Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Preservation and Progress

Over on Molokai, people are dealing with the problems that can come from getting what you want. (Or from getting what you've been begging for.) Our pastor has often said, "You cannot just want what you want. You must want also what your wants lead to."

For several years, folks on Molokai have been playing the inevitable tug of war that comes with rural living: Preservation vs. Progress. It's tough in this day to maintain a simple life. (Especially when "simple" includes, a car--with gas, TV, phone service, and utilities at the flip of a switch or turn of a knob. The problem with those benefits of modern life, is that they require people to live in community. Most folks who have sought out a ruggedly rural lifestyle are more the isolationist types. And therein lies the problem.

Now the folks on Molokai are in deep kim chee. The biggest source of employment has quit playing tug of war. In fact, they are taking the rope and going home. (I can't blame them much. It's their rope, and they even made sandwiches, brought drinks for everyone and gave them shade.)

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