Living More Simply

Here's an excellent post from my friend Shaun Groves. It is so good. I wish I had his eloquence.

GL

Link

05.29.08 SIMPLIFYING SIMPLICITY PART 1

Simplicity has turned out to be one of the most complex subjects I’ve ever studied. On the long drive back from Texas this past weekend, Becky and I talked more simply about what exactly we mean by “simplicity” than we ever have before. Here are two questions we asked ourselves and the whittled-down answers we came up with:

Why live simply?

1. To free up resources which should be spent on those presently in need. Less time, thought, and money spent on ourselves means - in theory - more time, thought and money that can be spent on others. Example: Getting rid of cable frees up enough money to meet the needs of two children every month and enough time (about four hours a day) to play a game with the kids, go on a date with my wife, exercise, take a real Sabbath, and get to know the neighbors.
2. To prevent need. The less energy, natural resources and store-bought stuff we use, the less negative impact on the environment, health and economics of others. Example: There is said to be a link between my consumption of stuff, the deforestation of South and Central America, and drought in Sub-Saharan Africa.
3. To invest in personal health - mental, spiritual, relational and physical. Living with less stuff, fewer chemicals, and more time increases the odds that we’ll also enjoy more spiritual dependence and focus, less stress, more and stronger relationships, greater freedom in decision making, and improved overall health. Example: Not having a text plan or a phone that allows me to text easily keeps me fully present in conversations, making those I’m with feel listened to and important.

How do we live simply then?
1. Subtract most/all of what’s not needed from our lives. Step one: Take stock of where our time, money, and resources are currently spent and how much stuff, time and money we presently have. Step two: Determine what “need” is. It helps to see people living on the bare essentials firsthand. Step three: Commit to subtract excess from our lives incrementally and tally up the savings of time, money and environmental impact as we go. Example: This month, get rid of cable and count up the hours and cash saved. Next month, nix caffeine and count the savings. In the winter, plant a garden and notice how much better it feels to eat more chemical-free food. Take baby steps and measure the difference they make.
2. Add most/all of what we have to the lives of others. Simplifying saves money and time. Put money aside for the needs of others: the friend who can’t afford counseling, the neighbor who can’t afford medical care, the crisis pregnancy center that needs a sonogram machine. Put aside time to invest in people. Choose not to use all the time once wasted watching TV on getting more work done now. Spent that time with family, friends and neighbors, alone relaxing, on a hobby or serving somewhere.

Read more...

Album Give Away

For those of you who get the downhere newsletter this won't be news to you but if you don't get it or just haven't read it yet I wanted to share this with my faithful blog readers. Here is a copy of what we sent out yesterday. (btw, the shoes I am wearing in this picture are the brown ones, PF Flyers, 2nd row from the top 4th pair over) ha ha

This past weekend represented another milestone in the world of downhere. On Friday we celebrated the two-year anniversary of the release of 'Wide-Eyed and Mystified' - can you believe it? As I stop and take a minute to reflect on what's happened in the life of downhere over the last two years I get overwhelmed pretty quickly. We've traveled tens of thousands of miles and played hundreds of shows over the past two years. As friends and fans you also have traveled many miles to come out to shows, to buy countless CDs, t-shirts, posters, duct tape wallets, etc., to deliver birthday cards and gifts, and to let us know you are praying for us. From the bottom of our hearts we say 'Thank-you.'

Have you heard our big news yet? If not, here it is: for the month of June we will be offering 'Wide-Eyed and Mystified' as a free download on MusicChristian.com, the premier online Christian music retailer. We have been working on the new album over the last number of months and are nearing the release date - September 23rd our fourth studio album entitled 'Ending is Beginning' will be available around the world, and we need your help to get the word out. Many of you have already listened to the songs and given your input on what songs should be on the album - thanks for participating in that! This limited time only giveaway is the next marketing step in the march towards release day. Our goal with this giveaway is really quite simple: to introduce our music to folks who may not otherwise come across it so that they will be ready for the new album when it releases in September.

We really wrestled with this idea for the obvious reason: why would we give away something that we've just spent two years encouraging people to buy? Aren't we sort of alienating our faithful fans - those who spent their hard-earned money on the CD that we're now giving away? Our hope and prayer is that instead you will join with us and take this opportunity over the next month to introduce as many of your friends as possible to our music - for free!

In the next few days we will be sending you a link where you can download the record. Feel free to email it to as many people as you want to. We would love your continued help and support getting the word out. But even more importantly, we would appreciate your prayers over the next number of months as we work with our record label and management team to set up this new album so that the songs the Lord has given us to share this time around will reach as many people as possible.

Thank-you for your support over the years - many of you have been with us from the start and have stuck with us through our various hairstyles . It is a pleasure doing ministry with you - we look forward to seeing you out on the road!

Sincerely,

Jeremy, Marc, Jason, Glenn

Read more...

Is this normal?

As you may be aware we will be moving in early July so some of the packing is beginning. Today I went through the closet to sort out shoes and these are all mine!!!!

Gotta say I feel a little embarrassed to own so many shoes. Especially for a guy!

GL

Read more...

Iron Man over Indiana Jones

My Dad and I went to see Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on Friday. First the positives. I've been looking forward to seeing this movie ever since I saw the preview. For Indy fans I don't think it will disappoint. Harrison Ford does a great job at playing an older Indy but still the fierce unassuming professor that we all loved from the original. The effects were great as expected, and the sound was awesome. I thought they even made an effort to make the movie look like the old ones. Whether they used the same techniques as they did in the previous Indy's I have no idea but either way it was definitely a fun big screen movie to watch.
The negatives - I watched the second installment of National Treasure a few weeks back. It was in a cheap theater and my expectations were quite low. I hate to say it but watching Indy kind of felt like I was just watching more of the same. They even used a similar trap door/secret opening type of idea. When I saw that the connection was forever made. The kid who plays Indy's son had what I thought was a pretty stupid habit in the movie of always combing his hair. It reminded me of one of Lucas's other annoying characters Jar Jar Binks. Maybe he thought he needed that character trait for some reason but it was just over the top for me.

Don't get me wrong I still liked the movie but if you were going to the theater today to watch a movie I would recommend Iron Man over Indy for sure. I found Robert Downey Jr.'s character in Iron Man to be quite enjoyable to watch. I wouldn't want to know the guy but man was he entertaining. I know nothing about the comic book story and I went in not knowing anything about the movie but the story was great, over the top, but great. I liked the acting and especially the Iron Man character. Plus when they finally play the song Iron Man you just feel like it is so right.

Ok, enough about movies.

Glenn

Read more...

Throw Your Trash Out The Window

I know this stuff still happens because I see the result of it everywhere but for someone to do it in plain view is unbelievable. As you've likely gathered I'm into saving our environment. Not sure how much of all the global warming stuff is our fault and all those other hot topic issues but I'm at the place where I think it's really just about all of us trying to be the best stewards with what we have. That being said let me tell you about something that happened on the weekend.

I was on the road with my band "downhere" and we were pulling out of a parking lot after eating lunch.
As we started to pull out Jason says, "I can't believe I just saw that. The woman in that car just opened her window and dropped out a bag of McDonald's garbage."
We all looked over and there was the incriminating evidence on the ground next to her car. I was in the passenger seat so I asked Dave who was driving to stop before we got past her. I figured we couldn't just leave the situation like that. Something had to be done. So I hopped out of the van and jogged over to her car. Her window was still down a little bit so when I got there I said, "Would you like me to pick that up for you?" Without waiting for an answer I reached down and picked it up. I noticed her nod her head and look a little guilty as I was picking it up. Without saying another word I then jogged back to the van, hopped in and added the bag of McDonald's garbage to the other two we had in there.

I just can't believe people can be so irresponsible. Especially an adult woman who should definitely know better. Anyway, then on Monday while walking home from the neighbourhood fireworks display (Monday was Victoria Day here in Canada) I picked up a huge empty whiskey bottle that someone had just left outside. I guess I’m turning into a bit of a garbage collector. I really don’t mind though. I think it’s great for my son to see us always taking garbage out of forests when we leave and picking up random bottles out on the street. Hopefully this picking up of garbage will catch on. I think it could be the next cool thing!

Glenn

Read more...

Update

I did it!! I didn't post for the whole month of April!! Woo hoo!

Just kidding. A full month already!! Yikes. Just to let you know I am alive and well just very busy with touring. I'm on the west coast for another week and a half or so. A few more days of tour then Sherri and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary in Northern California. I can't wait. Any suggestions about what to do??

Hopefully I'll be back to posting when I get some time at home again.

GL

Read more...