Some how I haven’t written for the last week or so, and I don’t have the time this week to process any worthwhile thoughts either, so I thought I’d just highlight a few other blogs and maybe that would spur on some discussion. Here’s a couple clips worth checking out…
It seems strange what seeing $150 in your bank account can make you think. When I first saw, I thought “oi – we’re poor.” But we’re not poor. We don’t have a right to claim being poor at all. We have no idea what it really means to be poor.
I almost struggle with knowing what poor means. If we only had $150 and no paycheck coming next month… then maybe I’d have a sense of being poor. I have hope, though, because I know that money is coming. I don’t know what it feels like to not know when the next time we’ll have money is. College was only a few years ago… and yet have we been so “successful” that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to be struggling for money, having friends pay for dinner and being content with just what we already have?
I’ll be honest – I don’t want to be poor.
PeacefulVeganMom (Who some how manages to quote Jim Wallis in one blog post and me in the next; I’m honored):
Unfortunately, in our current culture, we have exemplified with our lifestyles that war is sometimes just, a child who hits others deserves to be hit, a man who kills others deserves to be killed, and when another country commits acts of violence against us, we should return that violence in kind. Why does the myth of redemptive violence run rampant in our hearts when Jesus clearly came to teach us there is another Way?
Where is the love and grace when we, as the wealthiest 20% of the world’s population, own and consume 80% of the world’s resources while the other 20% of the world live in utter poverty and despair? Where is the justice? What happened to the golden rule?? What are we teaching our children about the importance of compassion and the evil of the love of money??
As a church leader, I am very well aware that political conversations are dangerous. This is especially true in our current cultural setting where people are so divided between “red” and “blue.” I have no desire to politicize my church (as many other pastors have done). I want my church to be a place where people find their identity in Christ, not in their class, party, race, etc. I would never, for instance, even suggest which candidate a person should vote for, or what party they should support. Further, I don’t see that any politician or political party well represents my understanding of Christian political ideas.
All that said, it just seems that our government must hear the voice of Believers. For me, that means I am currently writing a personal political statement. Not a “red” or “blue” statement, but a statement of political values that I hold. I have also decided that I need to express some of these values on this blog. I am not interested in attacking any politician or party. However, I think there are issues that, as a Christian, I must speak about.