OTHER STUFF
Random things I think about
Paramedic vs. Police
Jan 20th
But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Genesis 50:19-21
As I listen and watch the news reports coming out of Haiti, I am struck by the number of people eager to help the people of this shaken country. Countless numbers of people are responding to this devastation by opening their wallets, their homes, their expertise and their hearts. Many of these people are followers of Jesus – doing the kind of stuff that he told us to do. Many others are not followers of Jesus. Perhaps they follow a different religious philosophy or are simply driven by their human nature to help those in need. Whatever the case, those on the ground in Port-au-Prince aren’t picky. We’ll help people now and sort out the stories of faith later.
Back home, it’s a different story. Here – far removed from the realities of a devastating earthquake – we have radio talkshow hosts trying to politicize the catastrophic loss of life (and our response to it), TV show hosts claiming that the people of Haiti brought this on themselves, newspaper columnists who feel this is a great time to talk about how the culture in Haiti is one of irresponsibility and countless numbers of others who are having vehement arguments over whether or not it’s “our responsibility” to take care of “those people”.
OK, fine. Everybody has the right to say whatever they want to say – even if what they want to say is completely ignorant and potentially dangerous (see, I just did it right there…said what I wanted to say). My main beef is not that they said what they said, but that all of the examples sited above claim or have claimed in the past to be “Christian”, which presumably means that they ascribe to the teachings of Jesus Christ – although the term is often applied to mean “American” or, perhaps “Republican”.
I sometimes wonder if these Christian titans have bothered to read the “Good Book” at all. If they have and if they believe what it says, I wonder why they’re asking the questions and making the statements they’re making. Should the question be “What political advantage will my opponents get from this?” or should it be “How can I come together – even with those of vastly different philosophical or political opinion – to help these people in need?” Should the question be “Did these people get what was coming to them?” or “How can I (someone who has been fortunate enough to NOT get what was coming to me) get these people the supplies they need to live?”
You see, in the story of Joseph told in the book of Genesis, not too many of us would have blamed Joseph if he had sent his brothers away with a harsh rebuke and empty hands. After all, they had left him in a pit and then sold him to a band of gypsies. He had every right to be angry and, at one point in the story, seems to be tempted to do them harm. But in the end, Joseph realizes what we all should realize: I’m not God!
It is not my place to decide whether these people “deserve” to live or die. It’s not my place to decide to help or not help them based on what advantage I might stand to gain from such assistance. I am not called to be judge or jury. I’m not even called to be the police. Indeed, we are all called to be paramedics – not looking to place blame or to investigate the situation, but to assess the needs and respond accordingly.
Let’s do what David did and reassure the people of Haiti and speak kindly to them. Let’s use our power and position (yes, we all have it) to accomplish the work of God, “saving many lives”.
Of Mountains & Mole Hills
Jan 19th
“Don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill.”
It was a favorite expression of my mom when I was young. Having a son with a flair for the dramatic and the ability to blow just about anything out of proportion, my mom had her fair share of mole hill battles. As I look at the world today, I see that so many things in life are just mole hills, but we give them so much importance as to make mountains out of them.
There is the mountain of infertility that so many couples (Melody & I included) try to overcome. Yet, once we got to the other side and embraced the call to adopt, the idea that we may never have a child biologically becomes very…um…mole hillish. Likewise, once we had made the decision to adopt a child, the mountain of fostering seemed like one we would never top. Then we came to the stark realization that we could choose to risk heartbreak (which we could endure if we had to) for the sake of providing a loving home to a child, even if temporarily. Suddenly the risks of foster care seem like mole hills.
Then there are the financial mountains. Every month, most weeks and some days, we face that giant mountain of bills that threatens to consume us. Yet, in the midst of that battle, we commit $30 to an orphanage in Kenya, give $20 to relief efforts in Haiti and continue to faithfully write our tithe check to the church. Seeing the results of dozens, thousands and sometimes millions of like-minded people making the same small gifts we made somehow causes that mountain to shrink. If I am rich enough to provide someone else with clean water to drink, then I certainly have “enough”.
Of course, we are surrounded by mole hills – mole hills that we’ve elevated to mountain status. In scaling the insurmountable in front of us, we so often are able to look behind us and see how diminutive our past challenges really were. Here’s to all of the mountains we have yet to climb…and to discovering just how many of them are actually just mole hills.
