ACU Library Display

The ACU Library has prepared a fantastic display featuring the common book.  Here are some elements you might have missed if you didn’t realize what you were looking at:

*  Display cases containing information about the common book idea, other books considered, and artistic ties to Same Kind of Different.

*  Poster size photographs featuring ACU students engaged in service projects.  Did you know these were fellow students?  They suggest great ways to get involved.  The photos were provided by the Volunteer and Service Learning Center on campus.

*  Books to check out on themes suggested by the common book.  Themes include poverty, wealth and Christianity, transformational church, Christian friendship, and faith inspired service opportunities.  These books are good ways to go beyond the common book to explore an issue more deeply.

A special element of the display is that it takes advantage of iPhone technology.  Scattered throughout the exhibit are special barcodes that contain additional information.  You can take a picture of the barcode with an iPhone or any camera enabled cell phone.  The phone decodes the barcode and lets you view additional information directly on your mobile device.  For example, someone can look at the photos of students helping at the Salvation Army.  They can scan the special barcode by the poster and watch a video of ACU Service Saturday or go to Abilene’s Freedom Fellowship website.  While perusing books on poverty, they can scan another barcode and pull up a customized, pre-formatted search of the library catalog that shows more books on the subject, lets them request books online, and links them to reviews and summaries.  It is a great way of delivering enhanced information directly and conveniently where users want it.

We’ve already had some books checked out and comments on the exhibit. In fact, during iPhone distribution two weekends ago I saw some students and their parents point to the signs and book quotes and say, “There’s that book everyone is talking about!”

Additional people who worked on this exhibit include Shan Martinez, Shalis Stevens, and Karen Hendrick.  I am so proud of the work they put in.  On behalf of the ACU Library, please take time to enjoy the exhibit and to thank each of these people when you see them.

Being Prepared: Practical Expressions of Grace

The other day while out driving, I had to wait through a stoplight at a busy intersection. In my city, such intersections are often chosen by homeless persons a place to ask for money. They wait by the side of the highway for cars to stop at the light, and when people cannot go anywhere else, they walk by with a sign asking for food, money, or some kind of help. This time was no different. As I looked at the corner, there was a man with a sign. What is he really going to do with the money, I wondered. I told myself I was in a hurry, I didn’t want to roll the window down and let a stranger reach his hand inside my car, and so I sat there trying not to make eye contact.

Maybe you’ve experienced something similar. Phil Ware, pulpit minister at Southern Hills church, writes about his own encounter. Phil’s post, however, has some interesting suggestions about how to be better prepared, in attitude and in practicality, to give practical expressions of God’s grace:

1) Pray for these people whom you have met and will meet in the future. Ask them their names and pray for them by name. See each one as a person, not a group or a label.

2) Carry some gift cards from a local fast food place that you can give. Can’t afford gift cards? Are you willing to fast a meal a week in exchange for helping someone else?

3) Make care packages that you carry in your car for such an occasion. See the suggestions on what to include.

I want to help, but I want to be responsible in who and how I help. Maybe some practical suggestions such as these can move me to action instead of making excuses to do nothing.

What about you? Do you have ideas about what to include in a care package? Have you ever done something like this personally or through an organized effort? Leave your comments below this post.

What does poverty look like?

Shan talks in her post about labels we apply to people, suggesting that if we see individuals in a new light then we will see new ministry opportunities God puts before us. That caused me to consider how we view people in preconceived ways. Sometimes I think we imagine who we want to help, and we form a mental image of what they will look like. Mention a ministry designed to help the homeless or the poor, and instantly I see someone dressed in ragged clothes, unkempt in appearance, and not able to have the basics of food and shelter.

I wonder if there are other types of poverty that are harder to recognize.

The Bible talks about those who are “poor in spirit” and those who hunger and thirst for God. There are people who are rich on the outside with things of this world but who are poor in relationships and who thirst for Christian friendships. These people can be found down the hall in our dorms, sitting next to us in the pew at church, and maybe even in our own mirror. As several churches have observed, loneliness is on the rise. Even within the body of Christ, we can have difficulty finding deep, lasting connections.

I wonder if my stereotype of what poverty looks like causes me to overlook these harder-to-see folks and to ignore the opportunity to reach out. A smile, an invitation to sit together, a remembered name, and some extended conversation beyond the usual small talk can go a long way to being that cool cup of water that Jesus says is with the power of each of us to give.

Maybe ministry doesn’t doesn’t always mean service projects and formal ministries and organized groups to people in other parts of town. Maybe a ministry opportunity is sitting right next door.

God’s People

I heard the buzz about this book and borrowed an audio copy. Two very
different voices read the parts of Denver and Ron. When I walk through
the Learning Commons and see the quotes from the book, I hear those
voices in my head. One of my favorite quotes is “Let’s call them God’s
people.” How many times do we encounter people with whom we feel
uncomfortable? Maybe they scare us a little or perhaps we make a quick
judgment about them. We give them names or labels. I’m thinking now of
my children and their reaction and discussion of people we see as we
are driving down the street. They have names and labels for people.
Already, they have formed thoughts and opinions based on appearances.
While they have been cautioned all their lives about dangers, this has
interfered with them learning to feel compassionate and open-hearted.
They are sure that the ragged fellow on the corner will rip the door
open and grab them. “Lock the doors!” they say as we pull up to the
stoplight. I’ve got a lot of work to do with them as well as myself.
After all, I haven’t provided experiences for them through which they
would learn compassion and generosity. And, I guess if I’m being
honest, they really haven’t seen me reaching out in compassion. So, I
am convicted by this story. What will I do? I will begin by calling
those folks we see “God’s people.” I will seek out opportunities for
my family to serve and love God’s people, and together we will learn
to see people as God sees them.

Confessions of a librarian

When I first learned that we were going to have a common book selection, I didn’t pay too much attention.  I assumed this was an activity primarily for freshman seminar, not necessarily something I needed to be involved in. Then I heard they were not just distributing copies of the book, but they also wanted us actually to read them. Mentally I rolled my eyes and thought, “Great.  Another thing I have to read.”  And that is my confession to you.  I did not want to read this book at first. That may sound strange coming from a librarian. I love books and I enjoy reading for pleasure, but I like to read what I pick out.  Reading for work is not like reading for pleasure, and I constantly have to read things professionally.  Besides, much of what people recommend as “good-for-you-reading” are not books that I would choose to read on my own.

How surprised I was to find this book was different.

I started reading it half-heartedly just so I could say I read it. By the first chapter, I changed my mind. The words read easily and naturally as though the authors were talking in conversation. As I read about the background of these two men, I began to care about what happened to them. Most significantly, as they shared their thoughts, I could see how their attitudes were changing and I got to experience a part of that change with them.

The story is not preachy.  It is not a social or political activist soapbox.  It simply tells the story of redeeming love.  I think we can all find ourselves somewhere along that path.

And so the authors’ journey became my own.  They let me and you, the reader, see inside a piece of themselves and travel with them.  That’s the mark of a good book.  As Denver remarks near the end of the book, “We’re all just regular folks walking down the road God done set in front of us … in a way, we is all homeless — just working our way toward home.”

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for ACU Off The Page. This blog is a forum for online discussions inspired by the common book reading for the First Year Program at ACU. It is a companion site for the ACU Off The Page wiki.

See About this blog for specific instructions on how to post. Once you set up your account, it’s easy and actually kind of fun.

You can tag your posts with keywords to group them by subject. Some possible tags (and subjects to talk about) are: book; service; reflection; projects; faith; and so on.

Let the posting begin!