Meaning of the Season?

the past few weekends we've teamed up with several organizations giving out thanksgiving dinners and groceries to those who need. it seems that the lines where much longer this year and the size of the needs are increasing. it was pretty cool....driving around town thankgiving day i noticed several places giving away food. i think that the newspaper even did a really good writeup of these events.

there is this economic side in which our leaders are trying to find ways to stop the bleeding and bringing some sense of hope to the poor and those that are struggling. in this area alone, hundreds and hundreds of people are being having to file for unemployment. imagine what that does to families.....to our communities.

then there's the moral and humanitarian side where loving, compassionate, caring, and giving people give and serve those in need. i saw a lot of that this past week. college students in serving lines on holiday giving out food. families distributing cloths and jackets together. ministers and community leaders organizing meals to give away.

as we are tempted to allow the commercialization of the spirit of the season to overtake us, i hope that we will pause for a moment and consider the impact that we can have as we work through the idea that it is better to give than to receive.

peace!

Coldplay

Last week i took a buddy of mine to see coldplay in ATL. My wife bailed on me and missed an amazing concert. What energy and power. If you get into their music then you've got to go to a concert. It's a million times better live. These guys know how to put on a great show. It was well worth the three hour road trip back in the middle of the night; even if my friend couldn't hang and was snoozing by Macon. I guess old age gets the best of us......David (ha, ha).

I also get what they are doing with "Make Trade Fair" and thier work with Oxfam. thanks fellas. The power of music and lyrics. What an amazing ability as a way to communicate to the world. How music can reach in and grab the soul, move it, and take it to places we didn't even know existed. Perhaps that is why music is such a spiritual force. It can skim the surface or it can take us way deep.

Thanks

This morning i gave a lecture at VSU to a class in the communications dept. Thanks dr. eaves for the invitation and to the students for enganging in the subject of hunger and poverty. that we would all aspire to do something bigger than ourselves that would help the 'lest of these' in our communities. 9:30am is not so easy to deal with such deep issues. i hope that you have a great semester, good luck on your papers, and keep thinking......peace

Bad Days

There are days when things just don't work out like you would like them to or had anticipated. These days usually come unannounced and unapologetically. But they are important and necessary days in our lives. As we wrestle both internally and physically they help us to shape the person we are hoping to become. In the fight against hunger and poverty these 'bad days' allow us to reflect and to identify with those we are reaching out to and serving.

I am attempting to learn to lean into these bad days and allow them to move me closer to the person i need to become spiritually, emotionally, and physically. Especially as i see so much suffering in the work that we do. So.......eventhough we hope to have less and less encounters with these bad days, they seem to be the days that teach us most about ourselves, life, others, and God.

Peace!

Beyond the Ballet Box

Everyone these days is talking about the importance of this year's election and voting....which i would have to agree with. Voting is an important right and living in a Democractic Society offers us the freedom to choose our leaders. But i think that we must stress that if all we do is vote then we have not really been a part of the process. It is important to keep our policital leaders and those we vote for accountable to their campaign promises, stump speeches, and to expect them to uphold equality, justice, and human rights both in this country and around the world.

Who we vote for doesn't necessarily mean that we will get what we were promised. Just look at history. Politics is a high stakes game of power, greed, and competition and has in many ways polluted the authenticity of the goverment. But the voice of the people, when loud enough is the most powerful instrument in the political arena. I'm not much for the political game. In fact, i actually hate it. But i am for people and believe that government plays a critical role in social responsibility, human rights, equality, and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

• A democratic society is not the result of good goverment but of great people.....and great people produce great government. Our hope should not be in a political leader or institution. The strength of any nation comes from the will of the people to participate; not in political ideology but in insuring that justice, equality, and freedom are the basic rights of all people so that no matter what the issue or which party is in power, the voice of the people remains the focus and the authority of it's government. In this political season it is essential that we remind our candidates that the people are at the heart of the issue and that whoever wins the race must remember this during their term(s) of service. But the only way that this will happen is if the voice of the people moves beyond the ballet box.

• The future of our nation is not in the hands of Obama or McCain, but in it's citizens ability to keep our politicians in check and force them to remember why they are there. Our nation was built on the backs of those who sacrificed everything to give 'the people' equality, freedom, life, and the pursuit of happiness. It is a rediculous notion to think that we can neglect our duty as citizens of this country and expect good things to happen. Perhaps that is what is meant when Christ said that we are the light of the world.

Peace!

A Discussion on Hunger and Poverty

Poverty is not issues, statistics, rhetoric, and agendas. It's not a movement, a cause, or slogans. Poverty is people. And people are what hang in the balance between action and indifference. It is not easy to define poverty because poverty has many faces and attacks in even many more ways. And people often times get lost in the busyness of working to fix the crisis of human suffering.

The idea of equality and justice forces us to look seriously at the problems of the world and work toward real solutions that benefit the people and somehow put and end to unnecessary suffering. And while policy is an important step it is never enough to meet the needs that we have inheritated as a human race. As one politician has said, "It takes a village." So together with the help of government, non-profits, community action groups, religious institutions, NGO's, and individuals we can win the war on hunger and poverty.

But we must remember that it is a war.....a war on greed, racism, corruption, and indifference. But the weapons against these are love and compassion. A love that is willing to serve the unwanted and marginalized. A love removed from self-centeredness and blind ambition capable of believing what others say is impossible.

Women like Mother Teresa taught us that the fight is not an easy one and it takes great courage, sacrifice, and discipline. We will not win the war through might, power, or money. It is when we learn to give ourselves away that we become more powerful than the ugliness that is destroying the lives of millions upon millions of people who are our brothers and sisters. I met a lady just over two years ago who gave up her life savings to serve those who have contracted HIV/AIDS. She has given everything she has so that others may have a shot at life. The solutions to poverty and human suffering will never be easy, but it is in the struggle of the journey that we find hope, strength, and the ability to overcome even in the most impossible challenges facing humanity. The human spirit is our greatest asset, but we must learn how to use it and to effectively engage the world in overcoming itself. Peace!