At our church, we’ve been having extended discussions about various matters of church practice: the purpose of church services, what day to have church services, the best way to reach un-believers, and several more.  Mosey on over to http://tablemountainchurch.wordpress.com/ and let us know what you think.

My column from the June 27, 2007 edition of the Greenhorn Valley View:

Well, we did it.  We made it through an entire month, attempting to not spend any unnecessary money.  It was quite possibly the longest month in the history of man.  To be honest, we weren’t absolutely successful.  There were a few times we spent money we didn’t need to: repairing a blown tire caused us to get home really late one evening, so we stopped in town for some dinner; we bought a couple of unnecessary grocery items (coffee creamer, sodas); and we bought some books at our recent out of town convention.  On the whole, however, we spent a lot less money than we normally would have, and in that sense I consider the experiment a success.
While I’m glad we did it, I don’t think we’ll be doing it again anytime soon.  Not being able to spend money when we wanted to caused no end of frustration.  Having money means having power.  I can bring items under my control simply by running to the store to purchase them.  Not being able to spend money required us to think of other ways of getting things done.  Money is also a social lubricant.  Taking a friend out to lunch or buying a store bought gift communicates to the other person that they are more important than the $14.95 I spent on their meal or gift.

In spite of all the downsides to not spending money, I learned some fairly significant upsides.  While spending money can bring things and people under our control, there is another level above the level of spending that is more powerful yet.  What if my friend and I, instead of going to lunch, helped a neighbor dig a ditch, or paint a house, or put up a roof?  Now I have communicated to my friend that working side by side with him for a cause outside of ourselves is more important than the lunch I would have spent $14.95 on.  I have done something significant for somebody else, while simultaneously strengthening the bond between my friend and me.  It’s not easy, of course, and I’ll be the first to admit I prefer the easy path.  But if we put forth the effort, I think we can accomplish much more without our money than with it.

We did the nasty.  We pulled the plug on ALL video games in our house.  We did some research and discovered that video games are addictive.  No, I’m serious.  They’re addictive in the physical sense.  Video game playing causes the same chemical reaction in the brain that amphetamines cause.  The brain likes this reaction and soon - very soon - begins craving more of it.  In no time at all the body is physically addicted, and more and more playing time is required to meet the body’s desire.

We dropped this bomb on our kids last night - probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done as a parent.  Our boys (ages 10 and 6) began crying - really crying, not just watery-eyed.  It hit them the hardest because they’re the biggest players in our house.  Our daughter (9), while not crying, got real quiet and started saying things like, “Well, I guess I could start reading more…,” as if reading more was a punishment.  Our youngest daughter (4), has only just begun to play video games and wasn’t really affected by our pronouncement, but she was crying because her brothers were crying.

My hope is to get them through the teen years without developing a physical craving for anything (video games, cigarettes, beer, etc).  Once they have adult brains this will all make sense to them, but right now it’s tough.

My column from the June 13, 2007 edition of the Greenhorn Valley View:

It’s mandatory to discuss Paris Hilton this week.  Have you ever wished you were the offspring of an international business magnate?  Have you ever wondered what kind of financial advice you would give to the über-rich?  I have.

Imagine that you have more money than you will ever need, like Paris Hilton.  Your life is filled with expensive toys, vacation homes, nice cars, iPods, and bottled water.  Is your life improved by having all these nice things?

A boat can be a fun toy to own; spending all day on the water can be relaxing.  Like most toys, however, it has a price, and the price is not just monetary.  I have a friend who used to own a boat.  He got rid of the boat because, in his words, “It got so I didn’t own the boat anymore, it owned me.”  A boat requires a lot of time and energy to maintain.  And having invested all that time and energy, you have to use it often, to justify all the time and energy.  After all, if you’re not going to use it, why bother with the time and energy?

Not many of us can hope to ever wallow in Hilton-like wealth.  In all likelihood, Paris will never have to worry about where her next dollar is coming from.  For many of us, though, it is likely we will have more money than we need at some point in our lives, whether through landing the ideal job, or landing an inheritance, or by getting lucky with the lottery.  And that extra money can make us feel rich.

But consider that the cost of an object is sometimes much more than the dollar amount on the price tag.  Even if you can purchase an item without breaking the bank, it may not always be wise to do so.  If my friend still owned his boat, it’s possible he could not just feel owned by it, but imprisoned by it.  Ask Paris Hilton how she likes prison.

My column from the Greenhorn Valley View, on June 6, 2007: 

My family and I are half way through our little experiment.  We’re not spending any money for a whole month.  In spite of a couple interesting insights and anecdotes, I can’t wait for this to be over!  Forcing myself not to buy something I want, even when I have the money, takes a high degree of discipline that I would rather not exert.  Friends and family aren’t too keen on our experiment either.  More than once we’ve had to decline an activity with friends because we couldn’t spend money.

Things have gotten interesting around on the home front, too.  My daughter (9) questions every purchase we make, asking if it is a “necessary expense,” even making the little quote marks with her fingers.  When did she become the voice of my conscience?  My son (10) was walking through Walmart with us when something caught his eye.  “Man,” he said, “not being able to buy things makes me want to buy even more.”

I think he’s on to something.  I think discontentment might be the root cause of most of our society’s overspending.  For a variety of reasons, we’re not happy with what we have.  We secretly hope spending will make us happy, maybe fill some void that needs filling.  The little thrill of the new purchase makes us temporarily forget something we’d rather not face.

Then, of course, there is the desire to keep up with the Joneses.  Naturally, since we derive our view of ourselves by comparing ourselves to the people around us, we will always want to be a half a notch better than the Joneses.  Is it possible to forget about the Joneses?

Or maybe forgetting about the Joneses isn’t even desirable.  Capitalism is an economic system built on man’s inherent greed.  Yes, greed is bad, but since it is impossible to eradicate, capitalism seeks to turn an inevitable evil into an economic good.  Because people are hungry for more, inventions are invented, jobs are created, diseases are cured, and our environment is overall improved.

So this is where we are.  We’re combating our desire for more by curtailing spending.  And while we expect that our family’s finances will improve, we’re confused about the overall role spending plays in our lives and in our culture.  Talk back in the comments section below.

Lately I have been bombarded from several different angles regarding the wisdom of reading newspapers.  I’ve read three books that all downplay the necessity of newspapers.

In The Four Hour Workweek, Timothy Ferriss suggests that newspapers take too much time.   His book advocates doing only what needs to be done, and deliberately not doing things that don’t need to be done.  He finds that newspapers pull his mind in directions that have nothing to do with his business, and cause him to remain unfocused for a much longer period of time than it took to read the paper.

In America’s Cheapest Family, the Economides suggest that newspapers take too much money.  Their book is all about getting your personal and household finances in order, and newspapers are one of several items they identify that offer nothing to the reader, but in the long run will detract from his financial position.

In The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership, Steven Sample suggests that newspapers negatively affect a leader’s ability to make correct decisions.   He once conducted an experiment where he deliberately avoided newspapers (and news from any media outlet) for a period of six months.  Because he got his news directly from his trusted advisers (who assimilated news from a variety of sources, and whose biases he well understood) he was generally more in-the-know than those who read the papers.  He now reads newspapers only for entertainment.

All of this really hacks me off.

I love reading the papers - as many as I can get my hands on.  My ideal morning starts with an hour of coffee and the Wall Street Journal (and maybe a bagel).  I subscribe to the Pueblo Chieftain and the Greenhorn Valley View.  I write a weekly column for the Greenhorn Valley View!  I spend liberally on newspapers and would spend even more if I could.  I purchased subscriptions for my parents and my parents-in-law.

And yet, I can count on no hands the amount of useful information I’ve received from newspapers over the last several years.  I find myself fairly well informed on matters that don’t matter.  The hour I spend reading the paper costs me two hours of productivity.  The money spent could be better used for other things.  And if I want to lead, I don’t need to let editors and reports tell me what to think.

I’m not crawling into my hermit hole just yet, but I think I’m finding myself in the uncomfortable position of having to analyze and prune a favorite habit in my life.  I feel like a wino who has just realized he has a problem with alcohol.  I still want to enjoy my habit, but I don’t want it to control me.

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exit row! aisle seat!
I must have gone to heaven!
effortless floating!