Lost Arts

There are many lost arts in human history. I am told that flint makes excellent scalpels. However, there can't be but a handful of people who know how. Not that flint scalpels are missed all that much, but it's an interesting bit of trivia.
Other lost arts have more serious consequences. For instance ,the lost art of nurturing.
Traditionally, nurturing was the specialty of the female half of the race- not that males don't participate, but many women really have the touch. The problem is that our consumer society has decided that cash is the measure of all things. The person who makes the most money in the least time is the winner. No cash, no life. We are presented with a load of high-cost "necessities" that weren't even invented 40 years ago; carrying this burden is too much for one wage-earner in a family. Besides, as women's libbers have pointed out, the only things worth doing are the things men do (think about it- you'll see what I mean). So, no one is doing the things women used to do.
Here in Japan, young parents have begun to complain that the schools aren't teaching their children to behave. Were you to suggest that is the parent's responsibility, they would probably say they were too busy, and anyway, what are they paying teachers for? We are now well into the second generation of families with very little interaction. These young parents have no model for nurturing, and very little encouragement to be nurturers.
There are disturbing signs of alienation all around us. I think of that every time I go shopping and see the tiny portions and tiny utensils designed for people living alone. The lifelong shortage of human interaction makes it difficult for people to live together.
Nurturing children is a process. It spans 18 or more years, and goes on at a less intense level for a lifetime. It takes up a lot of your time. And, what do you have to show for it? Not cash. No, unless you have a different set of values from society's mainstream, you won't bother. But, as someone has pointed out, no one on their deathbed ever says "I wish I had spent more time at the office."
So, here's your life; you've got one shot at it. Choose your values carefully.

City Mouse and Country Mouse

Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, Feb. 17,2005

So, a mouse is a mouse, right?
But as the old children's story pointed out, there is a difference.
Laurie and I spent 5 days in Ichikawa City, part of the Tokyo megalopolis, last week. We are still recovering.
Don't get me wrong. It's a fascinating place. But, we don't seem to be acclimated to it. She got a wicked cold, and I'm still having headaches. Can a city do that to you?
The down side is we had to leave snowless Kanto, with plum blossoms blooming, and return to the Aomori ice age, which will continue for another month, at least.
To point out one of the obvious contrasts between the two places- scenery- I am posting some photos. In order to get the kind of visual range I am used to, I had to go onto the roof of an apartment building for the cityscape. What is there in that picture that wasn't put there by humans (besides the sky, I mean)? Not much. People used to this environment from youth could be excused for thinking that humans have a higher level of control over nature than they actually have. There is little thought about where their food comes from, or where their waste goes, or how dependent they really are on the whims of Ma Nature. We bumpkins, on the other hand, get reminders thrown in our faces regularly. We are forced to face up to the reality of yearly cycles, while our city cousins do the weekly cycle thing.
So, which is better? Well, you decide. And, if you agree with the majority and opt for the city, so be it. That much more room out here for the rest of us.

Some analog scenery- behind our house


...and over in the rice fields.

What Can I Do?

Rather nebulous title. I'm at a training seminar in Chiba, at our mission's Japanese headquarters. The topic is leadership. This is the second session (the first having been last September). It has been very timely, introducing subjects about which I have been thinking these past months. After all these years, what have I accomplished? What direction should I be moving in the coming years? The sessions deal with these subjects, so I'm actually staying awake- not a given, in my case(I tend to operate better on my feet).
We have homework, which I put on powerpoints, which my wife linked to her blog (Blue Forest Soapbox), if you are interested. If you are not, I understand!
What can I do? Lots of stuff. What SHOULD I be doing? That's a harder question. At 51, time looks different than it did at 21. I think I've done okay so far, but I want to finish well. There is only one sure event in my future (yours, too) and that's my meeting with Jesus Christ to answer for the things done in the life God has lent me. I'm aiming to hear Him say "Well done". Not that I'm so wonderful, but I do hope to be faithful.

Analog or Digital?

Every year, our local churches have a seminar on the subject of religious freedom in Japan. It is held on Constitution Day, Feb. 11. I have become increasingly interested in this subject as the years go by. But the paper that got my attention this year was one on theory of education, and the theme was "analog vs. digital".
If you've read this far maybe I can hold you to the end.
Do any of you remember thermometers that were glass tubes with mercury in them? I guess it hasn't been THAT long. You could sit there and watch the little siver line move as your body heat warmed the mercury and made it expand and go up the tube. The process was there, visible in time and space. This is an analog thermometer. Now we have digital thermometers. They do take a few seconds, but then a number appears on the screen, and you have your data. The process is invisible, and a mystery to most observers. But, so what? The data is what you want; who needs the process?
The hands of analog clocks revolve smoothly through 360 degrees. They are actuated (on old clocks) by gears you can see. The numbers on digital clocks jump; the process is hidden in a tiny silicon chip, invisible and mysterious to the user. But, they know what time it is, so what's the difference?
Here is product without process. It is a tremendous technical advance in many fields, and I am glad to live in an age which can deliver information so efficiently. The crunch comes when digital completely replaces analog in everyone's conciousness. A parallel can be drawn, I think, in the attitude of many today. They want product, they are not interested in process. This was brought home to me by the illustration on the back of the November 2003 Readers Digest ( I have omniverous reading habits), done by C.F.Payne. A family is busy pulling a complete Thanksgiving dinner out of bags- no process of preparation; they can go straight to the meal.
They exchanged cash for process. Someone invisible to them produced the product. This is repeated endlessly in contemporary life; so much so that many are now capable only of doing their job (a very small part of the process of creating something for other's consumption), and have never had the experience of carrying through a process fully themselves to produce a product. In short, their idea of "work" is very narrow. Their lives are buried under a pile of instant products, but their level of participation (and their experience of anticipation) are not even on the chart. They work out of sight of their families, and the only shared experience is consumption. Is this what leads to a feeling of detachment, and a low level of satisfaction in life?
I remember shelling peas with my sisters- bushel baskets of peas (a bushel is A LOT- especially when you are shelling). We sat in the cool back kitchen in July preparing them for freezing, and ate the peas as a family throughout the fall and winter. Now we just buy them. It really is a radically different lifestyle.
Analog and digital. Everything in nature is analog- accomplished over time, as an ongoing process, requiring time and effort to produce an anticipated result. Do not we all need a little analog in our lives?

Reflections on Parenting

How nice it will be when I am able to post photos. I think the first one will be of the snow pile I have created beside the church (the appreciable contribution made tonight explains why I have not yet gotten to experiment with photos). Not quite Sapporo Snow Festival scale- but then ,it's only February....
Now, my son's blog is impressive. Of course, he started awhile ago (before the snow), and his first efforts had some rough edges. But this last one.. Japanese poetry, English poetry, beautiful graphics snitched from elsewhere, and one poem that is, I think, a bit of his own work.
January 1977 is a long time ago. That was a snowy winter, too, Luke's birth winter. We had great hopes for our boy, and for our 4 girls when they came along. All our efforts to help them appreciate good literature, and now they're showing me up!
Oh, well, at least I'm learning a lot of good stuff.


The promised snowpile photo, taken Feb. 21, '05.

Life-Defining Snow

It has finally happened: the worst snow accumulation in 10 years. And, it's pretty impressive. My wife and I went to Aomori City today to visit friends, and help with the renovations on their house. These friends live just below the Moya Hills skiing complex, and their snow is REALLY impressive.
A decade ago there were 5 heavy snow winters back to back. We were in Aomori City for 2 of them, and we remember it well (not at all fondly!). It is hard to describe. Suffice it to say that by the end of February I had to throw the stuff UP to get it off the roof.
We had a year in North America in between, then moved to Ajigasawa and caught the last 2 in the series. Less excruciating than Aomori City, but spending the better part of most days moving something that is just going to go away by itself in a few weeks is not amusing.
So, why stay here? Well, mostly because we feel we still have work here. But today, I was thinking about it. With all my grumbled threats to shift to Okinawa, would I really be happy in a place with no winter? Probably not. Never in my 51 years have I passed a winter without snow. It is beautiful. The cold air is a bracing breath of glory. It makes you feel like you are really tough compared to all those wimpy somewhere-south-of-us types who just shuffle around in slush or cold rain - not a REAL winter at all.
And, best of all, it makes spring really special. I can't wait.


Sarah demonstrating this year's crop of snow.