The 2012 Wildgoose Festival from The Work Of The People on Vimeo.
I hope to go this year! What about you?
This post is part of a synchroblog on extreme economic poverty. The list of participants is posted at the end of this article. It is also posted on Communitas Collective.
A report released in May of 2011 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found that the gap between the rich and poor in O.E.C.D. countries has reached its highest level in over 30 years. Here is my response about how to shrink that gap in the United States.
Somebody asked Bono the difference between an American and an Irishman. He replied,
When an American sees a mansion on a hilltop overlooking the city, he thinks, “Wow, that guy made it and is living the good life.” The Irishman thinks, “Rich bastard!”
What do you think when you are panhandled in the city?
- Poor dude! I can give him a few dollars for his next meal.
- This jerk is preying upon people’s good-heartedness and guilt. He needs to get a job and stop collecting government handouts.
- The last thing this alcoholic or drug addict needs is money for a fix.
Some folks feel well off when they can afford their kid’s college education, remodel their home, and keep a couple of late model SUV’s parked in the driveway, while socking money away for retirement. Others are happy to be surviving and meeting their monthly obligations.
The point is that our response to poverty and wealth comes from a deeply rooted attitude based upon our experiences, background, and the type of information that we consume.
Let’s try to move past that subjectivity and break the topic into some bite-sized pieces by asking some rather basic questions.
Is it okay to be wealthy?
What is the most common regret in life?
I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
The power of expectations is vastly underestimated!
Parents may be the worst offenders. Children, including adult children, try to please their parents, even when the parent is completely clueless to their child’s unique identity and is an obviously twisted, self-consumed person. These people may think they love someone, but their actions reveal they are completely clueless about the true nature of love as they pervert it into something which is selfish and controlling, and the very antithesis of real love.
Women keep going back to abusive men, feeling as though they are responsible for his behavior. They reason, if they are good enough at fulfilling his expectations, he will not be abusive.
I once had an acquaintance who wanted me to enter into a venture with him. I carefully thought about and explained to him why I did not what to be personally involved and wished him well. He kept stalking me about it and eventually wrote terrible lies about me as a comment on my own blog. He continuously tried to squeeze me into his mold, so his venture could be successful.
The political rancor that poisons our nation is such that there is often a point of dissonance in our casual conversations. People will turn to you and think or say, I can’t believe you feel that way. My initial response is to rationally explain my position. If I don’t get anywhere with that, then my next instinct is to fight fire with fire and to respond in a pithy and somewhat insulting manner. Lately, a new way to respond has occurred to me. When asked how or why I take a particular stand, I respond, because I want to. If the relationship is one of true friendship and love, that will be enough. Now I am thinking of a more complete response, like, because I want to, Is that okay?
Let me try to summarize with a few pithy sayings of my own.
- When someone tries to control you, don’t play their game.
- Be a man! Be a woman! Do not let yourself be the object of someone else’s control!
- If someone is abusive to you, get out of the relationship!
- Don’t ever let anyone belittle you!
- Understand that God is at work within you. Follow that quiet voice. Be who you are intended to be.
- Don’t be ever be stopped by someone who tells your idea will be a failure or asks a bunch of questions that you don’t have good answers for. Consider their comments and make adjustments, if necessary, but don’t let them stop you!
- Unleash yourself, your true self upon the world!
This post is one of many on the topic and is a partnership with Synchroblog and Provoketive Magazine. You will find the complete list of articles at the end of the post.
“You can live forty days without food, four days without water, four minutes without air, but not even four seconds without hope.” – Anonymous
Hope Described
It is laborious and depressing to try to muddle on when you feel hopeless. In my own precarious situation, I have noticed that the slightest development can ever so easily tip my emotional scales one way or the other. Yet, I believe hope is more than a half-hearted, wistful, emotional aspiration.
Hope is grounded in belief. For me, those beliefs include a loving God who was outlandish, unexpected, and extravagant in the way he loved through Jesus; and that love story is not over. As a matter of fact, I get to soak up his love and transfer it on to others right now; and if things fall apart, I am reminded that it is not the last chapter and I will never be abandoned by this loving God.
Hope is an attitude. Like the UHF dial on a 1970’s TV, it has to be constantly adjusted and carefully tuned in. A little change in weather and the signal gets fuzzy. It takes a constant adjustment process for our attitude to reflect our beliefs and not our emotions.
Hope is rooted in reality. Real hope has a real chance of really happening. Pie-in-the-sky hope is like a limp handshake; less than sincere. Hope needs a real object that we are focused on and consumed by.
Hope is very hard work. Staying hopeful is hard work, but laboring to make the hope a reality, will probably be your life’s work. Everybody has hopes and dreams, but most people die with them being unrealized. Perhaps, even more people die having pushed them out of their minds because they perceived them to be undoable or unrealistic. Honestly, it will take more tenacity and flexibility than you can currently imagine for your hopes to be realized.
Hope Applied
My hope is fueled by anger and frustration. These are very legitimate reactions and powerful motivators. Let me explain.
Our nation is locked in a polarized nightmare of paralysis with unsustainable debt, out of control healthcare costs, runaway unemployment rates, and decreasing world influence. The church is suffering from sexual scandals, shrinking memberships, a perceived loss of relevance, and the ironic reality that many people are unable to make the connection between it and Christ. Our educational system, based on a medieval model, is a prohibitively expensive, long-term commitment, unreasonable for many of today’s workers, and questionable in its effectiveness in preparing people for real jobs. Customer service has become a sadly inadequate, excessively automated, cost-saving, half-hearted, insincere attempt, which all too often, is totally frustrating. Social service in our nation is difficult to navigate, poorly coordinated, increasing hard to sustain, and locked into a client/provider paradigm that assaults the dignity of those who use it. We can and must do better. There is a global awakening that many of our societal institutions are simply no longer serving us well.
My hope to address our urgent need for boldness and creativity lies not with those in positions of power, but with those who can find no place or no longer desire a place in the power structures of our culture. I stand in solidarity with my brother and sister outsiders. I have an unshakable belief that many of these people who have been shut or who have opted of the power structures and conventions of our society are visionaries who will become entrepreneurs who will help the rest of us find our way. It was probably the trauma of finding themselves on the outside that forced them into their new desire to forget what they left behind and to dream about and fight for what could and should be.
My role is to encourage and equip them however I can. What keeps me going is seeing the need, knowing that this vision flows out of my true identity, and more than anything else, knowing that others believe in me and in this vision. These things reinforce my hope.
I invite you to join me in becoming actively hopeful.
List of participants:
The Trouble With Hope: John Ptacek
Hope = Possibility x Imagination: Wayne Rumsby
Little Reminders: Mike Victorino
Where Is My Hope: Jonathan Brink
Hope for Hypocrites: Jeremy Myers
Now These Three Remain: Sonny Lemmons
Perplexed, But Still Hopeful: Carol Kuniholm
A Hope that Lives: Amy Mitchell
Generations Come and Generations Go: Adam Gonnerman
Demystifying Hope: Glenn Hager
God in the Dark: On Hope: Renee Ronika Klug
Keeping Hope Alive: Maurice Broaddus
Are We Afraid to Hope?: Christine Sine
On Wobbly Wheels, Split Churches and Fear: Laura Droege
Hope is Held Between Us: Ellen Haroutunian
Hope: In the Hands of the Creatively Maladjusted: Mihee Kim-Kort
Paradox, Hope and Revival: City Safari
Good Theology Saves: Reverend Robyn
Linear: Never Was, Never Will Be: Kathy Escobar
Caroline for Congress: Hope for the Future: Wendy McCaig
Political campaigns drive me nuts with all their type-casting, generalities, and negativity. It is unfortunate that if a candidate has ever done anything that in anyway indicates he has changed his mind, or anything that can in anyway be connected to the other political party, or anything that can in anyway cause him to be branded a moderate; he will be vilified (at least in the primaries).
Let me put the implications in practical terms.
- If you have changed your perspective, you’re bad.
- If you are a good listener and like to consider divergent ideas, you’re bad.
- If you are an independent thinker, you’re bad.
- If you are a negotiator, you’re bad.
- If you don’t vilify the other party, you’re bad.
- If you will not toe the party line on every issue, you’re bad.
- If you like to find common ground with people, you’re bad.
Therefore, we reap the following results:
- The people of our country are further divided.
- Our government is dysfunctional.
- Relationships are needlessly strained.
- Pressing problems remain unaddressed.
People are totally disgusted with their elected officials.
In reality, what we need are people with the very qualities that are disdained by those who are running for office.
Here is a summary of my observations on presidential campaigns.
The candidates always say they are going to run a positive campaign, but it always turns negative and nasty.
They always say that the campaign is about the people and their love of the country, but the one with the most money wins.
They try to act like they are humble, but have huge egos to even consider running.
They try to appear common, but most of them are millionaires.
They say they are trustworthy, but play fast and loose with the facts.
They present a carefully crafted image, but we seldom catch a peek of the real person.
They all have plans about what they would do if elected, but those plans are usually in the purview of Congress, rather than the administrative branch.
They beat their stump speech to death, but usually offer little detail.
They say they are good leaders, but yet they try to out conservative (or liberal) one another, indicating an unreasonable nature that is closed to new ideas.
They say they have the right experience, but how in the world could you be prepared to be the President of the United States?
They are all going to straighten out Washington, but no one ever has.
They all act as though they understand the common man, but they are likely all elitists who don’t have most of the concerns of the common man.
They say they want what is best for the nation, but their rhetoric is divisive.
They are usually very good communicators, but very poor promise keepers.
They know what you have to do get elected and are willing to stoop to that level, but often do not know how to rise to the level of a leader and chief executive once they are elected.
They are usually very intelligent (or well advised), but I find that character and conviction is much more important.
They know how to spin most anything, but straight answers are elusive.
They never say, I was wrong, but always say their opponents are wrong.
I hope that you have a wonderful time with your family and friends at this Christmastime. May your hearts be warmed as you treasure them and the great lover of nobodies.
The image is by the amazing David Hayward, “graffiti artist on the walls of religion”.
Why can’t I be happy sitting the pew and doing a little something to help out at church? Why can’t I be content to be a part of community association and help out at various fundraisers? Why can’t I become a part of the system and just shut up? Look at all of the people who just love their involvement in these kinds of activities. What’s Wrong with me?
I really do wonder about me from time to time! But, it’s not just me! Time Magazine’s person of the year is the protestor. Most of the protests seem to be directed toward unresponsive governments and corporations, but there is something much, much bigger happening.
We live in a time when there has come to be an unsustainable gap between our societal institutions and the people they supposedly serve. Most of the people feeling this tension are not protesting. Instead, they are complaining a little here and there and wondering at times if they are crazy because other people seem to be just fine with the way things are.
Their experience with church, community service, customer service, education, government, and other institutions has left them feeling shut out. That’s good because it may well be easier to give birth than to raise the dead. I believe that being disenfranchised and having solidarity with others who are disenfranchised and getting angry about injustices and unresponsiveness is very good, if leads us from criticism to creativity.
Back to original question about why I am no longer willing to blend in with some existing social structures.
- I am not heard nor respected.
- The chances for paradigm shift are very small.
What do I do that spooks people?
- I ask questions that are threatening to their mode of operation.
- I look at things from the perspective of an outsider, rather than an insider.
- I dream big.
And I don’t plan on changing!
So, if what I said resonates with you, let’s agree to stop banging our head up against the wall and build something new.
This post is part of the December Synchroblog, Jesus Came: Did We Get What We Wanted? A list of participants is included at the end of this post.
Many Christmases ago when my nephew was at the height of the cool toy stage of life, he tore into one of his gifts from my parents, his grandparents, to make the awful discovery that his practical-minded grandma had given him the gift of tidy whities. They were not cool boxers or briefs with cartoon characters on them; they were plain ole white underwear. He was literally shocked, as he blurted out, “Underwear for Christmas!?!?”
Christmas reminds me that life is full of surprises, some good, some not good at all, and some just plain ole surprising.
That was true of Jesus’ birth and his whole life. His birth was humiliating. He really was born in a barn! For most of his life, he was an obscure laborer. The last few years of his life, there was a mixture of people who followed him, many for the wrong reasons, along with an often clueless handful of misfits. Most of the influential people hated him and tried to discredit him and even kill him, but the rejects liked him. Eventually, in his mid-thirties, he was tortured and executed. You can see how all of this was very surprising to people, even though it was foretold.
The Christmas weirdness continues to this day. The pervasive holiday cheer amplifies the pain of those who are going through something difficult, those who are reminded of a painful past, and especially, those who are staring at an empty chair at the Christmas feast.
Sometimes crazy things happen at Christmas time. Someone usually has too much to drink at a party. People spend too much at the stores. We eat too much in the name of celebration. Families have too much drama when they are supposed to be warm and loving. It can get kind of excessive and obligatory and our expectations are dashed like those of my nephew.
So, what else is new? Life is full of dashed expectations and unwanted surprises. It’s a given. How people respond to these things, however, runs the gambit.
When something bad happens, we can get mad, stay bitter, feel victimized, and give up. Or we can process it, work through the anger, refuse to stay bitter, and resist feeling victimized. These awful things could make us more determined and focused than ever. They could even help us find our purpose in life and a way to help other people. They could unleash waves of new creativity.
These rough patches could make us more determined than ever to live in a way that expresses love to people, reaches out to those on the fringes, speaks truth to power, takes bold risks, and does not worry about pleasing everyone.
In other words, the crazy and sometimes wicked things that sneak up on our blind side and hit us in the face could make us more like Jesus… and that is very surprising!
Synchroblog participants:
Jeremy Myers – The Unexpected Gift From Jesus
Tammy Carter - Unstuck
Jeff Goins - The Day After Christmas: A Lament
Wendy McCaig – Unwanted Gifts: You Can Run But You Can Not Hide
Christine Sine – The Wait Is Over – What Did I Get?
Maria Kettleson Anderson – Following The Baby We Just Celebrated
Leah – Still Waiting For Redemption
Kathy Escobar – Pain Relief Not Pain Removal
For the last several weeks, I have been poking around in the nooks and crannies of the Hager Hacienda in an effort to eliminate clutter. Boxes of outdated and unused books have been donated to the community library. Clothes went to the drop-off box. Old dishes were delivered to a local charity. Worn-out linens went to the pet shelter. An old stereo and other gizmos were delivered to the electronics drop-off. Paint and other household chemicals went to the chemical waste facility. I still have one load of miscellaneous stuff for Goodwill. It is good to simplify your life!
But some things aren’t so simple. I am thinking of the challenges that face our nation. Oh, we love to hear to hear politicians who spout off with simple solutions. Bachman would build a fence along the entire southern border of our nation. Herman Cain said stupid people are running our country. Rick Perry would eliminate three cabinet level agencies. He just can’t remember which ones. Actually, most things promised by presidential candidates are not even within the purview of their authority, because they would require legislative action.
Republicans want to eliminate regulatory red tape to create a better business climate (and employment) climate. Dems want to support government safety net programs. Congress is deadlocked, giving the president and easy target to blame for the mess and his lack of leadership. No one is willing to do anything politically risky as everything waits until after an election that is a full year away while we teeter on the brink of extreme unemployment, insolvency, and general decline. Our government is the very picture of deadlock and dysfunction, while our officials (our employees) “fiddle while Rome is burning.”
The issues we face are incredibly complex and governmental “solutions” are famous for engaging the law of unintended consequences. So, legislative approaches that worth a damn will require serious research and hearing from a lot of different voices.
Recently I heard a fascinating interview on C-Span with Supreme Court Justice Anthony Scalia. When asked about our government’s gridlock. He replied that the founding Fathers intended that it would be very difficult to pass legislation, so that the minority perspective would be considered. Lawmaking requires negotiation. Negotiation requires compromise. What is not happening in Washington? Negotiation and compromise!
These are bad words to purists, but purists are not realists and they tend to vilify anyone with a different position. Should you compromise your values? No, because that would make us hypocrites, untrue to yourselves. But one of those values should be, respect for all people even your political opponent. Another one should be openness to new ideas. How many times would legislation be improved, if these values were in play? So, negotiation and compromise does not mean that you compromise your values. It means that you probably won’t get everything you want in a piece of legislation, but that it is a step in the right direction.
Actually, the legislative process happens to be like the rest of life. In life, which is a context of relationships, you had better be willing to compromise and negotiate or things will be very, very difficult.
