Rant of the Exiles

When we tell people that we're homeschooling our children, one of the most common questions we get in response is "So what do you do for socialization?" Truth be told, people don't use those exact words but I know what they're thinking.  It's because that's exactly how I regarded home schooling before we jumped in last year. It cannot possibly be adequate socialization. I imagined a group of children dressed in Amish clothes cloistered in a stuffy kitchen with a woman holding a blackboard and chalk. I believed home schooling is socially stifling and turns kids into book smart misfits.  More = Better:  When we talk about socialization, it often feels like we're talking about sunshine, water, and exercise. The more you get the better.  It follows then that the more people you're around, the better the socialization. But this is silly. It's not the quantity of people you spend time with, it's the quality of the interaction and kind...

 The question matters to Lady Gaga  There’s only one person in the world with the dubious distinction of betraying the Son of God so that he would be condemned to die on a wooden stake. Judas Iscariot. Judas was one of Jesus’ twelve chosen disciples. He likely spent close to three years with Jesus, wandering the countryside, preaching and teaching in cities, and witnessing Jesus’ miracles. At some point in Jesus’ public ministry, Judas contacted the chief priests and temple guard to discuss how he might secretly hand Jesus over to them. They were delighted and agreed to pay him thirty pieces of silver. Judas completed his act of treachery on the evening of the last supper. A crowd approached their group and Judas kissed Jesus as a sign to indicate that he was the one. Later, after Jesus was sentenced to death, Judas, with deep regret over what he did, returned the silver, and hanged himself. Was Judas forgiven? The question matters because we want to belie...

Despite having to leave the reunion early, I had a great time. It was fascinating to see how people had aged (or not) and changed (or not). 1) Reunion participants view their adolescence in favorable terms: This is not the same thing as saying reunion participants had a positive experience in high school. That seems obvious. But my high school days were a mixed bag. The highs were really high and lows were really low. There are so many moments I remember like yesterday and it's amazing how sharp and vivid the images are. I remember a couple highlights involving car accidents and water polo: I pulled into the parking lot in my Volvo station wagon for 6 AM practice and proceed to sideswipe Jeremy Vander Kam's pick-up (it was parked - yeah Asian drivers!). He was asleep inside but that woke him up. The next day he asked me to pay $20 to fix the dent in his truck and it was the best hush-hush money I've ever spent. Coming back from De Anza College after practice, Kian Az...

Sometimes I'm embarrassed that my Asian American peers get so worked up over things. Phrases like "chink in the armor" by a cable news pundit get us all riled up in a lather. So our society is racist. Big news flash there. There's been controversy about the video "Asian Girlz" (warning: explicit lyrics) by the band Day Above Ground. It's totally racist but it's also kinda funny. One line: " I love your creamy yellow thighs Ooh you're slanted eyes" I'm Asian and I can take a joke. Yes, it's in poor taste and it's one of those idea that only drunk men could think of when they're sitting around talking about what kind of song they should write and everyone agrees would be hilarious. As Christians, we shouldn't be surprised when the fallen world acts like a fallen world. Further to that, it's kinda neat when a fallen world is self-aware of it's own fallenness. Videos like this absolutely demonstrate ...

In Chapter 6 of Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg tells women never to ask someone to be your mentor. She compares it to being like the young bird in the children's book "Are You My Mother?". And just like the innocent little bird who asks a steam shovel if its his mother, it should be obvious to us when someone is our mentor or not. Asking someone to be your mentor is the wrong question. She compares it to someone on a date asking "What are you thinking?" Instead, Sandberg tells women that they need to earn the right to be mentored by asking very specific questions, providing some special insight, creating some kind of value, etc. Basically you need to prove to someone that you're worthy of being mentored. And you have to do so in a way sensitive to gender dynamics (don't meet a senior man in a bar). And don't appear too dependent on others.  That makes me angry. She spends the preceding chapters telling women to raise their hands and keep them raise...

Fighting Ivan Drago:  In the late 20th century, two countries posed a threat to America's economic and political freedom: the Soviet Union and Japan.  The Soviet Union was the target of movies like Red Dawn (the first one) and Rocky IV (Ivan Drago!) and the Japan likewise was the target of movies like Gung Ho, Die Hard (Nakatomi Plaza as a symbol of Japanese capital investment in the US) and Michael Crichton's novel Rising Sun. But these two countries quickly faded as threats for the same reason: falling fertility. Author and demographer Jonathan Last doesn't quite blame everything on the lack of baby-making but in his " What to Expect When No One's Expecting " about America's coming demographic disaster, fertility is precisely the issue. It is the lens through which Russia and Japan's economic collapse can be better understood. Last makes a depressing case for what is happening not just in America but all over the modernized world. In ...

There are few spiritual forces more potent than the Asian youth group. It is a unique avenue of blessing. I was talking to another English ministry pastor in a bay area Chinese church and we both agreed on the incredible bonding effect that happens within youth groups in Chinese and Korean immigrant churches. He met his wife through their youth group. Many of my friends and acquaintances who attended an Asian youth group on a weekly basis formed lifelong friendships in the process. 20 years later, these social networks are still alive and vibrant, even when former youth group participants no longer attend church. Young people make decisions in their junior high and high school years that shape the trajectory of their lives. How does the Holy Spirit work uniquely through Asian youth groups? How are they different from their mainstream (white) counterparts? What might a sociological explanation look like? Here are some attributes that make Asian youth groups a uniquely ...