A Growing Sense of Helplessness

Over the course of the last week or so, I have been following the news of the various "Occupy" protests.  Not real closely, but I have been following.  I have done some reading about what these protesters are upset about and have seen some pretty jarring statistics.  All of this following has led to a mini-crisis in my mind.

To a great extent, I agree with the protesters.  The growing gap between the haves and have nots in our country is untenable.  That the United States is ranked 93rd in the world in income equality (behind China and Iran, among others); that CEO's make, on average, 350 times the salary of a regular employee; that 1% of the population owns 42% of the financial wealth of our nation while 80% share a meager 7% of that wealth; that the bottom 80% of the population control only 15% of our net worth, while the top 5% control 60% - all of these are signs that something is dreadfully wrong.

What makes it even worse in my mind is that so many of those top 5% would likely claim to be "Christian" in their religious views and practice.

But there is nothing Christian about greed, nothing Christian about profiteering, nothing Christian about refusing to pay employees a living wage.  All of these things are, to put it bluntly, immoral.  The Bible clearly speaks about paying men and women a wage that allows them to live.  It also clearly speaks against those who would withhold from others the things necessary for life.  There is even a portion of the Bible that says that the people of God cannot hold someone's cloak as a pledge for debt!  Exodus 22:26-28:

If you take your neighbor's cloak as a pledge, return it by sunset, because that cloak is the only covering your neighbor has.  When they cry out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.


Everything takes second place to care of the neighbor.  This is a consistent thread through Scripture.

So why do we feel that we can call ourselves Christians and knowingly take advantage of our neighbor?  How can I continue to support a system that allows some people to go hungry while others are making BILLIONS of dollars?

The simple answer is that I can't.  Which is why I support the protesters.  Call this post my "Occupy Blogger" stand.

The thing is, even as I write those words - that I support the protesters - I realize how impotent and trite they sound.  The poor don't need my words, they need food.  They don't need symbolic stands, they need jobs.  They don't need a blog post that they won't read, they need a living wage.

And in the face of all those needs, I feel helpless.  What good will it do for me to say that the system is broken?  I participate in that system every single day.  Realistically, what can I accomplish?

I don't know...and it is frustrating.  I keep praying that God would show me a way that I can get involved, that I can use my gifts to make a difference and have an impact.  Until he does, I am left to do the only thing I can: offer words of warning and encouragement.

To those who are at the mercy of the system, who are jobless, homeless, hungry and (seemingly) powerless:

But now thus says the Lord,
He who created you, O Jacob,
He who formed you, O Israel,
Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name;
You are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and through the rivers,
the waters shall not overwhelm you.
When you walk through the fire,
you shall not be burned,
the flame shall not consume you.
(Isaiah 43:1-2)


And for those who are a part of the system, who willingly tread on the backs of the poor to make their millions, who ignore the need, who pretend it is no big deal:

When the poor and needy seek water
and there is none;
when their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the LORD will answer them,
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
(Isaiah 41:17)


jB

My Son & Communion

One of the things that has become apparent in my transition into the United Methodist Church is that there are some areas of theology and church practice on which I will have to develop a new perspective.  The service of Communion is one of those things.

The denomination in which I grew up placed a great deal of emphasis on being an appropriate age to receive communion - one needed to be fully aware of the symbolism of the event and what it all meant.  Of course, I had adopted the same point of view.  It made sense to me.

In the UMC, though, things are done a bit differently.  Children of all ages are encouraged to receive communion...even down to Hannah (almost 6) and Ike (almost 4).  At first, I wasn't sure I wanted my own kids to participate.  I even went so far as to ask Melissa to stop them from receiving...but my wife replied by saying that she wasn't sure she could stop them without causing a scene.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when we served communion.  My son and daughter were sitting in the back of the sanctuary with one of the older couples in the church.  As the stewards were handing out the bread and juice, I just happened to glance back in time to see my son take the bread.  This seems like an appropriate place to mention that on this particular Sunday we were all receiving the elements together - each was to hold on to the bread and juice until all had been served.

Ike was having none of that.  He grabbed a piece of that bread and popped it straight into his mouth.  In a flash, I went through two different reactions - frustration that he would do that and a realization from God that there was absolutely nothing wrong with what he did.  Moreover, I have come to realize that I need to be more like my son.  While I was somewhat impatiently waiting for the stewards to finish, Ike just couldn't wait to participate.  Even though he doesn't know the symbolism and all the theology of Communion, he instinctively knew the most important part - "This is for me, and I want it...now."

What a difference in attitude!  While we "grown-ups" often spend our time before communion looking around the sanctuary at our fellow worshipers or, if we are really holy, somberly meditating for a few minutes...the children just take what is given to them and cram it in their mouths as fast as they can.  They don't need to think about it, they don't need to know all the details...they just want it.

My prayer is that God would help me to learn to take communion like my son - with less concern for theology and more of an attitude that I just want whatever it is that God is willing to give to me.