KIVA: loans for life

Hi friends! Just wanted to shoot out a quick few words on KIVA, another one of these amazing organizations that's cropped up in the last decade to help Americans and everyone with excess to administer justice to those with lack.

It's very simple: you make a loan in increments of $25 to any of KIVA's approved borrowers from around the world and BOOM! you've made a difference. KIVA takes care of the rest: they make sure there is a specific money goal for the borrower for a specific business need and keep them on a specific payback schedule.

I just made my fifth loan (I received a KIVA loan as a gift a few years ago, and every time the borrower pays it all back, I lend it again) to this lovely group running a restaurant in Uganda. I was drawn to them because the boss lady's name is Annet (my mom's name is Annette) and she's 54 years old (you guessed it--so is my mom).

If you feel inspired to get started on this amazing microloan adventure, click here or on the KIVA graphic above.

a very sufjan christmas

In case you haven't seen this, prepare to chuckle and feel warm and fuzzy inside. It's an animation set to Sufjan Steven's 'Put the Lights on the Tree.'

Also, if your Christmas music repertoire doesn't include the EPs from which this comes, check out my LISTENING tab to the right (or click here). Sufjan coincides sentimentality and tongue-in-cheek-ness quite satisfactorily. My favorite track is 'Once In Royal David's City' from volume II; always makes me choke up to think of that child growing up, dying, rising, ascending and returning to 'lead his children on to the place where he is gone.'

before our very eyes

I found a post saved in my drafts from about a year ago that I never finished! I will attempt to do so now...

Immanuel Kant, 1724-1804

I recently had an interesting conversation about philosophy with Addison Phillips, which is no surprise to anyone who knows him. I will attempt to summarize that which was, to me, the most fascinating moment of our discussion.

We were talking about one of the philosophers Addison has studied, Kant, who laid claim to synthetic epistemology. I had to ask Addison what epistemology was, so please, know that there's no judging going on from this end if you're having trouble even pronouncing it, let alone knowing what it is; here's my dictionary widget's explanation:

epistemology |iˌpistəˈmäləjē| noun Philosophy the theory of knowledge, esp. with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

'The theory of knowledge.' To understand what it means to know something. For instance, when you walk through a door, what do you know about that experience? In the physical realm, it's a large, flat piece of wood that's been carved and assembled by a man or machine, affixed with metal hinges and knobs and a lock, maybe some glass, and it is inserted into a cutout at the front, back, or side of your house or any building. In the practical sense, you use it every time you want to go into or out of a place and, when locked, it prevents (or at least hinders) unwanted persons from entering the premises.

What you actually 'know' about using a door is more related to the second description in the above paragraph: what it's used for. For what is wood? What is metal? Glass? Wood comes from trees, yes, but what's a tree? Metal and glass come from the earth; what is the earth, really? If we use our five senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste) to experience the world, we entirely rely upon them. They communicate things to us like, 'That telephone poll is 10 feet away, walk around it,' or, 'Hold your hands to your ears as the firetruck passes to avoid hearing damage,' things that are necessary knowledge for survival.

The remarkable and most memorable part of our conversation had to do with something Kant suggested: the unreliability of our senses Interpreting and translating information. What are the true objects of these interpretations? How do we know an apple tree is an apple tree? It could really be some weird monster that knocks us down when we run at it too fast but gives us something good to eat when we reach our hands up to it. The point is this: since we utterly depend upon our senses to give us practical information about the world, we can't discover what is true reality via our senses. We know enough to survive, but we don't know what really may be before our very eyes.

Neo waking to reality.

It's hard to capture the sensation that came over us as we discussed this. It was simultaneously terrifying and thrilling. We were sitting on my porch, Addison on the swing, me in the rocker, and I looked around at the street, the houses, the hillside. I envisioned some horrifying world that I was unable to perceive but could sense at the edges. All these familiar objects, even the dear faces of loved ones, may not actually be as I've always thought them to be. It reminded me of Neo in The Matrix abruptly discovering the true nature of his surroundings upon taking Morpheus' famous red pill.

It made me feel very grateful that our good God is the One forming ultimate reality. Whatever real reality really is (haha) that He's created, however difficult it may be to swallow, there's a thrill in knowing that 'for now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face' (1 Corinthians 13:12a).

MINISTRY UPDATE | NOV 2011

I've entirely failed at blogging the last two months! Mostly due to an awesome season of ministry, from which I've highlighted a few stories and things to pray for (if you're a praying person, please do so!) in this, CAM'S MINISTRY UPDATE for November!

This is written with donors to the ministry in mind, but obviously anyone can enjoy it and celebrate with me and Sarah! [Click each pic to read.]

MINISTRY UPDATE | SEP 2011

An update on my and Sarah's ministry adventures on WVU's campus! For those who support what we do with finances, with prayer, and with love. [Click the pic to read.]

lab rats & change

Being in a clinical drug study (like I am right now) shows you a lot about people. And yourself. Which makes sense 'cause you're a person, too.

One of the most notable items of note so far is people's handling of change. There are two distinct groups in here: we volunteers ("lab rats") and the clinical staff team ("evil scientists"--just kidding, they're pretty nice scientists. Plus, no one calls us "lab rats," I just thought it sounded dramatic). For the staff, the environment here is the opposite of change--routine. In fact, it's the most time-exact, repetitive, controlled kind of routine I've ever seen, and it has need to be since they're trying to measure the minute difference between the only element of change introduced into the whole shebang: a generic drug's journey through the blood stream vs. a name brand's.

For we volunteers, the environment here is an abrupt upheaval from "normalcy." We can't go outside for about 40 hours (I'm looking longingly out the window at Rt. 705 and Van Voorhis). We have to wear hospital scrubs the whole time. We have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn--literally; when I woke up this morning I was surprised to look toward the east and see an enormous butt in the sky. I always wondered why they called it the butt crack of dawn! For the entire first morning we have to sit up, not cross our feet, drink no water and visit no bathroom (unless it's an emergency). Blood gets taken from our bodies at a dizzying rate. We have so much time there's not enough books or Internet-ready devices to fill it all (hence my recent increased blogging rate).

These two groups represent to me the two ends of the spectrum for the way we deal with change in life. I've met people who are so afraid of change and so addicted to custom that they absolutely lose it if traffic makes them 5 minutes behind schedule. They want a quiet, regular life. Who can blame them? And I've met people who are so terrified of sitting still and so thrilled with sailing on that they go nuts if there's not some new travel plan each weekend. They want a spontaneous, adventurous life. Who can blame them?

Which are you?

Just kidding: that question is invalid. Life is not a dichotomy. There's a whole range in between. I rather fancy myself in the middle, perhaps a bit more on the side requiring some shifting scenery.

But I still crave my still moments, days, and weeks, and I actually need them to keep myself healthy...and ready for unexpected change.

verbosity

Humans are verbose.

Much of life is little conversations. Conversations over coffee, over lunch, over dinner. Philosophical musing on a porch, rocking or swinging lazily. Mandatory work meeting conversation. Conversations about co-workers... with other co-workers. Chit-chat while waiting for a bus with someone. Admonishment from one's own life experience when observing another one's imminent poor decision. Sports talk. Money talk. Church talk. Family talk. Nerd speak (one of which I'm particularly fond).

Life has moments without spoken words, moments of silence. Even then, there's often a conversation going on in one's own mind: 'What am I going to wear today?' 'What do I want to eat?' 'He always looks at me the weirdest way.' 'I miss my grandpa.' Reflection is wonderful, but it's still a conversation of sorts. Blogging itself fills the world with more words.

Very little of life (it seems to me) consists in pure action. Digging a hole for a fence post, perhaps. Fixing the plumbing (though that often is accompanied by curses under one's breath). A firefighter running out of a burning house with a little girl in his arms.

I wonder what it would be like if we could infuse a little more pure silence into our routines? I'm not necessarily referring to traditional views of meditation. I guess I simply mean... listening. Stopping. Ceasing. Being still. Looking for a circumstance that requires no words. That goes deeper than words, mere constructs, 'place holders,' can properly express. Discovering something new, something indefinable, unutterable. 'The thing itself' as Bonhoeffer (or Kant) would say.

I wonder...

email signature

Check out my new email signature. Ahhhhhhh yeah.

(I'm posting it here so it will create a URL for it so my Gmail can upload it for my signature when I do email online. Silly Gmail for not allowing an upload from my computer!)

Ahhhhhhh yeah.

Young Life: WV

Sarah and I are truly graced by the steadfastness and heartfelt passion of our colleagues working in Young Life throughout this great state. We met yesterday with as many area directors and other W. Va. staff who could make it to a gathering to plan and pray in Holcomb, WV (yeah, I didn't know it existed either--in between Craigsville and Richwood) atop a serene mountain with a view men probably have literally killed for. (The current owner of the house we met in was a gracious host and a gentle elderly man who, I'm sure, merely paid for the view.)

To get completely jazzed and semi-updated on the mighty hand of God through Young Life in West Virginia, follow our state director Scott Berg @scottbergylwv (go easy on him, he's new to Twitter; plus he works more than he tweets, which is a good thing).

memory

Trying to memorize this. John Piper told me to. (He's hard to refuse.)

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. 2 Peter 1:3-15

MINISTRY UPDATE | APR 2011

Sorry I've been so terrible about keeping up this blog lately! Here's my latest UPDATE/PRAYER LETTER, specifically to inform the amazing donors and adults on my and Sarah's ministry team.

Sign the petition. Save the LRA strategy.

Hey friends! I’ve been asked by the amazing team at RESOLVE (good buddy org of Invisible Children) to get some more friends to sign the petition, which, along with a 1-minute video explaining the situation, can be be found here: http://goo.gl/xW3Dn

Basically, at the end of 2010, we celebrated the release of the first ever U.S. strategy to see an end to LRA violence in the DR Congo and Central African Republic among other countries. (The "LRA" is the "Lord's Resistance Army" that has been active for almost 25 years in several of the most remote nations in Africa, killing, raping, and abducting at will. See my most recent post for Invisible Children's event this April that will help make sure this war won't go past its 25th year.) But now, the hope of seeing concrete action that can save lives is in jeopardy. Congress is threatening to cut the money needed to implement the LRA strategy from the U.S. budget, the very strategy Congress required the President to create.

Thanks for signing the petition! Pass this on to three friends you think might like to sign it.

Sign the petition. Save the LRA strategy. from The Resolve on Vimeo.

25. Mark your calendars: April 25

On April 25th join thousands of participants around the world to speak out without speaking. We are standing in solidarity and remaining silent for 25 hours to resemble the 25th and hopefully final year of this war. Sign up at invisiblechildren.com/​25 to create your personal fundraising page to help raise money for Invisible Children's life saving Protection Plan in DR Congo.

25 Event Details from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

DO SOMETHING NOW

Just wanted to make everyone aware of a gorgeous website for one of the great collaborative social justice efforts of our generation--DO SOMETHING NOW (dosomethingnow.com). Though I'm unaware of the exact origins of that phrase, my interaction with it has been from the unmatched Passion conferences and their GO Center where they showcase dozens of worthy causes that are making incredible differences in the far corners of this planet. (Incidentally, one of my best friends from childhood, Emily Vogeltanz, has been the head designer for the GO Center at Passion for several years now, and she has an eye for the 'look and feel' of an environment that I've not seen reproduced in any other gathering; below are some pics from Passion 2010 that of course only hint at the beauty she creates.)

Go to DO SOMETHING NOW and, well... do something now.

All We Soldiers

Today is February 2, 2011, Groundhog's Day. And the 22nd anniversary of my dad's death. His name was John Dillard "J.D." King III.

I'm certainly sad about this, but the sadness is more of what I would call an 'old sadness,' not one that truly affects me day-to-day. At least not consciously. In fact, most of my memories from childhood are very sunny and warm, like an old photograph. Still, there's a nostalgic sense of sorrow mixed with sweetness whenever I reflect on these periods. So in that way, I am definitely a sentimental person, but quite optimistic, interestingly. 'Old sadness' is kind of a theme of a song I just wrote and recorded as part of a week-long songwriting/recording challenge called Record Time VI (check out the blog here).

While the song isn't specifically about my dad, I incorporated many of the ideas I mentioned above in both the song and the artwork (which is of me and my brother as kids, taken by my father) without really meaning to. It's appropriate that it worked out to be done on Feb 2. Could it be... SATAN?! (A little Church Lady reference for you old SNL fans.) Ha! Actually, quite the contrary: I think God has beautiful and unexpected ways of reminding me He loves me.

Anyway, here's the song. Enjoy!

And here's the lyrics.

CAMERON KING

"ALL WE SOLDIERS"

© 2011

I wonder how far I’ll get walking backwards
I wonder if I care if I’m getting anywhere
Looking back there, everything’s yellow
And looking ahead, it seems the color’s left the air

Walking time in a straight line, so
Part of me is still behind me

Memories and dreams hang around like phantoms
A flash of your eyes, and in the night I hear you call
A moment we shared and you have both gone
So can I be sure that it ever happened at all?

Who I am and who I was, see
One of us is surely dying

Earth is spinning, stars are singing
We’re all waiting while we’re fading
These old days, they’re growing hazy
We’re still fighting, hoping brightly

All we soldiers
Marching onward
Towing all our dreams behind us
They define us
As they blind us

All we soldiers
Marching onward
Holding tightly to what’s rightly ours
Towing all our dreams behind us
They define us
As they blind us
Can’t rewind us

children of haiti

It's been a year since the devastating earthquake of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

I caught wind of a new independent documentary called Children of Haiti that's been in the making for 3 years. Looks pretty inspiring; here's the trailer:

Watch the full episode. See more Independent Lens.

And if you have never become involved in any way with bringing hope to Haiti, please visit Friends of Ft. Liberté's website and think about going on a trip soon! It simply will change your life.

reflection

So I have a blog. Here it is. A 'web-log' of my life. Or such of my life that I'll share willingly. I don't write here very much, because of... life. Living life. Which, as you can see by my tone and implication, I believe to be more important than sitting, writing things one wishes to impress others with. However...

REFLECTION is good. Refection is key. To what? To understanding, to putting things together, to learning, to valuation, to determining how to spend one's time. In other words, it's key to that which I lifted up as more important: living life. And living life well.

Thus, here presented are a selection of current 'goings on' in my life, some requiring true reflection and some simply to give you the kind of further comprehension of myself that only odd detail can:

This last fall I started working full time with Young Life (through my employment with Great Commission Ministries). I believe Young Life to be one of the great ministry organizations of the world, and I would LOVE to explain how well it works alongside the local church (which I believe in with my whole heart) to anyone who doesn't feel they have a good grasp on that. I've met some amazing college students this fall with whom I look forward to growing together in Christ!

In the last month, I accidentally deleted my printer from the list on my computer and CANNOT get it working again, despite hours on the internet, downloading new drivers, troubleshooting, etc. This frustrates me to no end. But I won't give up.

I went to the PASSION 2011 conference in Atlanta recently with some students and was quite challenged by the speakers, especially John Piper. I want to live a Christ-centered life and have a gospel-centered ministry, and I was struck by the truth that we who believe the gospel and would have others believe it also have the need to preach it to ourselves. All the time.

This is my current desktop background on my Mac. It makes me feel peaceful for some reason; I imagine myself walking along that high road on a clear and quiet day, looking down at all that beauty.

I'm currently reading some selections from Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil and The Geneology of Morals because of conversations with my philosophizing friend Addison. (I just now tried to spell Nietzsche from memory and when I checked it, I had put the z in the wrong place. Darn z.) Nietzsche was correct in many ways about the state of man, the desires of man's heart, the things man wants in life, and how these patterns shift with each rise and fall of a particular society. He was just biased against the idea of any common thread, which caused him to fail to see the problem of sin, which is the cause of each culture's 'relativity of morality.' We all, like sheep, have gone astray, Friedrich; each of us has turned to his own way.

I'm also currently reading Subtle Is the Lord: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein. I think part of the reason for this is that, as a kid, I tested at genius levels. I guess I just kind of figure that if I can garner some sort of surface understanding of the theories of general and special relativity, then maybe there's some truth to those tests my young self scored well on. The truth is, I'm scared to find out I may not be as smart as I think I am.

I love to write songs, even more than I like playing music. However, lately I've had some conversations with friends about playing out more with them in the various wonderful little venues Morgantown has to offer, and I'm quite excited at the prospect!