*edited to add "Character's Page" link now fixed*
As I call many of you my friends, I know that many of you have enjoyed my comic. This makes me happy. It has been comments like, “I would make Love to the Uberbean” that have really motivated me to come back with this story. Which returns … well … now.
To get ready for the comeback, I made significant changes. The website is much improved now with both a “characters” page and a “support” page. The original “first strips” I have decided are no longer canon for the comic. If click the “first” button, you will find that it takes you to a storyline much later in the comic’s development and much improved in the artwork. Regarding the artwork, the new comics that are uploaded and ready to go all contain a standard sized box ratio. I did this in hopes of publishing it as a book someday.
The next story is deeply involved and very serious; I intentionally invoked both “Lost” and “Watchmen” as influences for the arc of the story as well as a bit of artwork. It will last six weeks and is my longest story yet. The main character is, Andy –the slightly disappointed pastor’s kid. I am fairly certain that the Uber bean is the only comic on the web that deals with quarter life Christianity.
The short strips that come afterwards are back to humor. The Halloween story I am working on right now will also have humor in it. So don’t worry, the comic will still be funny.
In order to promote this comic, I fully intend to buy advertising space. The first place I intend to buy is at my old favorite and inspiration real life. The smallest set of impressions costs 50 dollars. Yet still this is not money that I have at the moment. This is why I am requesting support.
Anyone who helps me reach the goal of fifty dollars will be greatly appreciated.
Furthermore, I will offer a black and white “preview” of the story to anyone who donates at least $3 to the cause. Finally, people who would like to see their likeness in later strips can donate $15. This donation drive will go until the end of the month.
Thank you for the support. And be sure to check out the character page to learn more about the comic.
Monasticism: Part IV "Light of the World."
We are the light of the world;
may our light shine before all,
that they may see the good that we do,
and give glory to God. -“We are the Light of the World” an old hymn
There is one thing that remains to be talked about in this blog. It is a question many have asked since I began this short series: how is monasticism able to evangelize the world? How does it help fulfill the great commission? Clearly, it seems the emphasis it places on the community of believers, the difficulty to join that community, and the disciplined practices for ethical behavior does not sound like what we know as evangelism at all. This is a very good question. My answer is this: although it may not seem obvious, I believe much of monastic spirituality is essential. Monasticism creates a community worth joining in the first place.
It is best to outline the problem. Often times, the term “Christian” has been dragged through the mud because of what those in the world associate with it. The unsaved have an idea of what a Christian is, and they don’t like it. They’ve seen too much hypocrisy, judgmentalism, and phoniness. One can imagine what the world sees. Imagine them saying things like this:
Those Christians… they always think they’re better than those who aren’t.
Those Christians… they supported prop 8 because they hate homosexuals.
Those Christians… they always talk about marriage and family, but their divorce rate says otherwise.
Those Christians… are always preaching and waving signs when nobody wants to hear it.
I do not need to add to this list anymore. It can go on. Clearly, this kind of behavior hurts efforts to evangelize.
There is a solution that some have posed. We should call ourselves “Christ-Followers” (or something else) instead of calling ourselves Christians. While I am not a stickler about names, I think it is worth noting that simply changing a nomenclature and not changing the actual behavior is not very helpful. It is an attempt to talk ones way out of a reputation that we have behaved ourselves into.
Now imagine a different solution. Let’s imagine that the church in the United States took its energy, its money, and its time out of a lot of the more “public” endeavors. Let’s say we dropped the prop 8 campaign, we cut back street evangelism, worried less about altar calls, and had less outreach over all. Instead, let’s way we put all that effort into to concentrating on our own community. Imagine putting all those resources into helping every Christian confess their own sins, pray more deeply, examine themselves more thoroughly, and then help them develop virtues until they didn’t need rules anymore. Maybe there would be less new people coming in for awhile and maybe even some would leave, but those who stayed reached some of the same level of goodness the monks did.
In this scenario, the world might look at Christians and say things like this:
Those Christians… I never see them get angry.
Those Christians… they go out of their way to help each other so spontaneously.
Those Christians… they never have a lot of stuff, but never seem to worry about money.
Those Christians… they are always the first to admit when they make mistakes.
The point I am trying to make is twofold. First, if our behavior is what puts the world off, than we ought to spend some serious, serious, time reforming that behavior. This takes time, energy, and a deep inward look at ourselves before we rush out to evangelize. Secondly, we should form a community that those outside of the world look at and actually want to be a part of. Instead of doing evangelism as if we’re recruiting for a multi-level marketing agency, why not instead form a community that is so free of the vices that bother humanity that those outside will take notice, look in, and think, “I want to be part of that.”
Please understand, my point here is not to belittle the efforts of those who do more direct methods of evangelism. What I am saying is monasticism provides an indirect –but absolutely necessary- facet to the gem of Christian life. Bringing people into the community is important, but it is a pointless exercise if this community offers little. The community we create must be one which is so good that people will be attracted to it. It will be then only then that we can be light of the world and the city on the hill.
This the end of my monasticism blogs. Hey why not check out that book Doc Ok wrote?
Monasticism part III "How good we can become"
Of all the reasons why I like monasticism, I believe their ethical vision is what attracts me to it the most. If monasticism teaches us anything, it teaches us how good we can be. This was done by conscious and persistent attention to one’s own sins, and a deep desire for perfection. It motivated monks to behave in such a way that we find it difficult to fathom. Their approach, which is broadly termed ‘virtue ethics,’ contrasts with a lot of rule-based ethics that is sometimes taught in Christian circles.
It is not hard to think of the kinds of “rules” that we Christians –all the while talking about salvation through grace alone- often preach. A few might be rules such as these:
Many other rules could abound. Some are needed, some not so much. Yet all these “rules” have a common failing: they assume correction action without emphasis on forming correct character. It is if the entire Christian life can be summarized into an exhaustive set of “biblical commands” in which we memorize and then rigidly and impersonally apply to every situation in life. I cannot speak for every Christian out there, but this approach is simply exhausting.
The virtue ethics approach seeks to reform character and then assumes that good actions flow from that. Rather than finding a list rules, it goes deeper and seeks to change the needs, desires, and emotions that cause us to sin and create the list of rules. It begins with the seven deadly sins, recognizing them, and then resisting them. Though there is a “rule” to getting started on this path, St. Benedict rightly considered it only the beginning of perfection.
One great benefits of virtue ethics is that it gives us good habits (the virtues) to aim at in addition to sins to avoid. This is best explained by example. Instead of saying “always tithe 10%” the virtue ethics approach says, “resist the demon of greed. Be free of your enslavement and bondage to material possessions, so that you might have the virtue of generosity.” Instead of saying, “tame your tongue” it says, “pray that the Lord would give you patience in all things. Resist both anger and sadness. From there, you’re heart and your speech will always be pure.” The goal is never to memorize rules, but rather develop the right habits and desires so that rules are simply no longer needed.
Another benefit is that there is such a thing as unity to the virtues. This is not so easily seen with a rules based approach. Let’s say, for instance, that I find myself unable to tithe. Better put, for some reason I cannot be generous. Perhaps
I think back to my week, and I think about the last two times I ate out at a nice bristo. Perhaps I really didn’t want to eat some boring food at home, so I went out and purchased something far more costly.
What is happening here is that because I am not willing to avoid gluttony and strive for temperance by restraining what I eat, I suddenly find myself with less money (a consequence of greed as well) and now I “can’t” be generous enough to tithe. Is there something wrong, intrinsically, about restaurants? Not necessarily, but there is something intrinsically wrong with allowing my desire of tasty food to trump my desire to be generous.
Some may wonder exactly how far this can go. After all, we all admit that we sin and will always be tempted and such –at least until heaven. This is true to a large extent, but I think there is one story of two monks who spent years resisting anger that speaks for itself:
This little story –perhaps a parable- is both humorous and incredible in a very literal sense. I suggest though, that Christians think about stories such as these and be inspired. The monastic life, and its approach and practices of virtue ethics, should show us how good we can become.
Thanks for reading.
It is not hard to think of the kinds of “rules” that we Christians –all the while talking about salvation through grace alone- often preach. A few might be rules such as these:
”Always give 10% of your paycheck, before taxes, as a tithe.”
“Don’t smoke, drink, or chew or go with girls who do.”
“Occasionally having wine or beer is okay, but if you’re really serious you know that drinking is bad.”
“Tame your tongue by not using the following curse words…”
“Pray and read your bible everyday.”
Many other rules could abound. Some are needed, some not so much. Yet all these “rules” have a common failing: they assume correction action without emphasis on forming correct character. It is if the entire Christian life can be summarized into an exhaustive set of “biblical commands” in which we memorize and then rigidly and impersonally apply to every situation in life. I cannot speak for every Christian out there, but this approach is simply exhausting.
The virtue ethics approach seeks to reform character and then assumes that good actions flow from that. Rather than finding a list rules, it goes deeper and seeks to change the needs, desires, and emotions that cause us to sin and create the list of rules. It begins with the seven deadly sins, recognizing them, and then resisting them. Though there is a “rule” to getting started on this path, St. Benedict rightly considered it only the beginning of perfection.
One great benefits of virtue ethics is that it gives us good habits (the virtues) to aim at in addition to sins to avoid. This is best explained by example. Instead of saying “always tithe 10%” the virtue ethics approach says, “resist the demon of greed. Be free of your enslavement and bondage to material possessions, so that you might have the virtue of generosity.” Instead of saying, “tame your tongue” it says, “pray that the Lord would give you patience in all things. Resist both anger and sadness. From there, you’re heart and your speech will always be pure.” The goal is never to memorize rules, but rather develop the right habits and desires so that rules are simply no longer needed.
Another benefit is that there is such a thing as unity to the virtues. This is not so easily seen with a rules based approach. Let’s say, for instance, that I find myself unable to tithe. Better put, for some reason I cannot be generous. Perhaps
I think back to my week, and I think about the last two times I ate out at a nice bristo. Perhaps I really didn’t want to eat some boring food at home, so I went out and purchased something far more costly.
What is happening here is that because I am not willing to avoid gluttony and strive for temperance by restraining what I eat, I suddenly find myself with less money (a consequence of greed as well) and now I “can’t” be generous enough to tithe. Is there something wrong, intrinsically, about restaurants? Not necessarily, but there is something intrinsically wrong with allowing my desire of tasty food to trump my desire to be generous.
Some may wonder exactly how far this can go. After all, we all admit that we sin and will always be tempted and such –at least until heaven. This is true to a large extent, but I think there is one story of two monks who spent years resisting anger that speaks for itself:
One tells of two old men who had lived together many years and never fought. One said to the other, “let’s have an argument like other people do.” But the other said, “I don’t know how to have an argument.” So the first told him, “Look, I’ll put a brick between us. Then I’ll say, ‘That’s mine.’ Then you say, ‘No it’s mine.’” So the first monk put the brick between them and started the argument: “That’s mine.” The second played his part: “no it’s mine.” The first immediately relented: “Okay it’s yours. Take it.” So the two gave up, unable to argue.”
(From Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism)
This little story –perhaps a parable- is both humorous and incredible in a very literal sense. I suggest though, that Christians think about stories such as these and be inspired. The monastic life, and its approach and practices of virtue ethics, should show us how good we can become.
Thanks for reading.
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