Towards a More Liberating Imagination

In talking with a number of people about the possibility of lasting social change, I mostly encounter pessimism. People often shake their heads, shrug their shoulders and say, “Well, what can we do? Jesus does say that the poor and oppressed will always be with us.” Thankfully, there is a growing movement of Christians who are imagining a brighter future for the world.

I’ve nearly finished Brian McLaren’s new book, Everything Must Change and so far have found it to be a very good read. Later I hope to present a more complete review but for now I would like to share some quotes from the 29th chapter of the book, entitled A New Kind of Question. These are not McLaren’s thoughts but those of others who have influenced Brian’s writing.

McLaren quotes John Stott, who the fairly conservative journal Christianity Today has called the ‘Guardian of God’s Word’ saying that he has been ” preeminently a steward of God’s truth and a herald of the biblical message”. (September, 1996)

“What will posterity see as the chief Christian blind spot of the last quarter of the twentieth century? I do not know. But I suspect it will have something to do with the economic oppression of the Third World and the readiness with which Western Christians tolerate it, and even acquiesce in it. Only slowly is our Christian conscience being aroused to the gross economic inequalities between the countries of the North Atlantic and the southern world of Latin America, Africa and most parts of Asia. Total egalitarianism may not be a biblical ideal. But must we not roundly declare that luxury and extravagance are indefensible evils, while much of the world is undernourished and underprivileged?”

“Many more Christians should gain the economic and political qualifications to join in the quest for justice in the world community. And meanwhile, the development of a less affluent lifestyle, in whatever terms we may define it, is surely an obligation that Scripture lays on us in compassionate solidarity with the poor. Of course we can resist these things and even use (misuse) the Bible to defend our resistance. The horror of the situation is that our affluent culture has drugged us; we no longer feel the pain of other people’s deprivations. Yet the first step toward the recovery of our Christian integrity is to be aware that our culture blinds, deafens and dopes us. Then we shall begin to cry to God to open our eyes, unstop our ears and stab our dull consciences awake, until we see, hear and feel what through his Word he has been saying to us all the time. Then we shall take action. “

http://intervarsity.org/ism/article/1952

He also quotes Brian Walsh and Richard Middleton from their book “Truth Is Stranger Than It Used to Be”:

“It is only when we can imagine the world to be different than the way it is that we can be empowered to embody this alternative reality which is God’s kingdom and resist this present nightmare of brokenness, disorientation and confusion…..A liberated imagination is a prerequisite for facing the future…If we cannot have such a liberated imagination and cannot countenance such radical dreams then the story remains closed for us and we have no hope.”

It’s about being pro-active versus re-active, isn’t it? Not a call for more charitable giving, but a call for changing systems that create these problems. Blaming the flaws (even when they are real) in the systems of other cultures tends to take our focus off of the systemic flaws of our own culture. We need to ask ourselves the hard question of how we personally are benefiting from the suffering of others. Just asking these types of questions is a start and worth the little effort it takes. At least more worthy than throwing up our hands over the world’s despair. I am glad that people like Brian McLaren , John Stott and others are encouraging me to think about my complicity as well as offering me a vision of hope for the future.

How will future generations look back on the Christians of this age?

Good Book: “If God Is Love: Rediscovering Grace in an Ungracious World”

I just finished this book and thought it was superb. Very easy reading, short chapters, light and airy styling. Although written by two men, Philip Gulley and James Mulholland (both Quaker ministers), it was written in the first person singular. It is essentially a compendium of their experiences and thoughts of Jesus and his kingdom.   

I was lead to this book by reading Gulley’s blurb on the jacket of a Brennan Manning book . Gulley has a series of books about hometown Indiana and has been compared to Garrison Keillor.  He also has (or had?) a program on public radio.  I am looking forward to checking him out more thoroughly.

Opening Church Windows

Here is an excerpt from a letter by a minister of the Roman Catholic faith, Dennis Teall-Fleming. It was sent to Tony Jones, the National Coordinator for Emergent Village and he included it in today’s newsletter. It’s a pretty obvious analogy and helps someone like me, having been raised Roman Catholic, to put the Emerging Church idea into a better perspective.

The Second Vatican Council took place in the Catholic Church from 1962 to 1965. Called by Pope John XXIII, finished by Pope Paul VI, it was the first time in over four centuries that the Catholic Church really took a look around and said, “Hey, there’s a whole wide world out there, that isn’t so bad….maybe we oughta find out what’s going on in it, and see if it has anything to do with our community of faith”. The opening lines of The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (in Latin, Gaudium et Spes) set the tone for this new way of being church: “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the people of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts”. No longer would, or could, Catholics remain isolated, insular, or reactionary to the world, or others in it. The Catholic Church’s new mission became the world itself, and its transformation would transform the Church as well.

That seems to be what’s happening in Emergent. The people involved seem to all of a sudden see that there’s a big, wide world out there that we all live in- and most of it isn’t even considered “Christian”!- and somehow they have to do everything they can to learn more about it. Somehow everything they’ve learned up to this point – about being a Christian, about being part of the Church – has to change, so that they can truly be a follower of Christ every day of the week. Emergent seems to be a kind of Evangelical Vatican II, for many Christians that got their institutional start a hundred years ago- and maybe not even that long for others!

Pope John XXIII’s legendary quip about Vatican II was that he convened the Council because he wanted to let a little fresh air into the Church by opening up a few windows. I hope the Emergent conversation can do the same for my Evangelical friends, and I look forward to being a part of it for those in my own neighborhood.

I particularly like that line of Pope John’s about fresh air. With all the attention, both positive and negative, that has been given some of the leaders in the Emerging Church as well as some of the hysterical fears of the “movement” itself (I am now officially declaring ‘conversation’ as being too vague of a description – take note) I think that it is prudent to remember the impact that Pope John’s Vatican council had on the Church. To this day there are elements within the Roman church that think of John XXIII as a pawn of Satan, yet most Catholics and Protestants would fervently disagree. Perhaps the Emerging movement is just picking up where Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli left off ; opening up windows and doors for a church that suffers from the symptoms of long term theological OCD.

Bridges: The Old Man’s Yard, Part 2

The first part of this story may be found at: http://sharpiron.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/the-old-mans-yard/

Things had been going very well in the old man’s yard. There were plenty of fruits and vegetables, a large grassy lawn for games and big shade trees for when the sun got too hot. The Old Man’s house still sat high up on the hill and every once in a while someone said that they caught a glimpse of him.

The kids got along nicely. Some of them became team captains and they worked hard at coming up with rules for the games and making sure that everyone followed them. This was important because many kids wanted to play (although a quite a few of them just sat and watched).

There were lots of things to do besides playing games. The fence always needed mending. The sound of the traffic on the busy street was noisy and distracting and and there were some kids who still had bad memories. So they decided to plug up all the holes that let in the noise. They made mud out of the dirt in the garden and used it to fill in all the gaps. When they were finished they could hardly hear any of the traffic at all.

They still guarded the gate, looking for kids that needed to be saved and also watching closely for any threats to the community. They needed to be very careful and take care of this wonderful gift that the Old Man and his son had given them. It wouldn’t do well to take any chances with the yard. It needed to be protected.

After a while some of the kids began to notice that there were some very different looking people in the yard. Most of these newcomers were watching the games but a few were playing. Some of them had different colored skin and all of them were wearing funny looking clothes. Intrigued, the curious children checked with the gate keepers and discovered that more of these strange kids could be seen marching along the other side of the busy highway. They rarely took advantage of the shouted invitations to come into the yard. Besides, being on the other side, it was too dangerous to cross. No one knew where these strange children went but it was assumed that they ended up unfortunate victims of the brutal traffic. It was sad, but it was their choice not to come in.

But how were they getting into the yard? There must be a hole in the fence somewhere, but where? A couple of the braver kids decided to go right up to one of the newcomers and ask him. He was wearing white flowing robes with a cloth wound tightly around the top of his head. He also had some sort of tiny bright stone stuck to the side of nose and his skin was very dark.

Three or four kids confronted him; “We think that it’s great that you’re here in the garden, but….how did you get in? You didn’t come through the gate – we were watching.”

“Oh, we just came over the sun bridge” he said, smiling. His voice sounded strange but kind of cool at the same time, sort of like he was singing.

“The sun bridge? What bridge? We’ve been here for a long time and there is only one way in, through the garden gate.”

“Oh no, you can come in by walking over on one of the sun bridges. There are many of them in the back yard, behind the house. Come, I will show you.”

With his long robes flapping behind him, he took off quickly, heading over the shoulder of the hill and towards the back of the old man’s house. He led them to a thick hedge row that separated the front from the back, to a place where numerous paths snaked through the leafy branches.  After winding their way through to the other side they entered a big yard very much like the one out front. It too was surrounded by a white picket fence, but there was no gate. On the other side of the fence was another busy highway, except the speeding cars and trucks looked very different from what the children were used to seeing. Most of them were very small and they all were very fast.

Standing a little higher up on the hill they could see over the fence as well as over the road. On the far side was another white picket fence and what looked like some more yards. Inside the yards children could be seen playing and wandering through the gardens. Each of these yards had a gate and all kinds of children wearing all kinds of funny looking clothes could be seen trying to escape the vicious traffic by rushing through the different gates. There also seemed to be a few ‘regular’ looking kids mixed in with them.

There were some more kids, mostly ‘regular’ ones, on the closer side of the road but still outside the fence. Sometimes one or two would dare to cross the busy highway to safety. Most of them, though, clung closely to the picket fence and kept moving onward. If they could avoid the traffic they might make it around front to where the main gate was.

But the most amazing thing was the vision towering over their heads. Shining bright in the sun and climbing high from each garden was a series of light and airy looking bridges. Though no two looked the same they all shared the same elements of grace, beauty and strength evident in good designs. One end of each bridge was anchored in the Old Man’s back yard. Venturing slowly across the bridges, safe above the roaring traffic, could be seen streams of the exotic foreign children, their bright colorful clothing shining in the sun. Once over, these ‘new’ children walked around dazedly, staring wide eyed at the novel surroundings. Then they slowly made their way up the hillside towards the hedge. Amazed, the ‘older’ children were taking all of this in when suddenly their young turbaned guide began to wave happily at some of the people. He ran swiftly down to meet them.

“My son finished building those bridges just before he died.”

The children jumped in surprise. Standing right behind them and looking over their shoulders stood the Old Man. There were some tears in his eyes but he was smiling.

“You see, children,” he said. “My son and I understood that not all of you live close to the front gate. And the traffic became so bad that it was very hard for anyone to make it there safely. So we laid out some more yards, just like yours, on their side of the highway. We put up picket fences for safety and each one has its own gate. They have all the fruits and vegetables and trees and games that you children enjoy. It is so much easier for them to make it to safety, since the gates are on their side of the street. So many more are being saved. Sadly, though, some still choose to remain outside.”

“But what about the bridges?” the children asked.

“Well, even though their yards are safe and I provide them with all they need to live comfortably, my house is way over here, in this yard. When they look up, they can see my house and many of them want to come over. I do very much want them to come stay with me so there needed to be some way for them to reach me. They can’t do it on their own. So my son built these bridges, from their yard to mine. It can be scary for them but when they learn to trust in the bridge’s strength it becomes easier.”

“But what will happen when all those other kids come in? Will there be enough room in the yard for the rest of us?” The children looked very nervous.

“Don’t you worry about that. And don’t you worry about them, either. I’ll make sure that there is plenty for everyone. Later, when it gets dark, we can all go up to my house. I have comfy rooms waiting for everyone. I also have a great surprise for you. Though you will remember my son giving up his life to save you – He still lives! Yes, right now he is up in my big house, busy building additional rooms for all of you. My son, you see, is quite the carpenter.”

“So, children, go and greet your new friends. And try to play nice.”

The Biblical Squint Test

(Sorry for being out of season, but…..)

We were talking on one of the earlier threads and there was some disagreement over the true meaning of certain scriptural passages. (I must be kidding, right? Here?) It seems like we kept going around and around and around. I was suddenly reminded of another familiar situation where I keep going around and around and around. Christmas.

Or to be more precise, decorating our home for Christmas. I’ve always loved this time of year, I probably even loved it more when I didn’t have a faith (but that’s another story). But I am not crazy about getting everything down from the attic, setting up the decorations and then having to clean up. I especially don’t like having to trim the tree. It is a lot of work.

I used to spend a considerable time making sure that every single strand of tiny lights was evenly distributed on each branch, like my father had taught me. Soon enough I learned how to stand about six feet away and toss the lights on like a fisherman casting his net. I’ve always preferred the little tasteful white lights, like the ones we had growing up. My wife, though, hails from a tradition that celebrated with gaudy multi-colored lights. She was raised Lutheran and I Catholic. In the spirit of ecumenicalism we agreed to blend both types of lights. 25 years later I can’t even think of not having it both ways.

Some people accuse me of wanting to have it ‘both ways’ when it comes to how I relate to God. I can see value in most all faith traditions and I hesitate to say that someone is not with God even though they may respond to him differently than I do. I consider myself to be a Christian but there have been times when I have been challenged on this. Apparently some think that I can’t hold to this more tolerant point of view and still maintain a faith in Jesus.

Usually our arguments will boil down to the essence of where we disagree – Holy Scripture. Someone may place more emphasis on a certain verse than I do. I might be inspired by something completely different. With both of us concentrating on what we each holds most dear, we usually end up stalled and, at best, agreeing to disagree. But that can be so unsatisfying.

When decorating our Christmas tree, each family member would devoting his or her efforts to specific parts of the tree. When the children were small they concentrated on the low hanging branches. I would be teetering on the stool near the tree top while my wife would finesse the all important mid section. Even then, some would stray more towards one side of the tree over the other. Many times the kids would hang balls and ornaments in the ‘wrong’ places, out near the ends of the branches where they sagged or too far inside where they could hardly be seen. This would drive me nuts but over time I learned to bite my tongue, for the sake of familial harmony.

When all was hung, when the boxes were empty, we would take a few steps back to review our handiwork. After a few moments my wife Bev would say, “Well? Does it pass the squint test?”. To my surprise, it always did.

Standing in close to the tree all I see are the individual ornaments of different shapes, colors and sizes and where they are placed. The occasional broken branches and bare spots are starkly visible. I am painfully aware of the ‘mistakes’ of my children. Though they should be fixed so that they make more sense, I just accept their placement.

But when I move back a bit, take in the whole thing and, softening my focus just a little, I can make out the image of a beautiful, colorful and blazing bright Christmas tree. All the intricate and and glistening ornaments, each of them with their own story of Christmases past, working together to create this wonderful creation. Even those deep and dark crannies where the lights do not reach suggest mysterious areas worth further exploration.

A cooperative effort between God and his children, a Christmas tree speaks in slightly tone to each person that meets it, evoking memories and feelings that cannot always be expressed. The ‘imperfect’ yet natural shape, the ‘inaccurate’ placement of the balls, the ornaments that range from big and shiny to small and fragile – each element works together to present a perfect whole. A little different every time, each observer can agree that the shape is always the same, and the spirit that this shape evokes can be shared by all.

Why Can’t Christians Sing Some Other Songs?

On an earlier thread BuddyO suggested that I set up a page like “Some Good Books” but this time we could list our favorite songs. Soon after making an attempt, I gave up. The task seemed impossible. I initially tried to limit the list to my top ten favorite songs. Then my top 20. I soon realized that 100 would be too small of a number and even then I would likely forget one or two. My tastes run the gamut from Buddy Guy to Beethoven, Pat Metheny to Neil Young, Sinatra to Sabbath.

Looking over my list I noticed that there weren’t any Christian praise or worship songs. At that moment some popped into mind; “Amazing Grace”, “It is Well with My Soul”, “Ave Maria” and maybe one or two more. Other than maybe “He Reigns” by the Newsboys I couldn’t think of any modern praise songs that I might put on my list of 100 (or more) all time great songs.

This past weekend I got involved in a discussion over the appropriateness of using secular music in worship services. In particular some people were concerned about Bono and U2 becoming so popular among many outwardly spoken Christians. They seemed to think that this style of music is lacking in the proper decorum and respect and perhaps is even Satanic. And these aren’t old folks talking.

I was reminded of a debate I had with some friends in my old church over whether or not it was acceptable to invite secular performers to play at our outdoor fundraising events. My argument was that, if the Christian artists weren’t attracting people, what was the point of throwing good money after bad. In fact, if the secular performers could draw some of the ‘unsaved’ to our church, where they might just be exposed to the Gospel, wouldn’t that be a ‘good’ thing? Why weren’t the “Christian” artists drawing an audience? I have a few theories;

<!1 They were singing to the converted. To everyone else the message was lost.

<!2 They weren’t very original. Seems like they all use the same play list of about two dozen songs.

<!3 Their music, relatively speaking, isn’t all that good. (At least that which isn’t found on the approved master play list). Much of it is as safe as elevator music. Lyrical pablum.

On the other hand there are a number of secular songs out there that are very spiritual, if not even outright religious in nature. And they’re pretty good on top of it. Does someone need to be labeled a “Christian Artist”, devoting all their music to overt praise and worship songs, to be considered spiritually acceptable? Or is it possible that there may be some very talented people, who in their own fashion, are relating to God musically? Duke Ellington once said that every piece he composed was a prayer sent to heaven. Perhaps we could liven up some of our services by playing some of this ‘other’ music.

Whenever I say your name, whenever I call to mind your face
I’m already praying
Whatever bread’s in my mouth, whatever the sweetest wine that I taste
Wherever I lay me down, wherever I rest my weary head to sleep
Whenever I hurt and cry, whenever I’m forced to lie awake and have to weep
Whenever I’m on the floor
Whatever it was that I believed before
Whenever I say your name, whenever I say it loud, I’m already praying

Whenever I say your name,
No matter how long it takes,
One day we’ll be together

Whenever I say your name,
let there be no mistake
that day will last forever

-Sting

To Church or Not To Church – That Is the Question

Some of the comments on the last couple of posts (“Osteen in the Lobby” and “Sounds Like the Devil”) have touched on something that I have been struggling with for some time:

Is today’s typical church paradigm even close to what Jesus envisioned two thousand years ago? And if it’s not, how important is this? After all, our society, culture, government and lifestyles are radically different than then. But these things are very different today than they were 150 years ago when the newer paradigm was first becoming common.

If we find the present situation wanting, then what do we do? Find a church that most closely fits our perception of how it should be? Or do we work towards remaking the church, a relatively slow and laborious process, something that the ‘emergent’ conversation is so much about.

Or, as my good friend BuddyO is attempting, do we toss that paradigm aside and try something ‘new’. Rather than;

…rely solely on ‘the Pastor of the Day’ to tell them what God has to say to them (for some reason a seminary degree makes a pastor more qualified to tell me what God has to say to me than I do..?….?Yet another black mark for the modern church.)

Wouldn’t it be better for a small group to gather and read and meditate on a scripture then come together and hear what it speaks to one another?

Buddy is a close friend of mine and has been my Christian mentor for over five years. Not having been with the church as long as him may be the reason I have had a greater tendency to question the status quo (and at times entertain ideas with the flavor of ‘heresy’). I’ve felt that the church has lost much of its relevance for quite some time. Now, someone else is putting their money where my mouth is and I’ve got cold feet. Buddy is working through some of this on his website:

http://www.rev22.wordpress.com/

Last year there was an article in ‘Christianity Today’ about Mark Barna, church analyist and guru at large. In it he said this:

Are you worried about the church where you were baptized, taught, married, and given Communion? That’s only a “congregational-formatted ministry,” one of many ways to “develop and live a faith-centered life. We made it up.” Writes Barna, “Whether you become a Revolutionary immersed in, minimally involved in, or completely disassociated from a local church is irrelevant to me (and, within boundaries, to God).”

Barna illustrates with two fictional characters who “eliminated church life from their busy schedules.” Why? They did not find a ministry “that was sufficiently stimulating” and “their church, although better than average, still seems flat.” Too bad for the lowly local church that people today insist on having “unique, highly personalized church experiences.”

So where are the Revolutionaries going? To “mini-movements” such as home schooling, house churches, Bible studies at work, and Chris Tomlin worship concerts. What matters is a godly life, so “if a local church facilitates that kind of [godly] life, then it is good. And if a person is able to live a godly life outside of a congregation-based faith, then that, too, is good.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/january/13.69.html

So, what do you think.

I Have a New Article on TheOoze

Some of you may remember the story about Sherri, one of God’s itinerant workers and how we met one day in Western Maryland. She’s the lady that has devoted her life to spreading the Gospel across this country on the back of a bike.  TheOoze has decided to publish this story and it comes out today; “The Apostle Sherri: Bicycle Disciple”. Please check it out on: http://www.theooze.com/articles/article.cfm?id=1818

If you’ve never visited that web site I think you’ll be pleased with what you find there.

Brian McLaren on the Iraq Problem

Over on Sojourner’s Blog,  Brian McLaren has made a good suggestion:

In his July 20 commentary, James W. Skillen of the Center for Public Justice struck a non-partisan note of honesty and balance that I wish I heard more often.

He summarized the basic narrative of the Iraq War that both our president and his party and many Democrats seem to share:

… first, America liberated Iraq from Saddam Hussein; second, we returned sovereignty to the Iraqi people; third, sectarian violence tragically increased; and now, in the fourth phase, we are “deploying reinforcements and launching new operations to help Iraqis bring security to their people.”

The elegant word Skillen chooses to describe this narrative is “delusional.”

He counters:

U.S. forces did not liberate Iraq; they wiped out its government, and the Bush administration then failed to exercise American responsibility to govern the country so it could be rebuilt and eventually governed by Iraqis themselves. We opened the floodgates to chaos, civil war, the death or flight of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and a continuing influx of terrorists whom our ‘war’ was supposed to destroy. That is not liberation.

He follows with a withering critique of both the “stay the course” proposal of the executive branch and the quick withdrawal plans increasingly popular in Congress. Both lines of reasoning, he says, lay the blame for our dilemma on “the nearly powerless Iraqi government for not climbing out fast enough from the hole we dug for it.” We may well criticize the Iraqi government for taking a long summer vacation in the midst of its crisis, but that doesn’t negate our culpability for them being in this particular crisis in the first place.

He chooses another elegant word to describe a nation that creates a crisis and then blames the victims for it: “immoral.”

Delusional and immoral are strong words. Whether you believe the invasion was an ill-conceived and badly-planned mistake or you believe that the invasion was justifiable but the problems have been in the execution, either way, we’re in a mess. We need a way out.

A friend of mine says that we’re only as sick as our reactivity. If our reactivity to Sept. 11 played a part in getting us into this terrible situation, we will not be well served by reacting to the status quo with still more reactive behavior.

For those of us who supported the war, and for those of us who opposed it but failed to stand up and speak up strongly enough, this is not a time for reactive behavior. It’s an opportunity, as Senator Obama recently said, to be as in careful planning our next steps as we were careless in planning our steps in the past. With more foresight and forethought, with less blame-gaming and partisanship and more deliberate collaboration, we can take the next steps—whatever they will be—with more honor, intelligence, sanity, and responsibility, and less reactivity than we have employed so far. Voices like Skillens’ can slow us down to indulge in second and third thoughts, perhaps breaking the cycle of unwise and destructive reactivity into which we have plunged the Iraqis and ourselves.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2007/08/reactivity-and-iraq-by-brian-m.html

Brian McLaren (brianmclaren.net) serves as board chair for Sojourners/Call to Renewal. His next book, Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crises, and a Revolution of Hope, will be released in October.

Jetsam: Nature’s Sad Litter

My wife and I recently took a vacation in the southern Caribbean. It was our 25th wedding anniversary and the first time the we had been outside the country together (unless we count Canada).

We spent a lot of time exploring the small island, including those remote and barren parts that see relatively few tourists. We spent one morning on the rugged east coast, where large lava outcroppings relentlessly battle with gigantic waves, waves rolling thousands of miles unchallenged from across the Atlantic Ocean. A new sun glinted through fast scudding clouds as the pewter sea threw itself violently upon the rocks. Salt spray coated our sunglasses and camera lenses. The ceaseless wind roared in off the water, allowing nothing more than the occasional cactus any kind of purchase. It was exhilarating.

Until we crested a rocky escarpment and took in the long, narrow, sandy bay below. The tremendous breakers funneled in between rocky capes of hardened lava, their power compressed and intensified. Over the centuries they had swept a broad fan of ivory colored sand deep into the island’s interior. Among the rocks and pieces of driftwood lay an immense garbage dump of bottles, clothes, furniture, toys – the discarded trash of mankind. The litter lay in deep and topographical layers, periodically strewn upon the beach.

Where did all this debris come from? It seemed unlikely that the islanders, who so desperately needed tourist dollars to sustain their economy, would tolerate this wholesale littering. My wife suggested that perhaps it came from ocean going vessels, dumping their trash over the side. Maybe, but there was junk on this beach that did not jive with any picture I had of a sailor’s kit – baby dolls and toys, women’s clothing, laundry detergent bottles, plastic garden tools, tennis shoes….this beach looked like a disaster area.

And then it occurred to us; these weren’t items that people had just flippantly cast away. These were things that people had lost, things that they needed, even loved. These things the sea had taken from them.

It was now obvious that this beach was a natural repository for the relics of human suffering. As the hurricanes batter the islands and coastlines of the Caribbean and Gulf they leave in their wake devastation and destruction. But they also take away. As their tidal surges recede, the inventories of both families and businesses are pulled out to sea. It has to go somewhere and much of it must end up on beaches around the world, like those of this island.

While at first we were angry over the what we took to be the contemptable behavior of our fellow man, now we were ashamed of ourselves. We had judged harshly and emotionally, solely upon this ‘clear’ evidence of man’s disregard for nature. The litter was not the result of the selfish actions of ‘American Consumerists’ or capitalist profiteers. This beach was a silent monument to the suffering of millions of our brothers and sisters, most of them too poor to escape nature’s wrath.

A lot of people have taken to pointing their fingers at people they blame for destroying our planet. It is taken for granted that mankind has defeated the earth, that because of our efforts, accidental or otherwise, the planet will succumb to a less than gradual death. Drastic measures need to be taken, they say, even if they are at the expense of individual liberty and freedom. All of us will need to tighten the belt.

There is little doubt that the human race needs to improve its stewardship of the planet. Most of us need to do a better job at working towards this goal, but with kindness and compassion. It is all too easy to throw the first stone, making monsters out of the rich and the well off. But it is rarely the rich or the well off who have to pay a (relatively) big price for their efforts. Many of those environmentally concerned people who now are calling for personal sacrifice can easily afford to pull in the buckle a few notches without feeling too much pain. But most of the people on this Earth do not have that luxury.

If we try to turn the environmental problems facing us into esthetically acceptable spiritual challenges, (with all of the inherent noble sacrifices) while writing off the possible economic side effects as merely the self-serving rants of unsophisticated capitalists, then we could be consigning the majority of or our world’s poor to even more hardship.

Instead of getting behind solutions that just ‘feel’ right, perhaps we should dig a little deeper and look for other answers that might work, without demanding more from our neighbors than from ourselves. Perhaps if we look towards furthering God’s kingdom in a more holistic and all encompassing fashion, rather than obsessing on single issues, then many of the problems we face today will work themselves out.