Today, January 21, 2008, is Martin Luther King Day, the only American national holiday to commenorate an African American. As you celebrate it, consider the idea that this could be the day you have been waiting for — the day you decide take up Dr. King’s challenge to follow your heart and make a difference in the world. Indeed, today is the day: (more…)
Don’t ask what the world needs.
Ask what makes you come alive, and do that…
because what the world needs
is people who have come alive!
Howard Thurman (1900-1981)
Howard Thurman was an author, philosopher, theologian and educator, who after meeting Mahatma Gandhi became passionate about the ideas he heard from the great spiritual leader. Back in America, he went on to work for civil rights and to write about non-violence in words that informed Martin Luther King’s thinking and inspired other civil rights leaders of the mid-century.
As we make our resolutions for the New Year, plan our futures and even consider the politics of American presidential race, Thurman’s suggestion about doing what makes “you come alive” may be just what we need to hear! Many of us lead lives that, while addressing the needs of the world, can feel…well, uninspired. How can we change that in 2008? (more…)
I have long held that a budget is a moral document, but never has there been more evidence that a budget (yours, mine or America’s) can also be an immoral document! Finances are certainly not the only indicator of the nature of a society. Still, how we spend our money does suggest our ethical values…and right now, in the U.S. and other places, it seems our most important core value is “more for me.”
Look in your own checkbook. Think of your church’s or synagogue’s budget. Then your city’s, your state’s. Are we taking care of each other or just ourselves? Do we stop when we have enough and share the rest? What does it say about our priorities? What in the world would God think?
Now consider your city’s budget or your state’s or our budget in Washington! If the constitution reflects our core values — our hopes and dreams for this amazing country of ours, then our government budgets are our actuation of those hopes. No less a moral document than our great Bill of Rights!
So how are we doing — or put another way, how moral are we? How do the things that every citizen should count on (education, healthcare, a living wage, Social Security, roads and bridges, air, water, safety) stack up against the monuments to our greed (tax loopholes, corporate lobbies, special interests, pet projects, military aggression for oil, etc.)?
Isn’t it time we were honest with ourselves? Our personal budgets, corporate budgets and government budgets don’t lie. We have let ourselves believe gluttony is OK. We have told each other that we deserve what we have–that the pursuit of ”success” excuses who we have to hurt to get it.
For those of us who try to practice InSpiritry, this is a disturbing time. We know the Greater Good can only be served when our finances follow our intentions, but then we wait for someone else to do something about it.
Let’s find the courage to take actions that serve not one…not some…but all!
With this in mind, I wrote a poem a few months ago for a dear friend–a Peace Corps volunteer, a husband and father, a church member, a federal judge, a great guy. He has never forgotten that we serve each other! Here’s an excerpt from the poem:
Ethics
In this time of plenty
there is no greater danger
than our comfort.
The most menacing poison hides
in the very cups at the banquet
of our acquired wealth.
:
:
This day as our blessing,
let us look round the table
of those present in our lives
and swear to God and each other
that we will honor justice
by celebrating the saints
whose lives are spent sharing
with others the holy bounty
of their simple, earthly portion.
InSpiritry Calls Us to Courageous Action!
You can be a blessing!
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“I suddenly wanted something to read about women,
but I couldn’t find anything.”
Poet Judy Grahn
Sanctuary
In Austin, Texas, on the corner of 12th and Lamar, there is a small shop that, for years, has been one of the sanctuary places in my life. Its bright storefront display promotes a wide variety of items: feminist biographies, environmental photojournalism, insightful children’s books, progressive political commentary and gifts promoting peace. Entering customers, especially women, are welcomed home. Behind the counter sits owner, Susan Post, an unassuming woman with eyes as soft as her voice. When asked, she will speak of her unwavering dedication to feminism and her heart for writers. The shop I speak of is Book-woman, one of only a handful of independent feminist bookstores in the country and the only one in Texas. A store devoted to improving women’s lives–what better way to live out a Passion for the Greater Good? (more…)
In India, where the streets are full of homeless children, a compassionate woman created a 24-hour toll free hotline to connect street children with food, shelter, medical care, safety and access to people who care. Who staffs the phone lines? Other children who have been saved from a life on the streets!
In South Africa, hundreds of thousands of people every year lie alone in their squallid homes dying of AIDS. Now, thanks to a wonderful nurse, some patients are being given home hospice care. Who would provide that kind of care? Young people once unemployed and hopeless, now trained to ease the pain and suffering of others!
In the U.S., thousands of low income high school students never make it to college because there is no one to show them how to apply or how to find funding. One man took action. His four-day College Summits offer help with college applications, essays, scholarship applications and financial aid forms. Of those who attend, 80% get into college!
In his new book, How to Change the World - Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, noted author David Bornstein, whose first book shared the story of the Grameen Bank and microfinance, offers a look at the inspirational individuals like these who have used their innovative ideas to change the world rather than accept the status quo. Bornstein describes them as “social entrepreneurs”, a term increasingly used interchangabley with “social enterprise” to describe those who combine creative innovation, corporate strategies and social awareness to address persistent problems. (more…)
In several conversations of late, I have been reminded of how overpowering the world’s problems seem to most of us. We would like things to be better, but global situations like terrorist threats, war, extreme poverty, religious persecution, human rights and famine seem, well…just too global!
Maybe there’s our answer. We keep our perspective at a global level. What if we reduce the world’s terrible dilemmas to personal proportions — to our everyday lives? Maybe then, we can see that we really can “make a difference.” (more…)
Today, October 24, is United Nations Day. It is the anniversary of the charter in 1945 of the world’s first organization aimed at global governmental peace and cooperation. This year, the United Nation’s Day theme is:
Global Health - A Critical Component to Development.
While it is a timely and admirable theme for this visionary international organization, as an American, it seems to me that irony abounds! (more…)
A Noose!?!
After years of being locked away as a relic of American heartlessness, the reality of a rope knotted into a noose is back! First, during the Jena Six case and now at another American high school where its barbarous symbolism is being used for intimidation. It is nothing short of heart-breaking for me. (more…)
What Is the Idea That Is America?
That is exactly the question considered by author and pre-eminent foreign affairs expert Anne-Marie Slaughter in her new book, The Idea That Is America, whose title is based on a comment made by an Army Captain back from Iraq. Slaughter is Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and someone who writes and speaks extensively about foreign policy theory. (more…)
Both the marketplace and the political world have seen a “dangerous erosion of the rules and principles” that have made American economy thrive in the past…“Instead of thinking about what’s good for America or what’s good for business,” he said, “a mentality has crept into certain corners of Washington and the business world that says, “what’s good for me is good enough.” Baltimore Sun article, September 17, 2007
I couldn’t have said it better myself!
These comments were made by Presidential candidate, Barak Obama, in a speech at NASDAQ this week where he chastising Wall Street values. Whether we support Senator Obama or not, his remarks are worth noting and worth expanding past financial considerations to the world at large. I think it is safe (and sad) to say that most of us operate with the mentality he described: what’s good for me is good enough.
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