David Michael Bruno

The Value of Average Folk

I am convinced that the average American can provide more value to the economy than purchasing a flat screen TV at Best Buy or shopping for bargains at Wal-Mart.

Don't let anyone tell you that you are only worth what you buy.

Mighty God

Just a quick note recommending today's sermon at Emmanuel Faith Community Church, "You Oughta Know About the Mighty God." Especially good if you are going through a tough patch.

Why iPods and iPhones aren't that exciting

Quick rant. My daughter's iPod Touch came yesterday. My parents bought it for her birthday. Just like everyone says, it is really cool.

We only had a few minutes before bedtime to setup an iTunes account for her and get the iPod talking to our WiFi. The rule is that she needs to buy whatever games or apps she wants. But since we are nice parents, I offered to buy her one starter game.

We started browsing. Sex Quiz was the game that jumped out. It's little icon blazed "sex" on the screen. While we've talked about the birds and the bees with our kids, they aren't too interested right now, so I doubt it made much of an impression.

My daughter takes horse riding lessons and loves all things horses. So we decided to search for a horse game. There are a handful. All of them are pretty much aids for horse race betting. But one seemed like a real live horse game. We downloaded the trial version for free. Oops. It's a game where you bet on horses and then watch the iPod race them around the track, hoping for your trifecta.

Obviously not all iPod/iPhone games/apps are nonsense. Even the ones that are nonsense can be a little bit of fun, I'm sure. But the other day our daughter read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets because she wanted to take a quick break from reading The Lord of the Rings. She and her sister are helping our family support the village of Muzye in Burundi with their own money. They love the fact that we support and pray for a little girl in India through World Vision. They love to go outside and play.

In some ways I'm happy that she has an iPod. She needs to loosen up and enjoy gadgets and have fun (she's our serious, rule-following child). But I'm also aware that the world of iPods is overwhelmingly stuffed full of junk. Mindlessness. Un-virtue. Distraction. Escape. I don't think we live in a world where we can ignore such things. It's just a tiny bit sad as a parent to get to that point when your kids have to start dealing with them.

That said, I'm excited for the opportunity to parent well. For the opportunity to walk along side my children as they grow up into adults. Help them make good decisions and use stuff to do good things.

Two Things Only, and stuff isn't one of them

Some men are masters of deception. Others are masters of elusion. Often I feel like the master of distraction. Or rather, I feel like I've been mastered by some distracting force.

This is as much a personal reminder for myself as it is a blog post to admonish you. But I guess sometimes blogging is like wearing your conviction on your sleeves. So be it.

I believe that our lives can be summed up in two things:

1. Being a healthy person. 2. Doing good work.

It so happens that, as Christian, I understand those two things to coincide with Jesus' priorities. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind... And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'"

1. A healthy person, or as the Scripture says a 'teleios' (mature) person, is one who prioritizes love for God in all facets of life. 2. Our work (vocation) should prioritize love for (service to) others.

"Two things only" isn't so easy a lifestyle to live. I understand that. It's no casual matter that Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan after he identifies these two life priorities. Not many of us smoothly mimic the priorities of the Good Samaritan as we go about daily life. Yet that is the goal. Be a mature human by prioritizing love for God. Act it out by prioritizing love for others.

Sometimes I marvel at how aggressively the world around us tries to keep us from these two things. Of course, I'm always carrying on about how American-style consumerism interferes with growing into and acting like a mature human being. More often than not other social structures subvert these priorities, too. Work. School. Entertainment. Sadly, even sometimes church.

But most troubling of all, myself. Thus I need to chasten myself, not with shirts stitched of hair or a bed made of hard wood. But with hair-brained, hard-nosed ideas, like for example the 100 Thing Challenge :-)

That's the goal. To put conviction to work in order to grow up, becoming a healthy person who does good work.

Educational Advantages

Today is New Student Orientation at Point Loma Nazarene University, where I work. I'm excited.

My work (in the Marketing and Creative Services department) is enjoyable. We're redesigning the school's Web site, which is shaping up to be an epic project. But what gets me most enthused about my job is the opportunity to interact with students and their education. You just cannot deny that college is about the best time of life. It's a shame that most of us have to stop going to college at some point and move on into the "real world" - oh how I hate that lame criticism of college life. I once heard Bill McKibben suggest that college is about as "real" as this world gets. Community. Friendships. Accountability. Education. Vocation. Thoughtfulness. Everything but the food at the caf is "real" on a college campus.

Anyhow, in honor of NSO, and with deference to my good buddy Jon who's doing an amazing job shaking things up at eduFire, I'd like to celebrate the return of students to PLNU by recognizing Nicholas Carr's excellent read of the recent report that was completely blown out of proportion online.

Long live the classroom!