BLOG HAS MOVED

Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 11:07 AM
by BRYAN K

DUE TO TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH THIS PARTICULAR BLOG ENGINE, THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO THE BLOGGER SITE, AT THE ADDRESS http://www.servicehyphenlearning.blogspot.com. PLEASE UPDATE YOUR BOOKMARKS AND JOIN THE CONVERSATION.

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Giving but not Receiving

Thursday, January 31, 2008 at 4:06 PM
by Bryan Kibbe

When we open ourselves up to our respective communities, do we fail to receive what these people and places are so uniquely primed to offer us? Too often it seems that in our North American culture we are oriented to the “what I can do” or “what I can offer.” Our culture’s blatant endorsement of rugged individualism can explain some of this attitude, but more deeply still I think that control is driving this attitude. We want to dictate the where, when, why, and how of our interaction with other people and places. It disturbs us to be surprised or caught off guard. As such we tend to position ourselves as servers because traditionally servers occupy the position of control and power. We interact with the people and places that compose our community in ways that ensure that we need not be vulnerable or open to mystery. In short, we largely perpetuate a static relationship with our communities, failing to fully immerse ourselves in the dynamic, unpredictable relationship that follows when we live in communities where we admit our ability to both give and receive. What would it look like to receive the gifts of our communities? How can we more faithfully maintain a posture of humility, ready to both give and receive? 

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Challenging Tradition

Wednesday, November 14, 2007 at 12:49 AM
by Bryan Kibbe

Do we honor the past and tradition most by challenging its role in shaping the present and future? Sometimes I think we imagine that traditions just emerge effortlessly from the stream of history. But do we forget the often difficult challenges that individuals faced in establishing their deepest convictions, which now arrive in the form of long standing beliefs and practices. I contest that by passively receiving our traditions from the past, we fail to honor the radical and progressive nature that is at the heart of many traditions. This need not mean that we now reject our traditions, but rather we join in the passion of traditions by critically engaging what is handed down to us, and synthesizing and adapting such materials for a still better future. Conservatism, as understood as the mere perpetuation of tradition, may in fact be the very antithesis of what first inspired such vigor and conviction as to generate a long standing belief and practice. How are we engaging our traditions today? How does Calvin College engage its heritage of Dutch Reformed tradition in this modern context? 

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Positioning for Shalom

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 11:44 PM
by Bryan Kibbe

Nicholas Wolterstorff asks a profound question in his influential work, Until Justice and Peace Embrace, does God take sides? That is, in a world divided by class, gender, race, and sexuality, does God ever stand with one group of people in particular? Wolterstorff argues convincingly that God always stands with the impoverished and oppressed peoples of the world over and against the rich and the powerful. Certainly God is perfect in his love for human beings, but does He especially defend and work for justice and peace among those deprived of basic human rights in this life? If God does stand with those that are impoverished and oppressed, where does that leave the rich and powerful? Who are the reach and the powerful? Are they the richest 1% of Americans? Are they the half of the world’s population that is able to earn more than an average of two dollars per day? So often in our society we are captivated by dreams of upward mobility. There always remains someone who has more than us. This materialistic vision, though, ignores the vast majority of the world’s population that bears the terrible burden of unnecessary poverty, disease, and oppression. The sinister implication is that in our dreams of upward mobility in our American society that we not only turn our backs on most of the world population, but also on God himself who is standing with the poor and oppressed, asking, “Where are you? What have you done today to bring Shalom?”

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Agitation

Monday, October 29, 2007 at 10:37 AM
by Bryan Kibbe

Who agitates the agitators? In service-learning there is a clear effort to deconstruct individual’s presuppositions through reflection on their experience with service. This process is inherently disconcerting and unsettling for those critically reflecting on their assumptions and behaviors. In the end, the hope is that previously unquestioned biases, stereotypes, and behaviors will be questioned, and in some cases reconsidered. Thus, a process of agitation, while disconcerting, accomplishes a meaningful good. The danger, though, is that those that agitate will grow complacent in their own presuppositions, that is, they will ironically fail to let themselves undergo a process of agitation. It seems that this is the special predicament of leadership, that is, the subtle rise of hypocrisy in one’s words and actions. Who will hold leaders, agitators, accountable? What would agitating the agitators look like? 

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