Fat and Greedy...

This is what I think most often any time I think about the problems of extreme poverty and hunger/starvation in our current world state. And it's not just the U.S.A. I think of... but so many countries that want to be like us. We, in our luxury and excess, have fostered so much of the greed that exists in the global picture. No, I don't think others' greed is completely our responsibility, but, if we're honest with ourselves, we have to take a chunk of the credit... and our own greed is definitely our responsibility.

And it's not just governments and international economic policies and aid plans I'm frustrated with... look at the wealth and influence in American churches and tell me there's not more we can do in the world than build bigger churches (and bigger homes, and nicer cars...). Read the words of Jesus. Don't dodge them or explain them away we've been taught. Read them and let them hit you, for once, right between the eyes. When He says, "Don't worry about your life... sell everything and give it to the poor... and follow me," let it sink in for a bit.

Our response to the current economic situation shows our true colors. A Biblical perspective one can gain from reading for such a situation is that people sell (at least some) of the things they have to meet the needs of those that have not so that all are accounted for. Our response? Cut giving, hold on tighter, and prepare to pistol-whip anyone out there who wants (in reality or in our delusion) to take what we have.

I realize there are real logistical problems for actually getting monies and aid to the people that really need them... but can we at least allot for what's needed and then work on the logistical problems as we go?

How hard would it be (aside from the extreme paradigm shift) to refocus our country's ingenuity, manpower, and resources to such ventures rather than the business of weapons and war and making sure our wealthy get their bonuses?

Okay, I know I've been ranting and I know that the many issues I've directly mentioned or alluded to are complex. Before you judge or go to bashing... I would ask that you'd, in the least, read through the Gospel of Luke (just happens to be my favorite... you can read any you like) and honestly ask yourself where you'd stand in relation to the words of Jesus when he talks about the rich and the poor... the powerful and the powerless.

A step further, and maybe that which would require the lest effort, watch the movie, "The Girl in the Cafe." I watched it last night and it got my wheels turning again on the topic (especially since the G20 just met recently).

More challenging reads, in more ways than one, would be Brian McLaren's "Everything Must Change" and/or Jimmy Carter's "Our Endangered Values." You don't have to agree with everything in these books... but at least hear them out and listen to the staggering figures related to our budgets and world need and how the way things are can't keep working (if you can say they ever really did work well).

Yes, it's Good Friday... Easter Morning is just around the corner. While I reflect on the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus... that he came to preach the good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor... I can't help but think that His mission, in this regard, should shape ours.