarce resources towards physical enhancements, and those who think practically about how to best maintain an old but valuable asset. Wherever we stand on the issue, may we recall our purpose as a church, and determine the extent to which aesthetics can or cannot appropriately play a role in that purpose.

Early Bedtime

This month has been a tale of two bedtimes. Over a nine-day stretch earlier this month, I was out after the kids went to bed five times: once for our couples' small group Bible discussion, once for a wedding, once for a church leadership meeting, once for two business events back-to-back, and once for a client meeting. Not coincidentally, I was sick the entire time.

Since then, I have gone to bed to read right after the kids go to bed, and am asleep less than an hour later. And this will be my MO for the next several days, with World Series games being taped to be watched the next morning. Every once in a while, I can get away with being out late; but I am realizing my body and mind are best served if I make sure I get my quiet reading time and my sleep time.

Now, should the Phils win the World Series at some point in the next few days, you'll hear about 1.5 million fans yell out simultaneously at around midnight on that glorious day. And, a few hours later, if you're up early enough, you might make out one lonely voice join in the chorus.

NBA Predictions Guaranteed Or Your Money Back

I did not follow the pre-season deals. I will not be following during the season, with the exception of a handful of marquee match-ups that are offered on network TV. I won't even get that amped up about the playoffs, my old home team, or my new home team. In other words, I have no rooting interest, no enthusiasm, and no information. In other words, these NBA predictions may end up being my most accurate ones yet. Go figure.

W: Spurs, Lakers, Jazz, Hornets, Blazers, Clippers, Rockets, Thunder
E: Magic, Celtics, Cavaliers, Hawks, Raptors, Heat, Bulls, 76ers
Round 1: Spurs, Lakers, Jazz, Blazers; Magic, Celtics, Cavaliers, Raptors
Round 2: Spurs, Lakers, Magic, Celtics
Finals: Spurs over Celtics

A Day in the Life

Snippets from yesterday in the Huang family:

* Lee attended a green infrastructure summit in the morning, had lunch with his pastor, and in the afternoon was among a handful of Philadelphians presenting to a Louisiana state senator and New Orleans mayoral candidate and his traveling companions.

* Aaron stayed home from school and got a morning at the Please Touch Museum with Amy, followed by Big Macs at a nearby McDonald's, followed by a much-needed nap, followed by leisurely TV watching.

* And Jada had her first field trip at her new pre-school, to Linvilla Orchards, where she and her yellow-shirted classmates went on hayrides and frolicked amongst the produce.

We even did dinner slightly earlier than usual, leaving plenty of time for the kids to make a big dent in the new DVD that had arrived in the mail via Netflix: Peter Pan. That sufficiently pre-occupied them so that Lee could catch up on bills and Amy could go for a run on the treadmill. In other words, not a bad day for us four.

"Dear Zachary" in Canada

Here's some news of interest if you are, like me, a fan of Kurt Kuenne and of his documentary, "Dear Zachary."

***




---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Subject: "Dear Zachary" to premiere on CBC Newsworld in Canada on Oct. 25th



Hi Everyone,
Kurt here; I hope 2009 has been treating you well. Just wanted to check in for those interested with an update on what's happening with "Dear Zachary" and the Canadian legislature:
MSNBC (who holds "Dear Zachary"'s North American TV license for the next three years) was kind enough to work out an arrangement with CBC Newsworld (Canada's #1 cable news channel, the approximate equivalent of what CNN is in the U.S.) that will allow "Dear Zachary" to be seen more in Canada. I had to trim the film by 24 minutes to fit the time slot offered me (a 90 minute slot with 25 minutes of commercials, hence 65 minutes of documentary content), but I realized that passing up an opportunity to reach more folks in the country I made the film for would be stupid, so I dug in and embraced it as a storytelling challenge; CBC was very happy with what resulted, and felt my new cut preserved the original film's emotional impact and message. I'm tremendously grateful to MSNBC for allowing this to happen, something they certainly did not have to facilitate, but they did so to help myself, Kate & David get the story heard more in Canada; the people there are pretty cool, let me just say that. :)
The new cut premieres in Canada on CBC Newsworld this Sunday, October 25th at 10 PM ET/PT, and will air there in rotation for the next two years while continuing in rotation on MSNBC. http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/passionateeyeshowcase/2009/dearzachary/
I held a screening of "Dear Zachary" in Ottawa back in March to which all Members of Parliament were invited. Fewer people than I'd hoped for showed up, but the film managed to convince a couple of Parliamentarians to begin working on a bill to reform Canada's bail code. MP Scott Andrews of Newfoundland, with the support of Senator Tommy Banks of Alberta, has drafted a bill that he intends to introduce for its first reading in the House of Commons tomorrow (Thursday the 22nd) that would add a provision that would justify detaining a suspect in custody if they are a danger to their own minor children. Senator Banks will also simultaneously be distributing DVDs of "Dear Zachary" to all members of Parliament (I sent him 415 of them), so everyone who missed my screening will have a chance to see the film and consider its contents. I think it's a wonderful first step toward making things safer, and toward our eventual goal (denial of bail for murder suspects until trial, a law which would have saved Zachary's life); I'm tremendously grateful to MP Andrews and Senator Banks for their efforts and support on this front and I look forward to seeing how it unfolds and continues to move forward.
"Dear Zachary" won a few journalism awards for MSNBC this year: Best Documentary of 2008 from the Society of Professional Journalists, 3rd place in the documentary category of the National Headliner Awards and a CINE Golden Eagle.
Some of you know that NBC's Dateline produced an hour-long segment on "Dear Zachary", the case and its effect on Canadian politics earlier this year, but have been asking when it's going to be on. It has been postponed twice (it was supposed to air in June, then August) and is currently without a locked airdate, and may not air until January or February, I've been told...but I'll keep everyone posted as I'm informed. Who knows? All the recent activity may give them a new ending for their piece by the time it airs. :)
For my part, I wrote & directed a new feature film this summer called "Shuffle", starring my friend TJ Thyne (star of my short film "Validation" and of the hit TV show "Bones"), who also produced it with me; I just finished editing the film and am currently composing the score. I also recently closed an agreement with producer/author Frank Beddor to work as composer/lyricist in adapting his New York Times-Bestselling novel "The Looking Glass Wars" into a musical for the stage, so I'm gearing up to transition into that project full time as I complete work on "Shuffle" in the next couple of months. I'm a huge fan of Frank's book (I highly recommend it), it's a foray into new territory and a new medium for me about which I'm very excited, and a fun opportunity to flex more musical muscles. :)
I hope this email finds you all having a wonderful 2009!
Cheers,
Kurt
www.dearzachary.com

Setting Up My Own Line-Up

A friend of mine wrote to me to congratulate me on last night's Phillies win. He excitedly asked, "Did you stay up for the last pitch?" Oh, my friend - I was asleep before the first pitch! (And the sleep was good.)

But I did catch all the highlights on espn.com the next morning, and am happy to see the Fightin's advance to the World Series. Assuming the Yanks close out the Angels some time later this week, that sets up a juicy Game 1 match-up between Cliff Lee and CC Sabathia. In other words, multiple generations of Cleveland Indians fans will gather around the family room TV for the start of the World Series and then promptly punch themselves and each other in the groin. (Lee played for the Indians from 2002 to earlier this year, while Sabathia played for the Indians from 2001 to 2008. Oh, what could've been, Tribe fans.)

Speaking of setting our line-ups, I have a vexing dilemma at hand. If the Phils go on to win the World Series, who do I bring to the championship parade? On the one hand, this is the sort of thing Jada enjoys, and she's a lot easier to take on such excursions, on account of her being potty-trained and not being one to cry every five minutes. On the other hand, I took Jada last year, and I don't want to presume that there'll be another opportunity in Aaron's childhood to bask in the revelry.

I'm leaning towards taking Aaron, if only to enjoy some good father-son time. But first things first: the home team needs to secure four more wins. Let's go, Phillies!

Growing Up in the City

Having kids is supposed to mean moving out to the suburbs. Even our TV shows tell us this: singles romp in Manhattan in “Friends” and “Sex and the City,” while families rule the burbs in “King of Queens” and “Simpsons.” (Sorry, I haven’t watched TV in about a decade, otherwise I’d offer more contemporary examples.) In the real world, parents usually offer the following reasons for trading in urban for suburban: better schools, public safety, and more room. Fair enough: it’s a free country, and I’m all for people making choices in their best interest and for the benefit of their children. However, before you put your suburban realtor on speed dial, let me offer the case for raising kids in the city. My perspective is admittedly narrowly focused on Philadelphia, but I’m guessing our situation is not too different from that of others.

To begin with, the alleged advantages of the suburbs may not be so stark. As for schools, there has been a proliferation of charter school options of late, and cities usually have the preponderance of good religious and private schools. We are unusually fortunate, in that we bought in at a low price into a catchment area for a very good public school, but if we had to pay for private schooling, we’d still be paying far less per year than if we moved to a nicer suburban neighborhood and had to pay a higher mortgage and property taxes. As for crime and space, I suppose that cities are more dangerous and it’s nice to have a front lawn; but higher-density areas also have their safety advantages, and substituting the park or playground down the street for your own yard has the nice perk of helping you know your neighbors (and cutting down on the cost and headache of maintenance).

Which speaks to one of the main advantages of living in a city: close proximity to lots of other people with whom you can have casual acquaintance. For example, I caught a Facebook status update earlier this month of the teenage son of one of my friends who, after the Phillies had won a crucial playoff game, reveled not only in the win but also in the ability to gather in the street with other Phillies fans; he even made a direct dig at his suburban friends, who would have no such opportunity to celebrate with others.

Whether it is spontaneous celebrations in the streets or other such gatherings, mingling with people different from you tends to be much easier in urban settings than in suburban settings, as well. Suburban communities, for example, tend to set zoning regulations in ways that homogenize neighborhoods, whereas urban communities can more easily consist of people of different means. Racial diversity seems easier to achieve, as well; for instance, my daughter’s pre-school class consists of six black kids, six white kids, and two Asian kids.

City life also means easy access to world-class institutions. Zoos, children’s museums, art galleries, farmer’s markets, science institutes, ballparks – you name it, and we can get to it with a short drive or easy subway ride. Some day in the near future, our kids will be able to get to these places on their own with their friends, rather than being beholden to somebody’s parent chauffeuring them around. One has to imagine that this kind of mobility and exposure is good for kids.

Again, city living isn’t for everyone. If I thought long enough, I could make just as many compelling cases for raising kids in the suburbs. What I do want to convey is that raising kids in the city shouldn’t be summarily dismissed as left to only those who have fewer choices; rather, there’s a lot to like about being a parent in an urban setting.

Walk Like a Philadelphian

First came Walkscore, and now a more precise version: Walkshed. Not sure how the scores carry across – my house is a 92 in Walkscore but only a 72 in Walkshed – but good to see more online resources that attempt to quantify how walkable a location is. Although Walkshed has not yet accounted for the incredible convenience of having barbecue ribs right outside my front door.

Growing Up

Strangely enough, some of my fondest memories of my mom when I was growing up are when I was most miserable. For it was in those times of great physical discomfort that my mom’s, well, motherliness, really shone. She was the one who stayed home with me when I was sick, made me soft and warm food whenever my braces got tightened, and even cleaned off my grandfather’s linoleum floor in Taiwan when I threw up all over it after one disastrous night of food poisoning.

And so I could not help but think of my mom this past weekend, when I was gutting through an unshakeable headache and general offness. Easily called up in my mind were similar times from my childhood in which my mom took care of me, which I remembered with melancholy and gratitude: sad I couldn’t be a little kid anymore, and grateful to be so fortunate when I was one. Thanks, Mom, for being there with me when I wasn’t feeling well, and I look forward to seeing you again soon so I can be there with you.

Number One on Two Wheels

I’m late to this, but here’s news of Philadelphia being first among the ten biggest cities in the US in terms of percentage of commuters who bike. Strangely, number two is San Jose, which could not be more different than Philadelphia in terms of form, topography, and climate. Other fun factoids:

• Philly is 10th among all cities (Portland is #1 with 6% of commuters biking).

• Philly has the 6th lowest proportion of driving commuters (Philly and Chicago have just over half of its commuters driving, with New York, DC, San Francisco and Boston well under half).

• It was a lot easier for me to bike to work when I was in my early 20's and fit than it is now that I am in my late 30's, out of shape, and hauling one of my kids in the back seat.

Whoops, that last bullet point doesn't really belong. But kudos to Philly for this distinction. And, even better, this is the sort of thing that gets better as you build momentum: bike-friendly policies encourage more biking, which makes biking safer, which encourages more biking, which encourages more bike-friendly policies, and so on. So it looks like we're going in the right direction.

W Goes for the W in the X Prize

I got the scoop from my friend's wife that his West Philly Hybrid X Team, which is one of 43 finalists in the Progressive Automotive X Prize, will be featured on the Today Show this morning at 8 am. Team members had been interviewed by Jenna Bush earlier this month.

If you want the skinny on this team to beat, check out an old post of mine, or, better yet, hear it straight from one of the team members, who got to speak to the Congressional Black Caucus last month. Then root, root, root for our city kids, the only high school crew in the competition, to take home first place. West-side!

Global Warming Debate Heats Up

Oh my. Over the weekend, a torrent of vitriol in the blogosphere over the global warming chapter of Stephen Dubner and Stephen Levitt's upcoming book, Superfreakonomics. In their initial rebut, the authors describe, among other pieces of information, an email exchange from ClimateProgress.org's Joseph Romm to the main climate scientist quoted in the book, in which Romm tries to bait the scientist into saying Superfreaknomics got it all wrong so that Romm could include that in a scathing rebuke of the book.

Closer to home, I can't begin to tell you how many times I've gotten push-back when I seek to actually critique, analyze, and prove the merits of such things as green jobs, LEED certification, or fresh food access programs. How dare I not take these things at face value as automatically good! What am I, one of those dim-witted doubters? And I was thought to be one of those who actually "got it."

There's just as much of me that is rooting for these things to be true, as there is that revels in being contrarian and that is leery when too many are saying too much too soon without proper proof. But, on my best days, I am neither predilected to be a believer or a doubter: I simply want to know truth, and then do what I can to spread it. I certainly don't want to glory in ignorance, nor do I want to jump on a bandwagon if it's not heading in the right direction.

Unfortunately, what good debate is emerging from global warming discussions is being lost in a lot of hot air, name-calling, and posturing. In the meantime, very real decisions with very real consequences await us. Delay is costly, as is improper action.

Perhaps our children's children will forgive us for getting the science, the economics, or the policies wrong, complex as this subject is. But will they excuse us if the reason we didn't make more progress was because we weren't more civil towards one another, willing to hear and learn from others' perspectives, more interested in making progress than in winning a point?

A Miserable Month So Far

Ugh. I've been sick since October 1, and am in the midst of the worst so far.

The first week brought a simple head cold. Just as the symptoms were going away, I had two consecutive miserable nights of sleep, which, combined with the kids being a handful over the weekend, led to a pounding headache. Despite my attempts to sleep off the rest-deprived hangover, cold symptoms returned. And then, a few days ago, just as my cold symptoms were going away, another headache arrived, this one different than any I've ever felt before: a steady, nauseating pressure, punctuated by bursts of more, dull pressure.

I actually took half of Friday off, saw a nurse practitioner, and called in to the doctor on call the next day, not to mention taking more over-the-counter and prescription medicine than I have all year. And still my brain is pounding and pulsating, groggy and dizzy.

Amy had an even busier past week than I did, and yet is soldiering on in my impaired state, in terms of the kids, for which I am unspeakably thankful. Jada has largely adapted to a weekend in which her Dada isn't jetting her from place to place. But Aaron has been a crying, tantrumming mess; and his piercing screams and vigorous protests have left even more ringing in my ears.

Needless to say, it's been a miserable month so far. Here's hoping for some relief soon. And here's to Amy for holding down the fort until then.

Neighbors and Saviors

Interesting choice of honorifics: Penn tied for first in the US, with the University of Southern California, among “Best Neighbor” universities, as part of Westfield State College’s “Saviors of Our Cities: Survey of Best College and University Civic Partnerships.” Neighbor and Savior? Big difference!

Loaded terms notwithstanding, kudos to Penn, and particularly Dr. Ira Harkavy and the Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships, for its efforts to form meaningful linkages in its West Philadelphia neighborhood. Notably, among urban Ivies, Brown, Columbia, and Yale placed out of the top 25 and in the list of 75 honor roll institutions, while Harvard was nowhere to be found. Go Quakers!

Putting aside school pride, this is an important discussion. Whether or not you agree with this particular ranking’s methodology, the issue of the relationship between universities and the cities in which their campuses and participants are located is an important and complex one. In spite of placing first, Penn’s track record is not unblemished; but neither should its top ranking be dismissively, well, dismissed, as it’s also done some pretty remarkable things in West Philadelphia.

Let’s hope this particular ranking stirs some healthy competition for Penn and other urban campuses to be ever making progress in town and gown relations. From where I sit, institutions of higher learning can’t be saviors. But they can be good neighbors. Pats on the back to Penn for being national recognized as a good neighbor here in West Philadelphia.

Sending Love to Some of Our Region's Favorite Economic Development Entities

Earlier this week, our firm had a client in from out of town for two full days of meetings. The first was focused on their issues, and for the second, we took them around to meet some of our favorite people in the local economic development scene. Because of our client's interest in workforce development and business attraction, we introduced them to the following institutions: Community College of Philadelphia, Select Greater Philadelphia, World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce, and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation.

All of our colleagues were exceedingly gracious with their time and forthcoming with their insights, and our clients found the meet-ups highly stimulating, as did I. I am thankful for each of our friends and partners, and for the ways they work so ingeniously and collaboratively for the benefit of our regional economy.

Whether providing educational services, championing the region as a business location of choice, supporting import/export efforts, facilitating business relocation, or providing land and financing assistance, these organizations play roles that are vital to a region's success. We still have our work cut out for us, but we have a lot of good going for us as well; and for that I say kudos to these and other institutions for doing what they do.

Playing Possum

Living in a big city may seem like as far as you can get from having wild animals on your property. Earlier this week proved to be an exception. I was coming home from a rare evening outside the house, a business meeting downtown that I had scheduled for after the kids were safely in bed. I hopped off the bus and walked a half-block to my house. Eager to get in and go to bed, I bounded up the first three steps on our front porch, when I saw in front of me a possum, sleeping. The possum will never be mistaken as one of nature's more adorable creations, especially not this urban version. I temporarily weighed the possibility of alternative ways into my house (the back door? a window?), when I decided to get over my uneasiness with rodents and carefully sidestep it on my way up. Startled, it awoke and ambled away. Unnerved by this face-to-face encounter, I entered my home, wondering if there were any orifices between the interior and exterior of the structure large enough for something like that to find its way inside; and, deciding there weren't, was quickly off to bed.

Church, Don't Be a Cul-de-Sac

This post at Desiring God Ministries caught my eye. The first paragraph tells you what this post is about: "Our mission at Desiring God is to spread a passion for the supremacy of God in all things for the joy of all peoples through Jesus Christ. By turning a few things around, we can also see what our mission is not - and therefore more clearly what it is."

What follows is a list of 8 "nots." And, tellingly, here's the first: "Our mission is not to create cul-de-sacs, but to spread."

Cul-de-sacs, of course, are a suburban creation, the zenith of segregating residential use from anything else. Cul-de-sacs say, "Not only do we not want to be near other uses besides residential; we don't want anything near us nor do we want anyone but us to even pass through."

In this regard, cul-de-sacs are not unlike the Saratoga neighborhood near where I grew up, about which I once wrote, "the comfort of separateness also has a cost of isolation." These are places that may not be physically gated communities, but have been planned so as to achieve some of the same bufferedness from the rest of the world.

You see then why, when Desiring God Ministries is thinking about what it is not, the first image that comes to mind is of a cul-de-sac. The Christian faith is one that necessarily impels us outward and invites others in, rather than shutting itself from others and holing up with our own. We may not erect physical barriers to keep outsiders away from us, but if we allow ourselves to construct figurative ones that are no less effective, shame on us.

And yet, sadly, too many of our churches are cul-de-sacs. We focus our resources on comforting ourselves. We use jargon to baffle outsiders and signal to them that they are not part of us. We even consider "church" to be a physical structure rather than the constant activity of a group of people ever pushing outward in service and mercy and love.

Desiring God Ministries is correct in calling the modern church not to be a spiritual cul-de-sac. Rather, like more urban forms of land use and traffic flow, we are to be out amongst the world, circulating with others different from us, prominently situated in high-traffic intersections and crossroads. Even if your residential tastes lean more towards cul-de-sacs, Saratogas, and gated communities, your spiritual and congregational tastes should not.

Stimulus and Minority Firms

I've had to be mum on this news for a little bit, but now it's public: "MBE ARRA Initiative to Match Minority Firms with Funding." Kudos to The Enterprise Center for putting itself in a position that it got the call when the Obama administration decided they needed an agency through which to help minority firms in Pennsylvania access business opportunities represented by stimulus money flowing through the state level. The headline is a bit misleading, as the brokering is not to capital but to contracts, but the article is otherwise accurate in that we are one of seven pilot programs around the country to set up these short-term centers to connect state-level procurement officers to qualified minority firms. Let's hope it's a win-win all around - the Commonwealth accessing good firms it otherwise might not have found on its own, and individual businesses getting connected to revenue generating opportunities it might not otherwise have been aware of.

Feel Good Events

At a time when all the news you read about around here is bad, it was nice to attend not one but two feel-good events in Philadelphia. First, my firm was at the Union League downtown celebrating 30 years of existence. We were joined by clients, partners, media, and colleagues. The atmosphere was friendly, the laughter easy, and the attendees genuinely interested in us and each other. Thirty years is a long time – our founder and president noted that many of our current staff weren’t even born – and it was nice to mark the milestone with so many quality people who were happy to see us make it this far.

At the event’s halfway point, I had to cut out and hit the subway over to West Philadelphia and The Enterprise Center’s fourth annual Passing the Torch fundraiser. This has become a deeply meaningful celebration of entrepreneurs who have passed the torch of their business to the next generation, a significant milestone in the path to true wealth creation in our minority communities. The testimonials – from a teen entrepreneur, a daughter who took up the mantle of her ailing father’s business, and a CEO following in the daunting footsteps of a legend in the local African-American community – were powerful; let’s just say someone seemed to be cutting up some onions near our table. For those of us in this sort of line of work, this is the sort of thing we work day in and day out over, bearing personal cost and far too many defeats against far too many victories. So to bask in a few in the win column for one night was invigorating, to say the least.

I got home far later than usual: the kids were already in bed, I am usually in bed by that hour, and my bones were weary. But, on another level, I was pretty wired. A feel-good night, all in all, and so worth staying up for.

In An Uproar Over Peace

I haven’t gotten a chance to read all 5 kajillion articles and posts about Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize, but I believe I can summarize the vast majority of the virtual conversation as follows: “Are you kidding me?” “Well, who else would you give it to?” “But what has he actually done?” “Hater.”

Not that this, the 5 kajillionth and one post, will add anything more to what has been an extraordinary torrent of opinion on all sides, but let me point out something I read from Foreign Policy's Ronald Krebs, courtesy of Andrew Sullivan’s blog:

"The Nobel Peace Prize's aims are expressly political. The Nobel committee seeks to change the world through the prize's very conferral, and, unlike its fellow prizes, the peace prize goes well beyond recognizing past accomplishments. As Francis Sejersted, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in the 1990s, once proudly admitted, "The prize ... is not only for past achievement. ... The committee also takes the possible positive effects of its choices into account [because] ... Nobel wanted the prize to have political effects. Awarding a peace prize is, to put it bluntly, a political act."

In other words, it doesn't have to be earned; it can simply be conferred to make a statement with a particular political aim in mind. And with Obama's honor coming on the heels of Al Gore's in 2007, let there be no doubt as to what that political aim are. As a right-leaner and one who wants to make sure there's as much bipartisan discussion as possible, of course I am a bit annoyed. But, if the awarders want to put out there that Obama's impressive rhetoric about Islam and the US, a nuclear-free world, and peace in the Middle East are worth honoring, under the hope that affirming hope fervently enough will eventually lead to the thing that is hoped for coming true, that's their right to go in that direction.

I don't completely discount as useless the recognition of a transcendent global figure casting forth a bold and expansive message concerning peace in this world. In this regard, I don't think it is true that Barack Obama is completely undeserving of this honor, or that it helps the cause of peace in the world for him to turn it down. (Although I will note, parenthetically, that you have to hand it to those dovish Norwegians for essentially saying, "We're giving you this award, so you better not go hawkish on us now!") I do think less of the Nobel Peace Prize as an honor of distinction, but again, if they want to make a political statement, that's on them to do.

The irony to me is that far too many of the 5 kajillion articles and posts on this subject have been anything but peaceful in their tone. It's a shame that we have become so polarized. Whether we are too cynical to swallow Obama's rhetoric or he is too naive for speaking it, the fact that we spill forth so much bile against those who are against us on the issue of him and his words does not bode well for world peace.

So while I honestly do acknowledge a remarkable honor for a remarkable man, in the hopes this bold statement by the conferees of the Nobel Peace Prize leads to more progress, I am a bit flustered by the dent in the their legitimacy, and by the reaction of too many of us world citizens, who have decided to use this news as opportunity to vilify and denigrate and abase their intellectual opposition. Don't we understand that peace in this world isn't going to be reached by sameness of opinion, but rather by civility and respect amidst disagreement?

My Week in University City

I have written before about my love of University City. It’s where I live, work, and worship. This week has seemed to be a particularly University City-rich week: since Monday, not including my employer and my church, I have had meetings with and/or at five other institutions in University City and had coffee or lunch at five University City establishments. (You can click here to see a list and map of the places.)

Housing booms and busts aside, there’s value in having such a concentration of employers and of fun things to do and great places to eat, value that people are willing to pay for in the form of home prices. I’m just glad I paid my price before it went up! I’m also glad to have a connection to so many great institutions, which are all thinking about what they can do to make University City even better. (I’m also glad to have easy access to so many places to eat delicious food!)

How Rich Are You

I own 10 pairs of shoes: black fancy, brown fancy, black casual, brown casual, new running shoes to run in, old running shoes to do housework in, two pairs of hiking boots, sandals, and flip-flops. My wife, who is by no means a clothes horse, has many more pairs than I do. My kids probably have three or four pairs each, only because their rapid growth makes buying more pairs pretty useless.

Add it all up, and maybe we're talking 30 to 40 pairs of shoes in our family of four. This is unfathomably rich, by the world's standards: the median number of pairs of shoes per person in the world is probably about one. That's right: if you have an extra pair of shoes, you are on the rich side of things.

According to this website, if you make more than $2.33 a day (an annual income of $850), that's enough to put you on the rich side of things. I am lucky enough to earn a salary well above that, one that puts our family easily in the top 15 percent of the world's population, which means there are well over 4 billion people in the world who make less than my family enjoys.

Spending is not evil. One can prudently buy a good pair of shoes, or a laptop computer, or a nice dinner out, and not feel that good money is being squandered. But, look at the chart above, and, considering where you fall on it, think about what fortune you have and what role you can play in improving the lot of those billions to the left of you.

Love and Marriage

Amy and I attended a wedding this past weekend; she was actually a bridesmaid in it. Despite the fact that I was nursing a cold, and that the event took us way past our bedtime, we had a really good time. (The kids were safely under the care of Amy's sister, so perhaps we were intoxicated by the rare freedom to party.)

I was particularly moved by the toasts at the reception. One was by the bride's older brother, who expressed his commitment from childhood to look after his little sister, and who was so happy that she had found someone who shared that love and devotion. And one was by the groom's younger brother, who had always looked up to his big brother, was honored by the chance to be his best man, and took great joy in knowing his big brother had found someone to share his life with.

During these toasts, there were many laughs and many tears. I could not help but think of our own two kids, wondering what they might say at each others' weddings, wondering who they might find to spend the rest of their lives with.

I was reminded by these two siblings at the wedding that it is so important how Aaron and Jada relate to each other: no matter what else they do in life and who else they meet, they are each other's only siblings. And I was reminded that who they choose to spend the rest of their lives with: stereotypically, Amy and I thought as an aside, no man will ever be good enough for our Jada, and will some woman please consider taking our Aaron.

Kidding aside, it really is true that when man and woman marry, it is two families coming together, not just two individuals. In that sense, our family is not yet complete; it awaits the addition of an entire family structure that we will be marrying into if and when our kids marry.

And so the next morning, I took extra time to pray for two things for Aaron and Jada that I ought to pray more for them. First, that they would love each other as brother and sister, and cherish that unique role each plays for the other. And second, that they would find someone to spend the rest of their lives with, who completes them, whose family completes our family, and with whom they can begin their own family.

Driving Myself Batty

I think I've established by now that I don't like driving. One of the nice things about the past 18 months has been taking the kids to day care on foot, and without having to deviate from my path to work, no less. Not only do I get some kid time, but Amy doesn't have to worry about drop-off or pick-up.

Fast forward to the present, and since we've put Jada in a new school, Amy's driven Jada to the new school four days a week, since she has places to go from there, while I walk or bike Aaron to the old school; once a week, Aaron stays home, and I bike Jada to school. Not as convenient of a routine, but at least from my standpoint, still no car involved in terms of me having to drive.

Last month, I did take both kids in once, as our repair shop is not far from Jada's school, and it was time to get the oil changed. I distinctly remember how frazzled I was to deal with school traffic on the way in (not only our two schools, but two other schools in between) and rush hour traffic on the way out (Jada's school is near a highway on-ramp).

Earlier this week, I was even wimpier. I only had to do the drop-off and not the pick-up, so all this entailed was dropping Jada off, dropping Aaron off, dropping off the car back at home, and taking the subway downtown to my meeting first thing in the morning.

But, now spoiled by only having to worry about one kid a morning, I was completely thrown off my game. We headed out ten minutes late, as I tried and was unsuccessful in assuring myself it would be OK for me to be late for my downtown meeting. We got one block when I realized I had forgotten to grab the kids' snacks, which Amy had left out for me. Doubling back and grabbing those, we got five blocks when I realized I had forgotten some paperwork Jada's teacher needed that morning. Doubling back yet again put me right in the sweet spot of when everyone was dropping off their kid, rather than being able to get in and out before the big rush.

I realize I am describing half of American moms' morning routine; hey, let me be the typical dad who asks for sympathy when he tries to do one little thing. Shrinking violet that I am when it comes to driving, I was so frazzled that I promptly caught a cold later that morning and had to stay home from work the next day.

Needless to say, my opinion of having to do the morning commute thing via car hasn't changed. Later that week, it was on me to pick up both kids, and despite the relatively long distance and threatening clouds, I walked the whole thing and had absolutely no regrets about not getting near our car.

My Own Emotional Connection to National Parks

In a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article about his new miniseries on national parks, Ken Burns recounts his childhood trip to Shenandoah National Park. He was six, and his mother was dying; and that trip to Shenandoah represented a sliver of pleasure for him and his father in an otherwise emotionally tumultuous time. Burns recalls that when he returned to Shenandoah as an adult in 2003 for the filming of this miniseries, he wept at this remembrance.

Indeed, a main theme of the miniseries is people's emotional connection to our national parks. I have my own: national parks were, for my family, akin to family vacations. Love of nature, frugality, and a masochistic willingness to drive very long distances made national parks perfect settings for summer vacations. We went to so many that the memories blur together: achy legs, climbing rocks, finding walking sticks.

My grandparents accompanied us on many of our outings. In fact, it was their senior lifetime membership card, for some ridiculously low price of like $10 or $20, that got us into many of these places. They didn't accompany us on all of the hikes, but they did their share even at their advanced ages. And, despite language difficulties and a two-generation gap, it was one meaningful way my sister and I had a connection to them, a shared set of experiences we could have together.

And so I could not help but tearing up a little like Ken Burns did, as I watched some of the miniseries earlier this week. Recalling a time of innocence, when the only thing on the day's schedule was skipping stones and smelling redwood forest air, and the only worry in my mind was figuring out how my sister and I were going to pass the many hours on the trail or in the car. Being in awe of breathtaking natural spectacles, and of a nation that decides it is going to figure out how to safeguard those natural spectacles in perpetuity. And experiencing one more facet of grief over my mother's paralysis, in that it means my kids won't be able to enjoy national parks with her in the same way I did with my grandparents.

I have many more hours to go in the miniseries, but I am already spellbound by it all. If there is a practical thought in the midst of my wonder, it is this: I must figure out a way to connect my kids to this someday, in order that they too might better understand me, nature, and this incredible nation in which we live.

Four Corners

A stark contrast between cities and suburbs is the mixing or not mixing of residential and commercial. Where I grew up in suburban San Jose, the closest retail to my house is well over a mile. Versus where I now live, the closest street corner has a bar on the northwest corner, a restaurant and bar on the northeast corner, and a coffee shop on the southeast corner.

And, as of earlier this week, you can buy something on the fourth, southwest corner, albeit not through a traditional store but rather a food truck. Gibb's Ribbs, to be exact. Earlier this week, as I was walking home at an unusually late hour coming home from a friend's house, Gibb's was still doing brisk business. I pity suburban friends who have to go further than right outside their front door to get their rib on.