Desiring God's 2008 national conference was titled "The Power of Words and the Wonder of God". They produced a short film that really drives home the point of James 3:1-12.
The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts, and How They Get You Through the Day
Author(s):
Ray Oldenburg
Publisher:
Paragon House
Pages:
338
ISBN:
1-55778-110-9
Copyright Year:
1989
I found The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg to be far more helpful and insightful than I expected. While I had heard of the concept of a "third place" before, the multifaceted approach of the book drew a much more robust image of what such a place is, significantly raising my expectations for what a third place must be.
Here are the characteristics of third places:
Conversation - Good conversation is the sine qua non of the third place. Everyone can contribute, and each one's personality is allowed full play—and is fair game for friendly ribbing.
Regulars - Even if secondary to conversation, regulars are likewise essential to the third place. One can go there without a plan or a fixed schedule and expect to find old and new friends and good conversation. Very much like Cheers.
Accessible - The third place is close enough to walk to several times a week and is free or inexpensive.
Neutral Ground - The third place is not intimate and guarded as your home is, and you control how much and what kind of interaction you want there.
Leveling - People of all walks of life are brought to the same level. If there is any hierarchy, it is based on quality of conversation and insight, not social position.
Taken for granted, Low profile - They are not advertised and don't seek out visitors or passersby. Conversation is what draws people there, not the appearance of the place.
The third place, also referred to as the Great Good Place, is so called because it is the third of three anchor points for our social lives, the first being home and the second being work. After making the initial case for third places, Oldenburg spends a large part of the book sketching some third places from America and Europe, describing them in their ideal form as well as tracing their historical development and their decline through the Twentieth Century. I found this part to be helpful in understanding the third-place concept across culture and history as well as fascinating in all the details that he digs up about them.
The connections that Oldenburg draws between the third place and society in general were so compelling and so broad that it would not be an exaggeration to say that he has changed the way I think about the world. Third places are important not only to individual happiness as a place to let off steam and find respite from the pressures of work and home, but also to the success of democracy, marriage, and raising children. One gets a sense that the isolation that characterizes so much of modern life is more than just an unpleasant way to live; it is an affront to human nature. We weren't meant to live like this; we were meant to live for more.
According to Oldenburg, other cultural commentators, and even my own admittedly inadequate observation, there are few true third places in our communities. Most places are not unique and neither have personality nor allow those who go there to express their personalities. Even the places where people go to hang out and have a good time are generally what Oldenburg calls "BYOF" (Bring Your Own Friend). Most of us compensate for not having third places by either programming most of our free time so we have things to do and people to see or else we hole up at home with "home entertainment" like movies, t.v., and internet. I read the first edition of the book, copyright 1989, so it doesn't deal with the internet, but I think that the profusion of "social networking" and even blogs has much to do with an attempt to fill the third-place void.
It would be an interesting exercise for all of us to walk around our neighborhoods and look for third places. Is there anywhere where you can find regulars engaged in conversation? To find that, you can't just walk by on the sidewalk. Going inside isn't even enough. You would need to stop in and observe the people who are there, take note of who they are (as individuals), and watch (and perhaps experience) how they notice and react to new visitors. Does it feel like Cheers?
I strongly recommend reading this book. Although written by a scholar, it is very accessible. The details included in the book fill in the picture of a third-place much more than can be done in any review. Whether you are looking for a third place or want to be involved in creating third places, the book is essential reading.
Since I'm an engineer and like it when truth can be discerned from numbers, check out this astounding graph of average home prices since 1890:
(Originally from Irrational Exuberance by Robert J. Shiller, 2006, printed in the NY Times Aug. 26, 2006)
That is consistent with a graph that I posted earlier, but the longer time horizon shows just how big the recent bubble was. (Do note that the vertical axis is cut off at 60 rather than 0, so it exaggerates somewhat the vertical scale, particularly the impact of the Great Depression.)
I'd also like to take a short look at a sometimes overlooked group of people who are possibly the most freaked out about the market convulsions that we've seen recently: the retired and soon-to-be-retired. I have years plenty to ride out the present crisis, but not everyone has this luxury. For most people, gone are the days of the fixed-payout pension that was based on years of service and pay grade. Now most people rely on market-based retirement plans like 401k's. Those who were well-set may have shifted their assests to less risky investments and may not be terribly affected by our recent economic woes, but those who were behind in their savings are more likely to have left their investments in higher-return funds in hopes of continuing growth—growth that has now turned to losses and an uncertain future.
Probably you know some people in this situation at your workplace. In my office, I have two coworkers whose retirement is in jeopardy. Both of them are around the retirement age and previously worked all their careers for large corporations. Both of them saw their pensions plans robbed out from under them by "restructuring" and "reorganization" in which they were also kicked to the curb. In the subsequent job search, they found out that most employers are really not interested in experienced engineers; they would rather have cheap engineers! Fortunately, after some time searching for jobs, they both landed at Peak Power and are doing all right, but a normal retirement is financially improbable for them. A conversation earlier this week with Bob, with whom I often cooperate on projects, reminded me of the situation of Willy Lowman from Death of a Salesman, a play I had to read in high school, though not nearly so depressing.
One fact drawn out by the recent Saddleback Civil Forum, albeit ironically, is that abortion numbers and rates in the United States have been in decline since 1989. (See the presentation here and the US News & World Report story here.) While it is frustrating that Roe vs. Wade continues to stand, it is encouraging that rates have gone down and continue to slowly decline.
One could speculate as to why this is: Perhaps it is a consequence of Presidential Executive Orders that have attempted to keep the federal government from paying for abortions. Perhaps it is the promotion of abstinence among teens. Perhaps it is the ongoing national debate that is having some effect on our culture's perspective on abortion. Rates of unintended pregnancy (nearly half of all pregnancies!) have "stagnated over the last decade" (source), though variations among subgroups could show increasing rates among people less likely to pursue abortion and decreasing rates among others. Nonetheless, 1.6 million human lives—20 percent of pregancies—are extinguished each year in this country by means of abortion.
Rick Warren asked the two major candidates for President, "When does a baby get human rights?" as shown in the following video:
(You can stop the video at 3:40 as at that point the video has already presented the two candidates' responses in full. See also the full text transcripts. Or watch other video from the event.)
Their answers:
Barack Obama: "Well, I think that whether you are looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity, you know, is above my pay grade."
John McCain: "At the moment of conception."
I've been listening to a series of lectures by Bryan Chapell on Christ-centered preaching (the last four lectures here or here). These lectures come in the homiletics series at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis and exhort the students to preach redemptive messages from any text of Scripture. While the concepts are intended to be applied to preaching, I think the goal of connecting the text to God's redemptive plan applies just as equally to every believer whenever we read and interpret Scripture. Here are some of the questions that we need to ask as we read Scripture, and especially as we teach it:
What does this teach me about God?
What does this teach me about myself and mankind?
What is the problem underlying or being addressed in the text?
Where does the text stand in relation to Christ and redemptive history? (Prefiguring, preparing, explaining/revealing, or reflecting/working out implications)
What grace principles are evident?
How does this motivate me to love God?
How does this empower me to live as God intends?
Last night I started what I hope will be an ongoing practice of working through these questions as I read my Bible in the evening. I want to develop the habit of seeing texts in their context in redemptive history, finding their connection to Jesus, and discerning the grace principles that move me to a greater love for God, which in turn motivates greater obedience.
