It seems lately that numbers that include the number "7" are getting some big attenion. First, there is the $700 billion dollar bailout that is presently working its way into our financial instituations and, supposedly, back into our economy. This number is so huge I'm not so sure we can even fathom what it means. Then there is the number "OO7" which usually is another term for "James Bond." That much awaited recent installment of the James Bond movies is in the theatres now - "Quantum of Solace." Nothing says "Thanksgiving" like a good James Bond movie.
Then, there is the number 700,000. This number could apply to alot of things but in this case it applies to alot of growling bellies. You see, the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) just came out with a report that showed that almost 700,000 children went hungry in the United States at some point in 2007 - up more than 50 percent from the year before. This marks the highest point since 1998. And this is even before the sharp economic downturn.
Overall, the 36.2 million adults and children who struggled with hunger during the year was up slightly from 35.5 million in 2006. That was 12.2 percent of Americans who didnt have the money or assistance to get enough food to maintain active, healthy lives. Almost a third of those, 11.9 million adults and children, went hungry at some point. That figure has grown by more than 40 percent since 2000. The government says these people suffered a substantial disruption in their food supply at some point and classifies them as having "very low food security." Here are some other statistics:
> 93% reported eating less than they felt they should because there was not enough money for food
> 65% reported that they had been hungry but did not eat because they could not afford enough food
> 45% reported having lost weight because they did not have enough money for food
These are the kinds of numbers we would expect to see in Third World Countries and Underdeveloped Nations - but not in the United States. But yet, we have hunger in our own backyard - in our own communities - in our own neighborhoods. The shame is that for the most part this can be prevented as groups and churches partner together to provide the necessary food people need just to survive. It's somewhat embarrassing to know that we have this kind of problem but yet we have restaurants that have "all you can eat" buffet bars and even churches that have "all you can eat" suppers and dinners. Maybe we should skip a few meals every now and then (I know I could stand too!) and have an "All You Can Give Away" night or an "All You Can Donate to the Local Food Bank" night.
The number seven in the Scriptures is usually a number that stand for "wholeness". In this case, though, life is far from "whole." In this case, the number "seven" with alot of zeroes behind it stands for pain. It stands for unawareness. It stands for apathy. It stands for "national shame and embarrassment". It stand for a "wake-up call."
Mary's song found in the book of Luke has this simple verse: "He has filled the hungry with good things..." (Luke 1:53). Apparently the coming of God's Son was not meant to be synonmous with 700,000 people starving - let alone just one. As God's people, we have been given so much - especially as those living in America. May we do what we can to see that the hungry are filled with good things.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
A Life of Focus
This past week, Darrin Allen from the Yearly Meeting office did a great job as he brought our Founders Day message. He spoke from Hebrews 12 and shared with us the need to be a congregation that has focus, discipline, and teamwork. I was struck with the simplicity of his message but also the challenge. On paper, those three qualities may seem easy and obvious. But, in real life, it's always a challenge to live with a sense of focus, discipline, and teamwork.
One of the words I keyed in on was the word "focus". In his book, Wide Awake, author and pastor Erwin McManus writes about the power of focus. Here is what he has to say:
"You essentially self-medicate with apathy to keep yourself under control. You took care of all those out-of-control, un-realistic dreams and passions, and now you're just like everyone else. Instead of harnessing your energy, you decided to conserve it. When a person's light shines too brightly, everyone else will complain about its intensity. You can choose to live with your light on pilot, or you can develop the powerof a focused life. Focus allows you to live a life of full intensity with all your passions fueling your momentum in a singular direction. Focus isn't about less but about more. It is the ability to interconnect all you are and all you do around a central theme."
McManus goes on to write that two key components to living a focused life are concentration and convergence. In concentration, we direct all our energies and resources to a specific task, idea, and direction. This means we might have to make some adjustments. We may need to start concentrating all of our energy and resources on where we are going. We need to set our eyes on where God is calling us...and to not look back. In convergence, all of our talents, giftedness, skills, passions, intellect, and experience is harnessed to unleash our highest potential. This is important because, as McManus writes: "Without focus, not only do obstacles overwhelm us, but we also become distracted and diffused by opportunities."
We may not realize it but we often tend to live reactively rather then proactively. When we live reactively, we live our lives by default rather then design. We live according to the expectations of those around us. When we live proactively, we choose to design our lives according to God's call upon our lives. To be a focused person is to live with concentration and convergence and to not be thrown off by the distractions and obstacles that will come our way.
Do you feel you live your life with focus?
One of the words I keyed in on was the word "focus". In his book, Wide Awake, author and pastor Erwin McManus writes about the power of focus. Here is what he has to say:
"You essentially self-medicate with apathy to keep yourself under control. You took care of all those out-of-control, un-realistic dreams and passions, and now you're just like everyone else. Instead of harnessing your energy, you decided to conserve it. When a person's light shines too brightly, everyone else will complain about its intensity. You can choose to live with your light on pilot, or you can develop the powerof a focused life. Focus allows you to live a life of full intensity with all your passions fueling your momentum in a singular direction. Focus isn't about less but about more. It is the ability to interconnect all you are and all you do around a central theme."
McManus goes on to write that two key components to living a focused life are concentration and convergence. In concentration, we direct all our energies and resources to a specific task, idea, and direction. This means we might have to make some adjustments. We may need to start concentrating all of our energy and resources on where we are going. We need to set our eyes on where God is calling us...and to not look back. In convergence, all of our talents, giftedness, skills, passions, intellect, and experience is harnessed to unleash our highest potential. This is important because, as McManus writes: "Without focus, not only do obstacles overwhelm us, but we also become distracted and diffused by opportunities."
We may not realize it but we often tend to live reactively rather then proactively. When we live reactively, we live our lives by default rather then design. We live according to the expectations of those around us. When we live proactively, we choose to design our lives according to God's call upon our lives. To be a focused person is to live with concentration and convergence and to not be thrown off by the distractions and obstacles that will come our way.
Do you feel you live your life with focus?
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
A Prayer for Election Day
Jim Wallis of the Sojourners community offer this wonderful prayer. I offer it to you ..and for me..and for all us..to consider it as we vote, pray, and prepare to moved forward on November 5th.
On the eve of this historic election, let us pause for a moment of thanks. We should thank God for the men and women who committed themselves to establish a new nation, in which voting was possible. We should thank God for the courage of the women of the Suffrage movement who pioneered the path to the 19th Amendment and ensured women the right to vote. We should thank God for those who risked and sacrificed their lives to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to allow all our citizens, regardless of the color of their skin, to vote.
We also pray for forgiveness because there are still some in our country whose votes are not allowed to be cast or counted, even in recent elections. We pray for protection of all the voters and the votes of this election.
We pray for the candidates, their family and their staff—who have worked tirelessly to offer the country the vision of the future they deeply believe in. Give them rest and a sense of peace, no matter what the outcome of the election. We pray for all the citizen volunteers who have made democracy better by their work on this election campaign.
We pray most of all against a spirit of fear. The scriptures say that “God has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of love, a spirit of power and a strong mind.” Help us to remember the words of our Lord Jesus, who reminds us that love casts out fear and to be not afraid. If the Scriptures say, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil,” certainly we can make it through election day. No matter how we vote, let us vote more for the visions, ideas, and candidates that best represent our best values rather than voting against candidates simply because of the negative and often manipulative things that others have said about them.
As a people of faith, we do not find in our scripture, we can not locate in any sacred text, a mandate to support a particular candidate for president or vote for a particular political party during this election. While the scriptures may not say what box we should check on election day, we must strive to be clear about the priorities of the kingdom of God and how we can best impact the common good. Voting is one part of the prophet’s instruction to “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
Today we also pray for those who will vote differently than we do, for their own reasons also deeply rooted in faith. And we pray, despite the outcome of the election tomorrow, that we will find the ways to build bridges and work together for the common good of the country we all dwell in. And may our votes tomorrow be guided less by a fear of our neighbor and more by a hope for the future.
God has blessed all the nations of the world, not just America. But we pray tomorrow for God’s special blessing on our nation, and that the opportunities to fulfill our country’s greatest possibilities might be greatly enlarged.
On the eve of this historic election, let us pause for a moment of thanks. We should thank God for the men and women who committed themselves to establish a new nation, in which voting was possible. We should thank God for the courage of the women of the Suffrage movement who pioneered the path to the 19th Amendment and ensured women the right to vote. We should thank God for those who risked and sacrificed their lives to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to allow all our citizens, regardless of the color of their skin, to vote.
We also pray for forgiveness because there are still some in our country whose votes are not allowed to be cast or counted, even in recent elections. We pray for protection of all the voters and the votes of this election.
We pray for the candidates, their family and their staff—who have worked tirelessly to offer the country the vision of the future they deeply believe in. Give them rest and a sense of peace, no matter what the outcome of the election. We pray for all the citizen volunteers who have made democracy better by their work on this election campaign.
We pray most of all against a spirit of fear. The scriptures say that “God has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of love, a spirit of power and a strong mind.” Help us to remember the words of our Lord Jesus, who reminds us that love casts out fear and to be not afraid. If the Scriptures say, “Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil,” certainly we can make it through election day. No matter how we vote, let us vote more for the visions, ideas, and candidates that best represent our best values rather than voting against candidates simply because of the negative and often manipulative things that others have said about them.
As a people of faith, we do not find in our scripture, we can not locate in any sacred text, a mandate to support a particular candidate for president or vote for a particular political party during this election. While the scriptures may not say what box we should check on election day, we must strive to be clear about the priorities of the kingdom of God and how we can best impact the common good. Voting is one part of the prophet’s instruction to “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
Today we also pray for those who will vote differently than we do, for their own reasons also deeply rooted in faith. And we pray, despite the outcome of the election tomorrow, that we will find the ways to build bridges and work together for the common good of the country we all dwell in. And may our votes tomorrow be guided less by a fear of our neighbor and more by a hope for the future.
God has blessed all the nations of the world, not just America. But we pray tomorrow for God’s special blessing on our nation, and that the opportunities to fulfill our country’s greatest possibilities might be greatly enlarged.
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