During the last two weeks, I've listened to two distinctly different articles on NPR. One that I believe reflects the behaviors of the past and one that gives me the audacity to hope for a better future.
The first piece was authored by the Cato Institute, and was heard on Marketplace Morning Report. In Don't Be Frugal To Follow Recession Chic; Commentator Will Wilkinson says that if you can, you should keep spending. Essentially, the folks at the Cato Institute want us to believe that by not consuming all we can, we are actually hurting others. So the best thing to do is live it up to help get the economy going. Help your neighbor by purchasing all the stuff you can afford — just like you've were doing before the economic crisis. No need to worry, just take care of your wants and the free market will take care of the rest.
The second piece aired on the Christmas Morning Edition Show. For Junky Car Club, Charity Begins In The Garage; Mike Foster — a former sports car owner who now sponsors four children through Compassion International, speaks about car owners who have traded down from pricey cars to junkers and use the extra cash for charity. Mike didn't suggest that we give up driving, he simply strives to live a life based more on the common good and less on conspicuous consumption.
Clearly we need more of the type of actions modeled by Mr. Foster and less of the ideas espoused by the Cato Institute. On Christmas, it was good to hear a hoped filled example of how making little changes to our lifestyle can help bring grace and justice to our hurting world.
12/27/2008
12/17/2008
A Prayer for a New President and a New America
I just finished reading one of the best magazines that Sojourners has ever published. If you don't currently read Sojourners, you're really missing out on magazine that is a great guide for those who seek to discover the intersection of faith, politics, and culture.
The Cover Story for the January 2009 issue, is entitled Dear President Obama; Memos to the new president from political, cultural, and religious leaders. All of these memos are sincere and thought provoking. Of all the memos I read, Shane Claiborne's prayer entry was the most thought provoking. While I would have preferred to have Jesus for President, Barrack Obama was my second choice, so I'll commit to pray for our New President and use this prayer as a guide.
Shane Claiborne is a founding partner of The Simple Way, a radical faith community in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. He is the co-author, with Chris Haw, of Jesus for President.
The Cover Story for the January 2009 issue, is entitled Dear President Obama; Memos to the new president from political, cultural, and religious leaders. All of these memos are sincere and thought provoking. Of all the memos I read, Shane Claiborne's prayer entry was the most thought provoking. While I would have preferred to have Jesus for President, Barrack Obama was my second choice, so I'll commit to pray for our New President and use this prayer as a guide.
A Prayer for a New President and a New America
God of love, grace, and hope, thank you for creating a perfect world. Forgive us for the mess we have made of it. Forgive us for the groaning of creation, for the millions who die of hunger and curable diseases, for warehousing people in prisons and using them for labor, for the scandal of billions wasted in war, for an economy that mirrors the seven deadly sins, for the violence and greed in our own hearts. Save us from ourselves.
Give us the courage to bless the poor in a world that blesses the middle class, to bless the meek in a world that admires aggression, to bless the hungry in a world that feeds the already fed, to bless the merciful in a world that shows no mercy on evildoers, to bless the pure in heart in a world of clutter and noise, to bless the peacemakers in a world that baptizes bombs.
Give us imagination that we might not conform to the patterns of this world, that we might shatter indifference and interrupt injustice with grace, that we might choose the cross over the sword, that we might be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves, that we might consider the lilies and sparrows as they shame Wall Street's splendor, that we might choose the dream of God over the dreams of nations, that we might cling to the God who so loved the world, not just America, that we might allow our Jesus to change America rather than America to change our Jesus.
God of love, grace, and hope, thank you for creating a perfect world. Forgive us for the mess we have made of it. Forgive us for the groaning of creation, for the millions who die of hunger and curable diseases, for warehousing people in prisons and using them for labor, for the scandal of billions wasted in war, for an economy that mirrors the seven deadly sins, for the violence and greed in our own hearts. Save us from ourselves.
Give us the courage to bless the poor in a world that blesses the middle class, to bless the meek in a world that admires aggression, to bless the hungry in a world that feeds the already fed, to bless the merciful in a world that shows no mercy on evildoers, to bless the pure in heart in a world of clutter and noise, to bless the peacemakers in a world that baptizes bombs.
Give us imagination that we might not conform to the patterns of this world, that we might shatter indifference and interrupt injustice with grace, that we might choose the cross over the sword, that we might be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves, that we might consider the lilies and sparrows as they shame Wall Street's splendor, that we might choose the dream of God over the dreams of nations, that we might cling to the God who so loved the world, not just America, that we might allow our Jesus to change America rather than America to change our Jesus.
Shane Claiborne is a founding partner of The Simple Way, a radical faith community in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. He is the co-author, with Chris Haw, of Jesus for President.
12/06/2008
Becoming Better Consumers?
With much of my attention focused on the economic issues of our day and as I begin to shop for Christmas presents, this short video really made me think.
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