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

NPR investigates the relationship between Apple and Foxconn

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."'

Here's a link to their report:

"The dark side of shiny Apple products"

And a link to NPR's This American Life on Mike Daisey:
"Mr. Daisey and the Apple factory"

Does this mean I'm going to sell my Macbook? Maybe. I'm am glad to discover that the investigations may have brought about more awareness and involvement from Apple's execs. See "Apple is first technology company to join Fair Labor Association"

Conscience Consuption

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.