It’s just not fair!
Equality has come up a lot in the last month, though “challenged” would probably be a more appropriate word. In some ways I’ve always been aware of the fact that I am incredibly blessed to be in the position I’m in now, in the era I’m in now, the country, the culture, etc, etc, etc. As I may have said before, this summer’s become a bit of a re-awakening to what I used to be heading towards, and minus a small diversion en route, I seem to be heading back in that direction.
Whilst I was on a “retreat” type of weekend away, I took myself up to North Wales and went walking. I finished reading “The Irrisistible Revolution” by Shane Claibourne whilst I was there, and had already been thinking about what “the church” is, what it “should” be… (big fan of ” marks today apparently) and the idea of worship - it’s been a theme through recent musings, and I would imagine will continue to be, being made to worship and all - though that’s for another blurb :-)
In my own odd little way, I’d been getting mildly irritated by “fat christians” - the sort that load up on big meetings, CDs, talks, hype, etc, and wanted to know that there was more to Christianity than that. Although there is some good in it, I feel like the point had been missed slightly.
On Sunday nights recently, we’ve been talking about the etymology of the word “worship” and the two Greek words that are used in the New Testament which in translation we’ve replaced with “worship” - one being “latreia” (service/sacrifice) and the other being “proskuneo” (where we get our word “prostrate” from - an outward expression of love or loyalty/in awe). From my perspective, it seems like we spend so much time flat on our faces that we don’t do much of the service part of worship - we just keep eating it up and getting fat, often forgetting that God’s Kingdom isn’t going to come on earth if we don’t “get busy” as the phrase often says; Jesus is coming after all.
For me, God’s will “being done on earth as it is in Heaven” isn’t just going to magically happen. Choosing to live a life of love that pleases God isn’t the easy life, but it’s certainly rewarding - and I haven’t even fully tapped into it yet, I’m just skimming the surface of what I could do to further God’s kingdom (I really don’t like the phraseology there, but it fits well enough) :-)
Thankfully I found that there is a point to church, and more specifically worship, but (surprise surprise) it often costs a more than we’re generally willing to give. I remembered what David said when he built an altar on the threshing floor that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite (2 Samuel 24:18-25) and said that he will not give to the Lord that which cost him nothing.
My heart broke so many times whilst reading “The Irrisistible Revolution”; it showed a picture of the world which I’d seen countless times before, but because I didn’t want to rock the boat and found many excuses (I don’t have anything to give being my favourite), I hadn’t done anything about it. The world and the people in it are hurting because (in my view) we don’t look out for each other - we’re so blinkered in to “my way or the highway” and selfish lifestyles. I find it hard knowing that a stupidly low percentage of the world owns most of the wealth, and a ridiculously high percentage don’t have the means even to “just get by”. That saddened me greatly. I’d heard before that so many diseases in “third world” countries can be cured, and most of them are caused by a lack of clean drinking water, things that we think generally are an - albeit quite gross/disgusting - inconvenience but can be fatal because there isn’t the nutrition/safe water available to them.
Western society does appear to be notoriously greedy - we live in a world of “supersize” meals, excessive amounts of technology (which I’ll admit, I am interested in gadgets, computers, phones, etc…), getting stuff fast, and to some extent quantity over quality as opposed to the other way around - though when it comes to “luxury”, material value/gain over quantity also seems to come into play. Essentially we want everything and we want it yesterday.
It’s come to the time of year where I think about making things, and whilst I was away on “retreat” I found myself looking in the touristy shops, being attracted to things that I could make if I put my mind to it, to see if I could do it too. Before now, I had made cards because I needed a source of income which wouldn’t require time out of college/uni/whatever else I was doing, but could give me some pocket money - which would often come in handy for buying food when there was nothing left in the cupboards. I was walking around the village as I’d spent most of my morning walking down the banks of the rivers Conwy and Llugwy, and around Llyn Elsi (which were all beautiful, but I’d found it was nearing 3.30 - in late October, early November, that’s not the time to start going for another mountain walk in a place I’m not familiar with), and I started thinking that I could make something for a cause this year, as I don’t necessarily need another form of income to survive the winter. I thought about all the material I had sitting in a box at home, which I didn’t want to do anything big with because it’s too scary when you’re not that confident, but could do lots of little things with. On my last full day I went for another wander and thought I could make hanging decorations out of all my fabric - I could embellish them with all the sequins and beads I’ve acquired over the years, and I reinforced the idea that I could sell them for the proceeds to go towards something. The cogs had started whirring.
So on my way home, back to Newport, I was thinking about all of this. I’d finished my book the night before and wept because of how unfair it all was - that children were dying because they had no clean water, that people were being mistreated because we’d set up this individualistic empire were “I” am king, that if it inconvenienced us it’s not worth the effort; comfortable Christianity - where we think that we’ve done our bit by a 30 second prayer on a Sunday once a year for peace on earth and goodwill to men (nearest you’ll get to a Christmas reference from me in November :-P) without actually acting on it.
It may seem a bit cutting, but it cuts at me, and then washes the wounds in salt water for good measure - that extra sting which makes me check my thoughts and my reasonings for and against; the disinfectant which makes sure that I’m not going to get infected, weepy and gross only because I didn’t want it to be sorted out, and that which prompts me to see if I’m getting stuck in that 30 second prayer for world peace (beauty pageant style).
In all of this on my way home, I noticed that I had counted at least eight water treatment plants on my way through Wales - and I started thinking about Atom. He’s the friend of Shane Claibourne who decided he would use his love of chemistry to make a difference by finding ways to provide clean, safe water to those who had no access to it. I may not have such a huge love of chemistry (although I do love it…) but I can make things. I can make things to sell for proceeds to go towards providing clean water to those who don’t have access to it.
What was oddly amusing about this whole thing which I found out on my return to Newport, is that whilst I was away, my Church (St Paul’s) had played the Advent Conspiracy Video (see adventconspiracy.org) which has a focus on spending less money buying stuff that doesn’t matter and spending money on worthwhile projects with a focus on clean water.
I think that says it all really - and this is the first in many things that need right-ing in our world, but at least it’s a start. My heart broke again this evening, and the tantrum started… “it’s not fair!!”
There are people in our world dying because they don’t have clean water or food.
There are people who are hurting because we’ve been to selfish to notice them.
There are children without parents and parents without children.
There are those with excess, and those with not enough.
There’s more than enough to go around; we complain about the little we have, but in actuality that’s a lot more than some have. We have a stable roof over our heads instead of a tin shack; we have food in our fridges, clean water in our taps, electricity and gas available when we want it; we have TV, internet, access to the world, but we can’t touch it. Like Shane Claibourne insinuated in his book - we’re often poorer in spirit because we lack face-to-face community and those who we see as being unpriveledged at least get to be rich in their relationships with their friends, family, and neighbours.
I’ll get off my soap-box now… but be warned, it may well appear again! :-P
“Everyone needs compassion, a love that’s never failing, let mercy fall on me,
Every needs forgiveness, the kindness of a Saviour, the hope of nations.”
… I dare you to think about what you could do… :-)
