When the roll is called up yonder I hope to see you there
It's in the water It's where you came from...
It's in the story of where you came from And sons and daughters, in all their glory it's going to shape 'em
Monday, February 27, 2012
My soul is heavy today from the issues of school violence and public health. Let me explain. I left my "safe" space of playing with my 20 mo. old twins to head to work this morning and was met with the tragic news of another school shooting. School. A "safe" place. Or at least it should be. Who knows what violence occurred in this young persons life to bring them to the desperation of attacking his classmates? What provoked him? What issues or demons were haunting him and for how long? Who could he have turned to for help? Maybe the answers to these questions will come with time. I'm not sure what comfort they will provide the victim's families or the Chardon community.
Then I stopped by the pharmacy to pick up a prescription. The man in front of me was picking up a half dozen drugs and his total was well over $175. He spent the next 20 min. negotiating with the pharmacist which drugs he could afford to go without and how many days of the necessary drugs he could afford. All of this was going on while he son stood by. This man was morbidly obese and I imagine these drugs help him to manage whatever illnesses could be brought on by his weight. I struggled with the guilt of judging him for his personal nutrition choices, but I too struggle with eating healthy and trying to maintain a healthy weight. Something I haven't been able to do for some years now. What is really different about us? Do I have more self-discipline? I doubt it. Am I more educated and therefore understand the long-term consequences of my choices? Maybe. I think it might have something to do with being able to afford healthier options and having access to a gym and personal trainer. Our public health crisis is caught in this tangled web of economics, education, and welfare. The solutions are complex and will take years, maybe generations, to implement. In the meantime, this man is literally going day to day on his medication. He is not in some developing country, he is in my backyard.
So what? What can I do about either of these social sins? I can pray. And I do. I feel like that might be all I can do to help the families in Chardon, OH. I can reach out to local high school students who struggle with their own demons. What about the dad at CVS? Should I have offered to pay for his prescriptions? Is that the proverbial "band-aid"? Should I lobby my representatives to place a higher priority on public health issues? What is the role of the church in public health? The Ohio Council of Churches states: "The responsibility to care with compassion for ‘the least of these' who are in need of health care, or who are marginalized by the illness of the health care system, is clearly a duty of those who are Jesus' disciples" (Matthew 25:34-36).
I found a great article on Sojourner's website which balances the responsibility of the faith community and government to help those in need of public health assistance, physical or mental. It is more than 10 yrs. old, but the challenges are still the same. Check it out: http://www.sojo.net/magazine/2000/09/healing-sick-and-system
Oh no you didn't!?! Not the sacred cow of our IPhones and IPads! Yeah, I did.
Seriously though, I caught a special report on CBS Sunday Morning about China's Foxconn plant which manufactures the IPhone and IPad.
"The world is in love with everything Apple . . . but here's a question: Have you ever wondered where all that stuff gets made?
'I had never thought ever, in a dedicated way, about how they were made,' said performer Mike Daisey, an admitted geek. That is the centerpiece of his monologue, "The Agony and the Ecstacy of Steve Jobs."'
It's had to avoid being a consumer in America. It's sort of what we do. We are not the great manufacturing giant we were 100 years ago. Our economy is built on our consumption. Purchasing and using goods... until we have used them up, don't want them any more, or something better comes along. The more charitable among us will pass our used stuff along to others more "needy". But do we give a thought to where our stuff comes from? How it is produced? Who makes a profit? And who doesn't?
As a follower of Christ, I am haunted by these questions. As a middle-class American living in a small town in the mid-west, sometimes these questions pester me like mosquitoes at a backyard barbeque in July. But when I go back to the scriptures and when I talk to young adults less bound to their mortgages and utility bills, I am reminded that these things matter. Where our stuff comes from and how it is made and who makes it matters.
I am going to commit the next series of posts to probing these questions. I may not provide many answers. Maybe only more questions. But I will take some time to think about "whatever I do to the least of these" especially if the least of these made my shirt, or picked my coffee, or mined the metal in my cell phone.
Monday, June 8, 2009
My blog post from God's Politics-
Love God=End Poverty: Why I’m Going to the Mobilization to End Poverty
A year ago, anyone driving around Columbus, Ohio, was likely to see a billboard with the slogan, “Love God? End Poverty.” They were placed throughout the city in promotion of the Columbus Justice Revival, a three-day event to revive Christians toward faith and justice. The connection seems obvious to me now. Do you love God? Then you should work to end poverty. How could I spend so many years in the church and not understand justice?
I grew up in the church and spent the past 15 years in full time ministry. I am a passionate evangelical. But, until a few years ago there was a clear disconnect between my faith and justice. Through a series of experiences such as Sojourners’ conferences, the Justice Revival, Columbus Windchangers, and service mission trips at Ohio Wesleyan University, my faith was confronted by the reality of poverty and the injustice that perpetuates it. As I witnessed poverty first hand, the myths that I had long held about poverty unraveled.
Last year an OWU student approached me about some criticism she received at the suggestion of going to a soup kitchen as an outreach event. One of her co-leaders said, “The point of outreach is to evangelize. Unless we are sharing our faith, we cannot call it outreach.” He would only compromise and go to the soup kitchen if they agreed to pass out gospel tracts to each person coming through the line. As we reflected on this conversation using the text found in Matthew 25, we came to the conclusion that giving a gospel tract to the poor is like handing Jesus his own business card. Maybe it’s not the poor who need to be introduced to Jesus, but it’s through the poor that He is introduced to us.
The Justice Revival was not just a three-day event, but something that continues to happen in Columbus and on Ohio Wesleyan’s campus. After the Justice Revival a number of our students attended Sojourners’ Pentecost ‘08 conference. Upon returning to campus in the fall they formed a student group focused on faith and justice, and this spring they are organizing an event called Rock-n-Justice featuring Rev. Steve Stockman and a performance by Derek Webb. They are also planning trips to lobby local state legislators, utilizing the skills they learned at the Pentecost training event last June.
I now understand the mandate given to me in the scriptures to love and serve the poor. The greatest commandment, to love God and love your neighbor, is as important as the great commission! The two are intertwined. Because this has become so real to me, I want to help others make the connection. That is why I am working to bring a delegation to The Mobilization to End Poverty event in April. The Mobilization will provide the perfect environment to inspire, equip, and send Christians to love God, love others, and work toward justice.
A college friend recently asked why I voted for Barack Obama, this is what I told him...
"Let me put my thoughts into my own words first, then share with you some stuff I heard from Don Miller (Christian author of Blue Like Jazz).
I have voted Republican my entire life. My father is a strong Republican and very active in politics. He taught me to value to the political process and invest my time and resources in candidates we support. So since I was a child, I volunteered at the polls passing out material for candidates, and then when I turned 18 I volunteered as a poll worker.
Four years ago, I began to seriously discern my vote, not just rely on my father's opinion. Sort of like when people believe in God only because their parents do... I had to figure out what I thought regarding the political parties and their particular ideologies. I prayed earnestly through the 2004 election and decided to vote for George Bush.
A year later I traveled oversees for the first time on a mission trip. During that trip, I was approached by numerous evangelical Christians who wanted to know if it really was the evangelical vote that elected Bush for the second time. When I told them "yes, it was largely due to the evangelical vote and that evangelicals largely voted for Bush" they were shocked. Their image of Bush was anything but Christ-like. He did not measure up to their image of Christ, a peace-maker, who cared for the least of these. They asked me why I voted for Bush. When I told them it was because abortion was an issue I cared deeply about (side note: my husband and I have tried for eight years to get pregnant- it really grieves me to know there are women who are pregnant and terminate their pregnancies). But when I had to defend how voting for Bush was going to make the difference on abortion, I couldn't connect the dots. Even though I hate abortion, I don't believe you can legislate morality. That is why I spent 10 years working for Young Life. I believe we have to prevent unwanted pregnancies, not simply "outlaw" abortion (see below on abortion). In the end, I gave away my vote on a premise that I don't even believe in. In hindsight, I definitely would not have voted for Kerry- so I'm not sure what I would have done...
It really shook up what I believed about how I should vote. Since then I have spent countless hours (and really days, weeks, months, and years) discussing this very issue. If you look at my status, I label my religious beliefs as "red letter Christians". I think evangelicals have moved away from the teachings of Christ. I want my vote to reflect what was important to Jesus- across the board, not just on one or two issues. And I don't want to ever be "in the back pocket" of either political party. I have a bumper sticker on my car that says "God is not a Republican or a Democrat".
I still believe in the political process. The government plays a critical role in each of our lives, and I want faith to inform and infiltrate that process. That being said, I'll mention one last idea that has greatly shifted my political ideology and why I voted for Barack Obama. A friend of mine, from a war torn political polarized country (worse than ours) said once, "Don't vote for the candidate that serves your needs the most, vote for the candidate who will serve the least of these". I believe, in this election, Barack will do his best to serve the poor, the outcast, the oppressed, the forgotten, the very ones that Jesus came to serve. Will he be perfect, absolutely not! Is McCain "more American"? Depends on how we define what makes us "American". I don't believe it has to do with where our hands our during the pledge or if we wear a lapel pin or not.
Here are some specific comments on the "issues": Donald Miller is a Christian leader and author who is publicly campaigning for Obama throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Donald Miller on Abortion: "I am a pro-life voter, but do not believe John McCain’s plan on the issue will work. McCain’s only stand on the issue has been a recent switch to a pro-life position, and a promise to continue the attempt to criminalize abortion through the Supreme Court. I believe this is an empty promise, and anybody who understands our judicial system would know this. Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court (our most conservative Judge, many feel, and the pro-lifers greatest hope for the plan to criminalize abortion) has stated that Roe V. Wade “is the law of the land” and has been backed up in precedent by the Casey case. He does not believe it is plausible to overturn both rulings. Of course it is possible, but it would take a judicial miracle and the appointment of even more conservative, activist judges. This is the only way the overturning of Roe V. Wade will happen. The continuation of rhetoric about being pro-life but not having a realistic plan has tired me of the Republican Party. As more and more evangelicals walk away, I hope Republicans will stop giving lip-service to this important issue. My hope is they will realize they are going to lose more and more votes until they are willing to engage in a bipartisan effort to make progress with comprehensive legislation that is realistic and actual.
"The Democrats have proposed comprehensive legislation called the 95/10 initiative that aims to reduce the number of abortions that take place in this country by 95% within 10 years. While Barack Obama is a pro-choice candidate, he supports this and similar legislation. This is the only proposed and realistic strategy that can move us around the cultural impasse that is breathing hate and anger into the Christian community.
"While Barack Obama opposes late-term abortions, he has made promises to the National Organization or Women to make progress in a woman’s right to chose. I wish Obama were more strong on this issue. Still, I do feel he will accomplish more than John McCain, as John McCain has only recently taken this position and offers no legislation and no plan.
"This is a very debatable issue. There are facts on both sides that seem to refute any argument made. But I have had to do the research and take a position and, for now, this is my position."
Donald Miller on Gay Marriage: "This is not an issue I think much about because I am neither gay nor married, but I understand the evangelicals desire to protect the sanctity of marriage and define it as an exclusive relationship between a man and a woman. I agree with both candidates on this issue as they both oppose gay marriage but protect constitutional rights for domestic partners. In order to oppose civil rights for homosexuals, you would have to change the constitution which I think is dangerous. I agree with McCain and Obama both on this issue as they have stated the same position.
"On other issues that are no less important although less heated such as the economy, globalization and trade, the environment and energy, I support Barack Obama’s positions over John McCain’s."
Donald Miller on Faith: "But let me make something very clear. I don’t dislike John McCain. I think he is a good man and a drastic improvement over Republican candidates in the past. I do wish he were a Christian, or would talk about faith, Jesus, Redemption or the Cross. Barack Obama does, very often, and very unashamedly.I am uncomfortable with the idea of a truly secular man in the White House, a man who has no church, no pastor, does not read the Bible and may not even pray. John McCain seems like a good man, but a secular man. I want our next President to talk and listen to God."
I realize it has been over a month since I posted and my goal was one a week. Stupid goal going into a new school year. Nonetheless, I must follow some sort of routine or practice a little discipline if I'm ever going to get anywhere with this "thing". Even if it's crap...
Delaware just survived Ike- with his hurricane force winds, something we don't see very often in Ohio. We faired well, though our neighbors did not. They had a tree land on their front porch while it was in contract to be sold. Crazy. There are thousands without power, which brought on the question at Jubilee team tonight, "What is your favorite thing to do when the power goes out?" Reading and sleeping topped the list. It's amazing how quickly we have lost our creativity. We were lucky to not loose power, but we did loose our cable and I thought I would go nuts without watching the news for 12 hours. Sad.
I mentioned school has started. When my friends ask me about my job I always proclaim that I have the "best job ever!" It's true, but it is also very demanding. Or at least I make it seem that way. Sometimes I act like I'm saving lives! I have a tendency to be a tad dramatic. The first month has left me quite overwhelmed and exhausted. Today it caught up with me. I just got to a point where the walls of my office and my "to do list" were closing in. It was hot (literally) and crowded, and I could not think past the next minute. Total tunnel vision. God, in His sovereignty, puts people in close proximity to me that can sense when I am slipping into that tunnel and pull me out. Jessica is one of those people. She calmly spoke reason and truth to me, and helped me to realize it was time to breathe. So I did just that. Walked into the upper chapel with a couple quality prayer books (one was Celtic- of course) and thirty minutes later gained a whole new perspective on my place in the universe. Told you that I could be dramatic.
http://youtu.be/wPBbMbKSZrQ
