This holiday season I have heard the infamous song "Santa Baby" a few more times than necessary. When you hear this song, you can almost see a provocatively dressed woman putting on her best innocent act and batting her eyes at Santa, shamelessly flirting to try to get what she wants. And the things she desires are numerous: a convertible, a yacht, a duplex, jewelry, money- and more! And, of course, she takes care to mention just how good she's been, as if to remind him that she really deserves all these things. How could Santa resist?
I realized that a lot of times Christians approach God in the same way and with the same expectations. We make ourselves look as good as we can, smile and act innocent and "flirt" with him, to try to get what we want. And just in case that isn't enough, we remind him how good we've been and how deserving we are of material and financial blessings. Nice cars, nice houses, nice clothes, expensive electronics, money- and more! "How could he resist?" we think.
Think of all the fun I've missed, think of all the fellows that I haven't kissed. Next year I could be just as good, if you check off my Christmas list...
This attitude of deserving and even demanding things from God is, sadly, becoming all too common among mainstream Christianity. Watch the Christian television networks or read up on the prosperity gospel and see for yourself. So many people truly believe that if they look and act in just the right ways, and if they're good enough, and if they flirt with God just right, he will have no choice but to give them material and financial blessings.
I really do believe in you; let's see if you believe in me...
What's sadder, though, is that this attitude cheapens the gift God has given us- the gift of grace. Grace is unmerited favor, given to those who have done nothing to deserve it and can never do enough to deserve it.
As we know, humans are all kinds of screwed up; we have a hard time wrapping our minds around the concepts of unconditional love, grace, and the power of those things to then transform our lives. All too often we approach God the wrong way, believing that we first have to change our behavior and then we will be rewarded with his favor. On top of that, many of us have been raised to expect that our good or bad behavior will result in certain rewards or punishments. It's no wonder,then, that people so easily buy into the idea that we deserve certain material rewards from God for our good behavior, and that we can do things to gain or lose his love.
I wonder, then, if this idea of a God who loves unconditionally, who gives us the gift of unmerited favor, who sends blessings to the "just and unjust," frightens and confuses many people. It doesn't make sense, it doesn't fit with the way we've always approached life, and so we repackage God and the gift he gave us- Jesus- in a way that we do easily understand. We live our lives trying to do all the right things in order to avoid punishment and obtain rewards, all the while missing the real heart of the gospel, the real reason God humbled himself and was born as a tiny baby and lived and died- so we can have a relationship with him. That we can have a relationship with a God who loves us so much is a far more precious gift than any car or house or amount of money ever could be.
My hope is that we can stop treating Jesus like a big Santa Claus in the sky, as a God that can be flirted with and manipulated, and instead see him for who he really is. Grace and love are not easy gifts to understand, but they are so very precious.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Why Cloth Diapers?
For the first few weeks of Isaac's life, we almost exclusively used disposable diapers, for two reasons: We had been given two packages of them at our baby shower, and I didn't want to deal with the extra laundry created by cloth diapers during those first few weeks postpartum. Then a couple of things happened: I started to feel much better, and we realized we were almost out of disposable diapers! Since then we have almost exclusively used cloth diapers. A lot of people have seemed to think that it's really strange to use cloth diapers, so I thought I'd provide a little information about why we would choose to do such a seemingly odd thing (other than, of course, the fact that we are seemingly odd people). ;)
1. Cloth diapers are better for the environment. I read recently that "roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing." Meanwhile, cloth diapers are made of, well, cloth. And they can be washed and reused many times over.
2. Cloth diapers are better for babies. Have you ever stopped to think about what disposable diapers have in them? If not, let me tell you. "Some concerns about disposable diapers have been about dyes, sodium polyacrylate (the super absorbent gel), and dioxin, which is a by-product of bleaching paper. Sodium polyacrylate has been linked in the past to toxic shock syndrome, allergic reactions and is very harmful and potentially lethal to pets. Some dyes and dioxin according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is known to cause damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver. The (FDA) Food & Drug Administration has received reports that fragrances in disposables caused headaches, dizziness and rashes. Problems reported to the Consumer Protection Agency regarding disposables include, chemical burns, noxious chemical and insecticide odors, babies pulling disposables apart and putting pieces of plastic into their noses and mouth, choking on tab papers and linings, plastic melting onto the skin, and ink staining the skin. Plastic tabs can also tear skin if the diaper is not properly put on the baby." Wow.
3. Cloth diapers are better for our budget. Think about it for a minute. How much sense does it make to spend your hard-earned money on something that is going to be worn once and thrown away? And how much sense does it make to literally throw that money away over and over and over for 2-3 years of your child's life? Cloth diapers do involve the initial investment, but once you've bought them, you can wash and reuse them over and over until your baby outgrows them. I like seeing our money put to better use, especially when I also consider how much better cloth diapers are for my baby and the environment!
4. Cloth diapers are convenient. I think that when most people think of cloth diapers, they think of old-fashioned flat diapers that have to be folded over and over, then pinned. Not necessarily the case! There are several different kinds. Some do require some folding and a separate waterproof cover; some have velcro tabs that fasten easily; some are all in one piece with the diaper and cover sewn together (these are my favorites, personally, because they're so easy to use, but we mostly use prefold diapers with a separate cover because they're cheaper). And even the prefolds don't necessarily require pins. We use a lovely little item called a Snappi, which is much more convenient than pins in my opinion.
So, when I considered all those things, it wasn't hard for me to make the decision to use cloth diapers. I definitely recommend them if you are planning to have children or if you already have children who are still in diapers.
1. Cloth diapers are better for the environment. I read recently that "roughly 5 million tons of untreated waste and a total of 2 billion tons of urine, feces, plastic and paper are added to landfills annually. It takes around 80,000 pounds of plastic and over 200,000 trees a year to manufacture the disposable diapers for American babies alone. Although some disposables are said to be biodegradable; in order for these diapers to decompose, they must be exposed to air (oxygen) and sun. Since this is highly unlikely, it can take several hundred years for the decomposition of disposables to take place, with some of the plastic material never decomposing." Meanwhile, cloth diapers are made of, well, cloth. And they can be washed and reused many times over.
2. Cloth diapers are better for babies. Have you ever stopped to think about what disposable diapers have in them? If not, let me tell you. "Some concerns about disposable diapers have been about dyes, sodium polyacrylate (the super absorbent gel), and dioxin, which is a by-product of bleaching paper. Sodium polyacrylate has been linked in the past to toxic shock syndrome, allergic reactions and is very harmful and potentially lethal to pets. Some dyes and dioxin according to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) is known to cause damage to the central nervous system, kidneys, and liver. The (FDA) Food & Drug Administration has received reports that fragrances in disposables caused headaches, dizziness and rashes. Problems reported to the Consumer Protection Agency regarding disposables include, chemical burns, noxious chemical and insecticide odors, babies pulling disposables apart and putting pieces of plastic into their noses and mouth, choking on tab papers and linings, plastic melting onto the skin, and ink staining the skin. Plastic tabs can also tear skin if the diaper is not properly put on the baby." Wow.
3. Cloth diapers are better for our budget. Think about it for a minute. How much sense does it make to spend your hard-earned money on something that is going to be worn once and thrown away? And how much sense does it make to literally throw that money away over and over and over for 2-3 years of your child's life? Cloth diapers do involve the initial investment, but once you've bought them, you can wash and reuse them over and over until your baby outgrows them. I like seeing our money put to better use, especially when I also consider how much better cloth diapers are for my baby and the environment!
4. Cloth diapers are convenient. I think that when most people think of cloth diapers, they think of old-fashioned flat diapers that have to be folded over and over, then pinned. Not necessarily the case! There are several different kinds. Some do require some folding and a separate waterproof cover; some have velcro tabs that fasten easily; some are all in one piece with the diaper and cover sewn together (these are my favorites, personally, because they're so easy to use, but we mostly use prefold diapers with a separate cover because they're cheaper). And even the prefolds don't necessarily require pins. We use a lovely little item called a Snappi, which is much more convenient than pins in my opinion.
So, when I considered all those things, it wasn't hard for me to make the decision to use cloth diapers. I definitely recommend them if you are planning to have children or if you already have children who are still in diapers.
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