The bible does not just talk about poverty as one issue of many. Nor does it soley give us perspesctives or commands on 'dealing with' the poor. The Bible happens within the context of poverty - that is where it's story takes place! It contains a message that speaks directly to the hearts of the disenfranchised, the weak. And rather than offering a social critique that's made simpler and easier for those already finding life too hard, it has the cheek to say that it's message is too hard for the rich and privalledged, that the wise and intelligent cannot understand it. [1] This understanding is something many of us in the Church are only just comming to realise. Although I, and many others, live lives fraught with wealth and privalege, we dare to hope that one day we will live in a kingdom where there is no rich, poor, war or debt. I'm outlining some of the reasons for this below, in the hope that more people will be inspired to start asking the questions that will change the world.
To start with, in the Hebrew Bible, most of the Prophets were poor (e.g. Amos), and so many of its heroes were the weak and marginalised (David was a shepherd boy, Gideon was the weakest of his tribe, Abraham became a nobody, a wondering nomad [3]). The bible is a story told from the margins of history, the victims of the powers and kings that we learn about in our histroy classes today.
Then comes Jesus. The teaching of Christianity is not from an individual of elevated position, who through kindness writes on behalf of those 'below' them. No, rather the greatest teacher of Christianity, the 'supreme interpreter' of the faith, is a carpenter's son, who leaves even that to become a homeless Rabbi, with 'no place to lay his head'[2]. In fact, the only place in the scriptures where Jesus has any money at all are where he has to borrow it (for a demonstration), or where he performs a miracle, taking a coin from a fishes mouth. His main listeners would have been the peasants and workers of his day (note that he visited mainly towns and villiages, not the centres of power). Most of his recorded parables spoke directly into the situations of the powerless. He was poor, and he was the hero of the poor.
Out of all this comes the Church, a group of followers of this radical and unconventional leader, who they call their King! Not only do they perform simple 'acts of charity', they form what appears to be a new society (or should I say Kingdom?) among them. Although most of them are poor, they share with each other so none go hungry. Even their enemies had to admit '[the Christians] feed our poor in addition to their own' (Emporer Julian - a persecuter of the Christian movement)[4], sometimes going without themselves in order to feed their neighbour. They were the victims of poverty, spiritual and physical. They were the answer to poverty. They were the Church.
[1] Mark 10:15;24-25, Luke 1:51-53, 1 Corinthians 1:27
[2] Luke 9:58
[3] Amos 1:1, 1 Samuel 16, Judges 6:15, Genesis 12:1
[4] Eberhard Arnold, The Early Christians in their Own Words, p11 (which itself cites: Julian, Sozomen, V.17; see also Harnack ET, vol. 1, p. 162)
(note - many of the biblical references here are not singular occurences in the bible, and are repeated in other places also)
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Guayaquill poem
Well, it's been too long since my last post, that's for sure! I'm back in England now, and officially finished my time with action teams, which has left my quite low. I'm settling in slowly though. Anyway, today I'd like to share a poem I wrote in Ecuador, after looking up at the clouds, and remembering a time back home when I'd been out at night far away from any city.
I sigh for clouds that once, with stars, shone silver white,
are dimmed, darkened like dust,
by the glare of these bright bulbs.
Such sorrow, I say!
To see this beauty: tamed and tarnished.
But why weep I for clouds, while hungry children stand?
Because 'tis not of clouds I write,
but YOU.
I'm not really sure what this is about - it sums up my feelings about a lot of things really.
I sigh for clouds that once, with stars, shone silver white,
are dimmed, darkened like dust,
by the glare of these bright bulbs.
Such sorrow, I say!
To see this beauty: tamed and tarnished.
But why weep I for clouds, while hungry children stand?
Because 'tis not of clouds I write,
but YOU.
I'm not really sure what this is about - it sums up my feelings about a lot of things really.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
My thoughts on the disruption in Peru
I recently had to travel across Peru, and was surprised to discover the roads blocked by an organised demonstration taking place across the country. This inconvenienced me personally (like having to spend 2 more nights on a bus, and missing a few meals), but I had to wonder: why were the farmers of Peru going to such trouble? Surely, my inconvenience must be nothing compared to theirs, if they were prepared to forgo work to protest against the government? Having had two nights on a bus to think about this :-), I've got some thoughts I'd like to share.
First, let me explain what the protest was about: in South America, governments have a habit of selling off natural, and often public, resources in order to raise finance. Companies from China, Europe and the US can make a killing on these, especially when they are something needed by the local populace. Now, what has happened in Peru is this: the government made some promises about limiting this trend, but DESPITE this have agreed to privatise the water system, selling it off to a Chinese company. Since the farmers of Peru rely on this water to irrigate their land - not just so that they can sell crops, but so that they can EAT - this is a big concern for them (bigger than a delayed journey, I should say!). You see, while the government charged for the water, the price was actually quite low. But the foreign company plans to charge three times as much!
Other than that the police were trying to dissipate the protest (through means of teargas and such), I know little of how the protest was handled, and whether any of the protesters demands have been met. I most certainly sympathise with them, though (as opposed to a government that cannot even look after the basic interests of its citizens), and hope and pray that this privatisation doesn't happen. I also see that this is part of a bigger picture, the selling up of the earth, and something that I doubt is preventable. It makes me so angry that a government should presume it has the authority at all, to sell something as public as a river, that God made for the benefit of all. How much better would the lives of the majority be if we would stop thinking of the earth as something to be exploited? We could have such full lives, and so many good things, if only we lived as God desired, and not as we do!
Thinking of this reminded my of a speech, made by Chief Seattle in 1854:
"How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? ...
...He [the white man] treats his mother, the Earth, and his brother, the same, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the Earth and leave behind only a desert."
I'll leave it there I think, but there's a lot more I'd like to say. Perhaps in another post :-)
Tim
First, let me explain what the protest was about: in South America, governments have a habit of selling off natural, and often public, resources in order to raise finance. Companies from China, Europe and the US can make a killing on these, especially when they are something needed by the local populace. Now, what has happened in Peru is this: the government made some promises about limiting this trend, but DESPITE this have agreed to privatise the water system, selling it off to a Chinese company. Since the farmers of Peru rely on this water to irrigate their land - not just so that they can sell crops, but so that they can EAT - this is a big concern for them (bigger than a delayed journey, I should say!). You see, while the government charged for the water, the price was actually quite low. But the foreign company plans to charge three times as much!
Other than that the police were trying to dissipate the protest (through means of teargas and such), I know little of how the protest was handled, and whether any of the protesters demands have been met. I most certainly sympathise with them, though (as opposed to a government that cannot even look after the basic interests of its citizens), and hope and pray that this privatisation doesn't happen. I also see that this is part of a bigger picture, the selling up of the earth, and something that I doubt is preventable. It makes me so angry that a government should presume it has the authority at all, to sell something as public as a river, that God made for the benefit of all. How much better would the lives of the majority be if we would stop thinking of the earth as something to be exploited? We could have such full lives, and so many good things, if only we lived as God desired, and not as we do!
Thinking of this reminded my of a speech, made by Chief Seattle in 1854:
"How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? ...
...He [the white man] treats his mother, the Earth, and his brother, the same, as things to be bought, plundered, sold like sheep or bright beads. His appetite will devour the Earth and leave behind only a desert."
I'll leave it there I think, but there's a lot more I'd like to say. Perhaps in another post :-)
Tim
Poem
I wrote this poem a couple of weeks ago, and think I'll put it up here. Most of the images come from somewhere else (like, the bible), and it sounds a bit forced, but at least it rhymes, right? It's basically about the church - what it's meant to be, how the world has gone wrong, and the hope we we have.
In the world but not of the world,
Live as light while prophesies unfold,
A nation set apart not to impress but bless,
To rethink their lives and confess!
For the earth was once our mother,
we loved our brother,
But now we seek refuge under-cover,
Once, God walked by our side,
Now, spirituality is left, untried.
But a hope is here, a city on a hill,
Where the hungry eat, and the thirsty drink their fill,
Where a river runs, and trees stand tall,
They walk with God, as before the fall,
And there's a place for all.
Well, that's it! I've got *loads* of thoughts I want to write up from the Peru trip, mainly due to the protest we went through.
ciao
In the world but not of the world,
Live as light while prophesies unfold,
A nation set apart not to impress but bless,
To rethink their lives and confess!
For the earth was once our mother,
we loved our brother,
But now we seek refuge under-cover,
Once, God walked by our side,
Now, spirituality is left, untried.
But a hope is here, a city on a hill,
Where the hungry eat, and the thirsty drink their fill,
Where a river runs, and trees stand tall,
They walk with God, as before the fall,
And there's a place for all.
Well, that's it! I've got *loads* of thoughts I want to write up from the Peru trip, mainly due to the protest we went through.
ciao
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