Let Our Voices Shine

I realize at 25 I should already have seen this film, but tonight was the night. My first thought was Darfur, and the 400,000. And then the string of genocides from Cambodia to Rwanda that we can’t seem to figure out a way to prevent. Then, I thought about Amon’s callous, arbitrary destruction of lives, and I was struck by the thought that a whole group of Christians views God as that arbitrary decider of life and destruction. As the bodies flopped to the ground, that thought raked against my understanding of unalienable dignity ad the knowledge that I am certainly not more loving than God.

And I struggle processing the simultaneous hope and despair involved in these overwhelming scenes. Trying to save so many, knowing many many more go unsaved. Hoping that “whoever saves one life, saves the world entire.” But thinking all the time of how much money I have already wasted in my life and “this is gold; two more people.” It is the same here, now. People dying, doing a little to help, wasting some money. But here, here I can forget it for a while. I don’t want pain reliever, I want a cure.

If a man shuts his ears to the cry of the poor,
he too will cry out and not be answered. [proverb 21:13]

It is a constant struggle for me to remove the earplugs of my comfort in order to hear those who challenge my opulence by their mere presence. And, for me, the most troubling issue is I do care, but every day I realize new ways I am wasteful and addicted to superfluous living arrangements. The end of the road where I am fully engaged in the revolutionary Kingdom, holding nothing dear that relegates another to poverty, is so starkly alien to all I know that I tremble at its suggestion. Yet, I cannot seem to dismiss it.

Rich and poor have this in common:
The LORD is the Maker of them all. [proverb 22:2]

I cannot dismiss it, because that person is intimately known by the Same who loves me. And he is without, not because there is too little to share, but because I refuse to share. I refuse to share, because I refuse to see and hear. And for all my richness, I have lost the ear of the Almighty. I have something to learn; I must open my ear to the voice of the poor.

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.�

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.� [Luke 4:17-21]
We are Christ’s body, the manifestation of his grace. May the fear of suffering never muffle the cries of the oppressed to which we are called. Love is the desire for unity. Compassion is unity in suffering. We will not hear the poor from the heights of our possessions.

[originally posted at jakemalloy]

After a four day weekend due to snow days (14 inches), I realized that I would not mind not having a job. I like my job, but I have developed a high tolerance against cabin fever. My brother and I built an igloo to fit four people comfortably. And the best part of that is the continuing low temperatures keeping it in existence. But tomorrow is back to work. But I can handle that.

I’ve been a poor neighbor lately.  I haven’t shared much time with you all lately.  I want to change that.  I won’t make any promises right now, but I have some hopes.

I hope I will start commenting more on those who I read.

I hope I will engage the community more.

I hope I will keep my site up to date, within the week or so.

“Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed — no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull.” 1984, George Orwell.

Google makes plans to give you the most appropriate ads possible. What better way than to learn what your environment is? And all Google needs to do is listen. As Google plans to become “as ubiquitous as brushing your teeth,” should we be concerned?

As slashdot jokes, “shh yer changing my ads.”

Of course, for now, rather than clamping down on information, Google is giving access to more information than we could hope to assimilate. In a great move for our disconnected, history-starved generation, Google opens hundred year old news. Maybe we will learn that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

So far, Google seems to use their huge power for the benefit of others.