Throw a Load of Coal on the Fire
Throw a Load of Coal on the Fire
Every three hours the furnace required someone to get up, trudge outside in the snow and load precisely three heaping shovels of black coal into its gaping door, or as some would say, its insatiable mouth! Because of these heroic efforts, Mike and I slept in comfort and warmth.
We had arrived in Kyrgyzstan with little preconception of this former Soviet satellite country. The capital city of Bishkek was solemn and gray – featureless – like we had imagined the view of parts of rural Russia. Amidst the drab and uninspired architecture, pockets of light and neon peeked out and shone bright. These were Western pizza parlors and coffee shops! Globalization had somehow made its way to Bishkek, along with its “detachment of place” as William T. Cavanaugh in Being Consumed would point out. The desire for consumption, even though embryonic, was present throughout the capital city.
Being Consumed hits on some important issues, especially the uniformity that globalization is demanding. More and more people around the world are following the West’s example and becoming consumers – a way of “pursuing meaning and identity at the expense of losing or detaching from what is local and connected.” Unfortunately, this means sacrificing the local – which could offer truer relationships and is the concrete measure of proper meaning.
I learned that the Russian language dominates Kyrgyzstan, but that the youth are flocking to Chinese and English schools, desiring to become part of the world citizenry. Nevertheless, there is also a nationalistic move toward learning the native Kyrg language which few in the cities speak. Others are trying to recapture other Kyrg traditions by their clothing and food. But as Cavanaugh stresses, this is just a cover and provides only surface meaning. He goes on to call this “glocalization” an “invention of tradition” – people trying to create a link to the past, an attempt at manufacturing tradition.
Fortunately, Mike and I didn’t remain tourists, but spent three days at a distant camp, teaching and learning with a group of Kyrg men and women – nestled in the warmth of the coal fired furnace. There, we were able to look past the impersonal of the Global and create individual relationships.
In the confines of that camp complex, our desire was not on consumption and desire to have more, but rather a collective passion and desire to know God better. Cavanaugh puts it this way; “The solution to the restlessness of desire is to cultivate a desire for God, in whom all hearts will find rest.” Only when our desire is changed from consumption and shopping to those things and actions that please God, do we find purpose.
Backtracking from global to local, from meaningless uniformity to worthwhile connection will bring about meaning, defends our author. If that can happen, it’s definitely worth the sacrifice of someone shoveling coal at all hours of the night – I would even take my turn!
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In the confines of that camp complex, our desire was not on consumption and desire to have more, but rather a collective passion and desire to know God better. Cavanaugh puts it this way; “The solution to the restlessness of desire is to cultivate a desire for God, in whom all hearts will find rest.” Only when our desire is changed from consumption and shopping to those things and actions that please God, do we find purpose.