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Shining Lights
The ONE Campaign is becoming quite well known as an advocate for the poor and marginalized throughout the world, but particularly among the people of Africa. Initiated around the time of the 2005 G8 Summit, ONE's goal is simple: eradicate extreme poverty and its effects in our lifetime.
Having settled in for the long haul on making this goal a reality, ONE recently launched a new effort, ONE Vote '08, directed at engaging the American public, one by one, to include the world's poor in our decision making process as we elect a new president next year. ONE is asking us to put eliminating poverty, and its impact, on our agendas because in doing so we can change the world. We can contribute our voice to United States foreign policy, telling the presidential candidates that for them to be elected they must take seriously our desire to help our fellow human beings. We are being given an unprecedented avenue by which to make a difference here in our own country and to literally make the world a better place for people who at present have no hope. How often do you get the chance to embody life-changing, life-saving hope in your life?
Matthew's gospel tells us that Jesus spoke of what it means to embody God's Spirit so fully and deeply that we can indeed be this kind of hope to the world. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do we light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before all, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16)." Quite simple, isn't it? We are God's, and we light the world when we live our faith in the way we have been blessed to do so, sharing our gifts with everybody in the household of God. By doing so we point directly back to God as our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, the Source of all that we are.
But we are not called to hide our gifts away for safe keeping, or diminish them under the auspices of false modesty, fear or despair. We are not called to deny ourselves or pretend we are something other than we are. We are not called to cheat anybody else out of who or what they are, dimming their light in the process. And in the end, we are not called to pretend with ourselves or anybody else, that our actions do not reflect back on the God we serve. When we identify ourselves as people of faith, people pay attention, whether from curiosity, awe or confusion. People look to us to understand how what we believe shows up in our lives.
Our questions to ourselves must be about how we are being light in the world, and how we can reflect even more of God's light to the world. If we are serious about our faith, believing that God really does make a difference in the world, how can we be or do anything else? To do otherwise is to limit God, God's love, God's activity, by not opening our hearts, minds and spirits to more of who God can be in us, through us, and for us. Considering where our nation stands among others in the world today, we have our work cut out for us. But the world has always endured difficult times, some so much worse than our own. Conning ourselves into believing these are the worst of times only serves to disempower us, lessening the great light of grace and purpose we enjoy as God's people.
The ONE Campaign, whose membership is populated with many people of faith, including myself, is a way to remind ourselves that we each make a contribution when we make a choice to do so, rather than stay stuck. If we want to bury our heads in the sand or place a bushel basket over our heads, we can. But if we do, we are shutting ourselves off from the potential strength and beauty our collective light can bring to the world in all the good works that can point to our loving God whom we serve. Does it really make sense to do that?
Think about it.
Think about trying to stumble around your home when an electrical storm snatches your lights away, leaving you in utter darkness. Immediate fear melts away once you can grope your way to a candle and a match. Striking only once means striking away both fear and darkness, bringing back the light.
Think about it.
We are being given the opportunity to change the world for the better. Forever. Isn't that what Jesus did? Isn't that what God calls us to do? We are being given the opportunity to strike a match, strike out the fear and the darkness, and bring back the light that is God, and God in us.
Think about it.
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Stopping the Blind
Between immigration laws and new passport regulations, some people can't get into the United States and others are having a hard time leaving. President Bush's immigration bill, the center of his remaining domestic policy agenda, came apart at the seams yesterday and will most likely not be revisited any time soon. The bipartisan bill seems to have been dismantled by an even stronger bipartisan effort, perhaps redefining the term "business as usual," even by Washington standards. Meanwhile, Homeland Security and the State Department are engaged in a turf war over implementing new measures for passports use by U.S. citizens, resulting in a backlog of unprocessed documents for people ready to travel. Those measures have been temporarily relaxed for those traveling by air to Canada, Bermuda, the Caribbean and Mexico who have already applied for their passports and have a receipt for the transaction. God help you if you have travel plans in the next few months and you delayed applying because you may be stuck. Or, as Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM) so succinctly put it, "To say people must have a passport to travel and not give people a passport is right up there in the stupid column."
Interesting that these two issues sat side by side on the front page of my local newspaper this morning. Interesting, and not all that coincidental. We are at odds with ourselves these days over who should be allowed into our country and for what reasons. So it is not surprising that the desire to know where all of our own people are at any given moment would come back to haunt us in such a basic way. Some might call this passport nightmare a bit of political karma, or even poetic justice in the "what goes around, comes around" school of thought. We want to control who has access to the wealth and opportunities our country has to offer, but we are now potentially either held captive or not allowed back in if we leave because our government can't keep up with its own paperwork. One could also make a good case here for bitter irony.
The gospels contain a number of stories surrounding Jesus' interactions with his followers that speak of this same human need to present their own interests while shoving others aside in the process. One such case was while Jesus was traveling with his disciples. "As he drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging; and hearing a multitude going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, 'Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.' And he cried, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!' And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent; but he cried out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!' And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to him and when he came near, he asked him, 'What do you want me to do for you?' He said, 'Lord, let me receive my sight.' And Jesus said to him, 'Receive your sigh; your faith has made you well.' And immediately he received his sight and followed him, glorifying God; and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God (Luke 18:35-43)."
By the time Jesus encounters the blind beggar on the way to Jericho, he has begun talking with his disciples about what lies ahead for himself and for them. Needless to say, they aren't quite getting it, having become so wrapped up in the ongoing saga that had become their lives. Thinking past experiencing day-to-day events as they unfolded may have never occurred to them. But for the larger communities among which they traveled and worked, Jesus' arrival, and subsequent teaching, preaching and healing, would have potentially been a one time only event. It is more understandable in this context to see that some people would do anything in their power to be a a part of the moment, even telling a blind beggar to shut up while pushing him out of the way.
While understandable, it didn't pay off as expected. The blind beggar didn't comply, Jesus heard him, and he had his moment to state his request. Interesting that he asked to receive his sight , and Jesus used the same language in return, adding that the man's faith had made him well. Is this blind beggar our own vision of a pious, faithful believer? He was loud, insistent and completely uncaring of what anyone else thought of him. His entire focus was on laying claim to his opportunity to trust his faith and be healed by Jesus. But most importantly, he didn't limit or take away anyone else's chance to connect with Jesus or also be heard. He furthered his own cause at no one else's expense. Perhaps that is why Jesus heard his voice above so many others that day. In trying to subvert another's access to Jesus' presence and power, more than a few people likely left empty handed.
What does our own desire to control our borders to an unprecedented degree tell us about ourselves? What do we become when we think shutting people out of our country is a good thing, while expecting to be welcomed to other people's countries with open arms? When we make choices to exclude people or deny them access to the United States, what part of our faith are we suspending to shove people out of the way so our own interests will be protected?
The blind beggar's story ends on a happy note. He receives his sight, follows Jesus and glorifies God. And somehow the crowd which witnessed the miracle of new sight in one man was changed too, and praised God as well. Those who had scorned and disrespected someone more vulnerable than themselves were also healed and transformed. Perhaps we can be healed as well, lifted up from our bunkers of fear, back into the light of hope and grace. We just might be able to reclaim our strength as a country that invites people to become, and in the process, we may also reclaim our own freedom to come and go as we please, passports in hand.
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We Gather Together
Today marks the beginning of the Group of Eight, or G8 Summit, a meeting of leaders from the world's wealthiest industrialized nations to discuss global economic and development issues. Germany, led by Chancellor Angela Merkel, hosts France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, the United States, Canada and Russia, the countries that make up the G8 membership. The agenda for these meetings is growth and responsibility in the global community, as well as on the African Continent. Chancellor Merkel has clearly stated her belief that we need all global players to make this happen, implying a commitment to carry on the moral agenda set forth by the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.
Although these Summits are held annually, it was the historic agenda at Gleneagles that drew the world's attention. That gathering settled on the reality that in order to help Africa move forward and heal, we the wealthiest countries of the world would need to increase aid, forgive the debt Africa owes to us and remove trade barriers that hinder African exports. These broad-based goals centered on the intent of eradicating extreme poverty in our world in this generation. Quite remarkable is that in this point/click/delete world we have not lost hope for ourselves that this vision can be made real. In that there is immeasurable grace.
Having grown up through the 1960's and 70's believing that anything was possible, many of my generation have held onto our idealism through personal and societal struggles, long enough to see the cycles with which life blesses us. We have enough of ourselves in place to be comfortable with what we don't know, but are equally grounded in what we do know, and what it can mean to live into that knowledge for all it is worth. From such places comes care for our communities, our country, our world, our people, and faith at how education, healthcare and housing can begin to make lives whole. From such places comes wisdom that recognizes that these problems of AIDS and malaria, polluted water and inadequate sanitation, trade injustice and poverty, are not new or easily solvable, but they are indeed able to be addressed and steadily diminished over time. Perhaps because of our idealism, or maybe because we are uniquely positioned as a generation between World War II and the Iraq War, with a thick layer of Vietnam sandwiched in for good measure, we recognize that some things never change, but that many,many more can and do with an investment of will and compassion. We are fortunate materially, more so than generations which preceded us, and perhaps even those following us, but we are also blessed with an embodied hope that cannot be denied.
My own memory of this kind of hope had fallen a bit dim, unbeknownst to me until I opened an alumni update bulletin from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay a few days ago. While leafing through its glossy pages I happened upon the familiar face of Julie Brickley, my favorite professor who had passed on almost ten years ago. Two of her close friends and colleagues had established a scholarship in her honor. You see, although Julie was my favorite professor, she was cherished by the university community as a whole. She was the first woman to receive the UW-Green Bay Founders Award for teaching excellence, and she founded and chaired the Women's Studies program of which I was a part. "Julie believed passionately that language lived at the heart of learning in every discipline," said her colleague. " She brought its joy and beauty to her daily teaching." This woman who had inspired me to connect with my own heart and dreams, with my hope for the future, was inspiring me again.
Perhaps the G8 Summits will function in this way for our world this year and for all the years to come. The Summits are no longer just a small group of white men (and the occasional woman) meeting for a couple of days each summer, ruminating on the world's ills and delivering heady economic solutions for them. Now the G8 Summits will always be linked to the simple hope, the ready belief that we can eradicate extreme poverty in our world in this generation. Our generation. It will not happen overnight, but the process is already begun. We are doing it, one step at a time. The Biblical concept of hope is deeply rooted here, it is strong and it grows in us each day. And, indeed, we are assured that, "Hope does not disappoint us (Romans 5:5)."
