Southwest Sustainability Notes Day 3

Durango Beyond the City Limits

Every man's way is right in his own eyes
But the Lord weighs the hearts of man. Proverbs 21:2

To do Righteousness and Justice
Is desired by the Lord rather than sacrifice Proverbs 21:3

He who pursues righteousness and loyalty
Finds life, righteousness and honor. Proverbs 21:21

We spend the night at a friend's house in DurangoThe sunshine over the San Jauns shined into my eyes from the futon in the children's play room. The fresh breeze and light singing of the local birds began a fun, full day in Durango. The verses above struck me because I was lacking wisdom for the path between saving souls and holistic redemption. These verses were comforting because I realize that all men do what is right in their own eyes yet it is the lord who determines the motives of one's heart.

This passages are both convicting and convincing. I realize that I should continue to pursue a relational approach to holistic redemption. It is not enough just to want to save the world or change one thing at a time. The problems are pervasive and systemic in the society in which we live. The proverbs above remind me of the path of righteousness and justice are desired by the Lord. They are not just slogans of an academic social justice movement. It is the desire of the Lord to see righteousness pursued.

On my ride through the town of Durango, I took a few laps through town on my way to the best coffee shop I could find. There were a few spots on the main strip. A Starbucks, The Fresh Bean and the Durango Coffee Roasting company were all within eyesight but I chose the Newstand because of its patio and open direction to the morning sun.

I ripped out a page of the real estate guide to help me find a few roads to ride. The campus of Fort Lewis College was the first destination. It sits on the plateau above town and provides a panoramic view of the San Juan mountains and the little hamlet below. Moving past the golf course and through the neighborhood below, I noticed another guy on a bike so I decided to chase him down and ask for a decent loop to ride. He mentioned the valley loop, which we were already riding.

Chris was formerly an Oracle employee living in the east bay. He did not mention what he did for Oracle but he did mention that he had just completed construction on a group of townhomes in Durango. His wife is a professional cyclist. He mentioned her third place visit in the IronHorse Classic last year.

The IronHorse is a road race and public ride from Durango to Silverton and back again. Silverton is approximately 50 miles away but the route include three mountain passes and over 5,000 feet of climbing. This is not my type of race but they do have a crit on the following day.

While riding with Chris and talking about the bay area, we ran into Mark, another California transplant. Chris supports the Durango lifestyle by selling deluxe B-B-Qs and sweeping chimneys in the area. He recently purchased one of the town homes that Chris built.

Chris pulled off when we came to his home. Mark and I continued on for the rest of the loop. He pointed out the hot springs and the waterfall along mill creek. It was a gorgeous spring day with plenty of wildflowers and greenery lining the highways and byways. Chris and I rode along 2nd street to find our way back to Hwy 160. I noticed the character of the houses and the well cared for gardens as we came closer to downtown. The home prices are roughly half the price of similar homes in the bay area. This provides much greater incentive to make the move from frantic Silicon Valley. After parting ways I finished off the ride with the seven mile climb back to Durango West.

After some left over pizza for lunch and a stroll through downtown, we made our way back to the newsstand. Our afternoon discussion focused on the efficiency of Wal Mart, the cadence of the climbers in the Giro d' Italia and the pace of life in the small town. Stan joined us for dinner at Margaritas. Over fatequila tequilla and my Corona, we discussed the transition from PBCC to other communities as well as life after college.

I'm left with a sense of disappointment after our discussion. It leaves me with a bad taste because I feel that I'm continually on the loosing end of any discussion that involves calling, vocation and relationships. I'm continually made to feel that the way I approach life is overly self-centered and illusory. Every word from my mouth strikes me as a contradiction between the desires of my heart and what I should be doing if I was really a Christian. If I say one thing, I find that others take it as judgment. I want to communicate some of my ideas, however unrefined they may be, but my ideas seem to be stuck down as the idealistic.

We talk at length about the calling into the accounting profession. Stan stated that he would not go back into the practice for a million dollars a year. I mention that I'm going back to redeem my time in the profession and not let the work break me down as it has in the past. It's difficult to know what the right direction is for those desiring to make a positive change in the world. Stan chose to leave the profession to build designer guns. I am choosing to return to the profession because I believe it provides inherent value to our society. The nature of auditing plays an essential role in calling businesses to accountability. I'm not so naive to believe that this is a precise science. The loss of integrity in the profession has led to Stan's cynicism and desire for a career change. He now builds custom guns and claims to be one of the best gun specialists in the country.

I struggle with determining the degrees of justice and righteousness in the paths Stan and I have chosen. We both believe what we do is more right than the other. I continue to see the value to put cynicism behind and press on toward making incremental improvement in accountability within the profession. Stan was blessed to follow a path that provided a beautiful house on top of a hill with views of the snow capped peaks. He has a beautiful wife and two darling girls. He also developed a skill that has allowed him to use his gifts and his passion.