Why do we make it so hard for one another?

Why are so many up in arms against the McDonald's Fast Food Strike?
I hear so many comments about entitlement and how little everyone is making, why do THEY feel entitled?
But is everyone struggling? Yes the economy has tanked across the world and the quality of life for the majority has declined and everyone should be sacrificing in order to pull our economic downfall upwards again. But I wonder if there are those who are actually benefiting and reaping rewards from the decline most of us are experiencing.

Rather than those who are seriously struggling turning against one another, shouldn't at least encourage those who are asking the questions about equality concerning living standards and income levels? Couldn't our income standards even benefit from their efforts in changing the system?  Even if there are those who are invested in the strikes for a personal benefit, I believe that their desperation can point to a bigger picture of the economics of the United States of America. Perhaps the point of our need to support their efforts is that their energy is calling attention to the need to create economic standards that consider the hard working class of this country. Maybe their actions will draw a better understanding of what it's like to struggle on a daily basis to simply buy enough milk to keep your kids healthy, worry about whether or not to rush them to the ER knowing the cost of the care our children will need, or the guilt of not being able to give time to an aging parent who needs us to take them to a doctor appointment.

With the cost of living increasing so quickly, those who earn in the lower income brackets are quickly seeing the amount of hours they work increase for the same quality of life. Not only are the hours increasing for maintaining our living expenses, but the cut backs are adding stress and responsibility as fewer are now doing the work of those who have been cut. It is those who seek to work honest jobs, and are willing to work hard and even undesirable jobs who are hurting the most. These are the folks who built America's backbone...but now we don't work for Mom and Pop shops anymore, but corporations who answer to stock holders and the profit margin. No longer do we work for somebody who cares if our parents are ill and need us to rush them to the hospital and maybe be a minute or two late...we work for somebody who will let us go and hire the next person in line (more pressure and more family division). The quality of their life for the backbone of America is going down. It doesn't matter if it is a democrat or a republican holding office, the trend is to spiral the middle class and the dream of making it into the middle class into extinction and this will recreate an indebted lower class that will be comparable to the indentured servants of yesteryear.

We are going backwards in the US: this is the first time in the generations of America that we cannot look forward to seeing our children enjoy a better quality of life than we have. I personally think there are enough of those in the higher income bracket who are willing to stomp upon any of us in the lower income brackets that get the courage to ask for anything that will allow us to have a good quality of life (not the same quality as the higher income brackets, but at least as good as we made yesterday if not a little better than yesterday...we do have to retire some day you know?).  I believe that that when the lower income brackets turn against one another (even though what we may be saying is truthful and we know we may be earning less than they are), we are only hurting ourselves and enabling the wealthier people to sit back, watch their wealth accumulate and let us do their dirty work. Let's encourage one another... and allow the energy of the McDonald's movement to empower us to look at our own situations and consider what the true worth of all of us are.

Let's hold hands as a growing class of struggling folks who have seen the quality of our lives go down (making it harder and harder for us to hope and strive for the American Dream of our grandparents) while there are those whose lives get better and better with each dollar that accumulates in their bank account. There are enough of them who are already looking down upon us and judge us for not pulling ourselves up by our ragged bootstraps that we don't need to support or encourage their belief system. Let's lift one another up as brothers and sisters who may not be in the same boat as ours, but whose boats are at least more comparable to our own than those whose boats leave us in their wake sputtering for breath.

Together, let's find a way for the economy of this country to receive a thorough, unbiased examination that seeks to find a way to return government to consider the lives of all its citizens...one that allows all of us to believe that the lives of our children will be better than our own; one that each one of us can hope for a bank account that will see us through to our last days; one that doesn't allow a few to take advantage of a system that the majority of us can no longer qualify for and  sets in motion a system that escalates the quality of life for fewer and fewer people who are riding the backs of those who are working harder and harder but are only seeing their bank accounts and cupboards empty out while their indebtedness for the cost of survival is growing.

Maybe the question better asked is who is it that really feels entitled? Is it the ones who break their backs and work hard every day to bring home less or is it the ones who demand policies that benefit the bank accounts of those who are riding on the broken backs of those who are demanding a better quality of life?

http://lastresistance.com/1827/15-an-hour-for-fast-food-workers-entitlement-is-killing-us/

Litany of Praise

Litany of Praise (created from Psalm 136 & Genesis 1:1-2:3)

One:          In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep,
while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

Two:         Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

All:           O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

One:         God separated the light from the darkness.

Two:         God called the light Day, & the darkness Night.
All:           Give thanks to the God of gods, for the Lord’s Love Endures Forever.
One:         And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters,
& let it separate the waters from the waters.” And it was so.

Two:         God called the dome: “Sky” and saw that it was good.

All:           Who by understanding made the heavens?
God’s Love Endures forever!

One:         And God said, “Let the waters under the sky
be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.

Two:         God called the dry land Earth,
and the waters that were gathered the Seas and it was good. 

All:          Who alone does these great wonders & spread out the earth on the waters? God’s Love Endures forever!

One:         Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth bearing bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so.
Two:         And God saw that it was good.

All:           Give thanks to the Lord of lords who provides all good things; for God’s Love Endures forever.

One:         And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night.
Two:         God said: let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.
       And God saw that it was good.

All:           Who made the great lights and both day and night?  God’s Love Endures forever!
One:         And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.”  And it was so.
Two:         God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind.” & God saw that it was good.
All:           Who births life from the waters and the earth? For it is God’s Love that Endures forever!
One:         God blessed the living creatures, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

Two:         And God saw that it was good.
All:           God made the moon and stars to give light in the darkness. God’s Love Endures forever!

One:           Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness. So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; both male and female.  And it was so.

Two:         God blessed them, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply.” And God saw that it was good. 

All:           Who makes us, both males and females? God’s Love Endures forever!
One:         God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.  And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Two:         God saw everything that had been made, and indeed, it was very good.

All:           Who makes everything so very good? God’s Love Endures forever!
One:         Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 
Two:         And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested from all the work that had been done. 

One:         So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it, even God rested.

All:              It is indeed God’s Love that Endures forever! Alleluia! Amen

Jimmy Carter's decision to leave his church ... difficult decision made by faith!

Jimmy Carter has always been someone I have appreciated and watched as he has gone on from his presidency to do more with his position and power than he ever would have had to. He follows his faith and his beliefs to an amazing level. This decision that he made, written about in the article linked below, is above the top in my expectations. Way to go President Carter and Thank you!!

Inspiring Decision from an Inspiring Leader!

United or Divided?

I just watched the movie "The Help."
It's about a time, just a few decades ago; when a group with one skin color was elevated above another. This treatment was accepted and legal, and in the movie, was portrayed as something that was expected. Putting another person in situations that degraded and even threatened them and their families, as if they were "less than" human was the societal norm.Those that didn't "tow" the line would be threatened on both sides of the color divide. I think we (we being whoever holds the "power" to treat another this way) act as if that was a long time ago and something we have moved on from, but I don't think even the issue of the black/white divide has resolved itself and in some ways.

Beyond the black and white divide, there are so many other ways that the one who holds the power over the circumstances of another person or group of people continues to look at another and treat them as "less than," putting them in situations that are degrading and even life threatening. Oftentimes, it is within the law to do such things. I just read another article about the immigration "debate:" The article is laced with areas of divide that reveal the fuzzy line of prejudice and hatred of the "other," much of which I believe is because the one who holds the power doesn't understand or want to understand the circumstances of the other whom they are putting down.

The article takes in so many levels of this power divide that could be discussed from the elevation of Sheriff Joe Arpaio to a hero status in the eyes of his supporters who chant "Go Joe, Go Joe" as they parade in in support of his power. 

In the article we see areas where his ability to look upon another as less than has, from my opinion, clouded his ability to reason, but he continues to have support and encouragement. We read about his treatment of prisoners in the article. Requiring prisoners to wear pink underwear as a deterrant from returning to prison reveals his lack of compassion and understanding for those he has control over. Reducing dignity as a way to prevent one from certain behaviors, rather than going deeper to the root of the problem in itself touches me deeply.

Perhaps I am deeply touched because I am confounded that I myself need to confess the times when I myself have acted and reacted in pretty much the same way when I held the hand of power.
Perhaps I am personally touched when I speak of condemning Joe for his actions because I am embarassed to admit that I don't have to look very far to see the depths of my own sinful past.
Perhaps what touches me the deepest is my own fear that I may slip into a behavior that may not mimick Joe exactly, but could use the same argument to justify my choice of actions with explanations of working "towards the better good," or doing "the best we can do." 

Even if we are inactive observers, we are still partipating through our silence, sharing an equal part of the blame for overlooking the struggles of another.

I wonder why it is so easy to justify overlooking another with words such as this?
I wonder what our God cries out from heaven whenever we sit in our positions of untouchable power silently overlooking those around us who cannot share the same human rights as we do?
I wonder whether our souls cry out whenever we choose to remain where we are, knowing that there are others who can't join us?
Maybe we justify our inaction because there are simply too many who need our compassion, our understanding, our voice.
Beyond the lines of division based on the skin color, immigration, or inmate status of another, there are lines most of us either actively ignore or actively participate in.

How many times do we overlook those around us who deal with disabilities where we allow physical barriers to encroach on their rights to enjoy the same things that we do? 

How many times do we avoid those who deal with mental illnesses for fear of getting too involved, or even condemning them for the "choices" they make? 
How many times do we look upon the poor, homeless, under educated and assume that they have had the same opportunities that we have, looking down on them for not "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps," as some would say?
How many times have those around us who have been born with sexual and gender identities that don't fit the "norm" in our understanding, those who so desperately want and need warmth and compassion, yet we turn the other way?
Even our silence often becomes a part of the obstacles others face.

Maybe we justify our thoughts and behaviors because we think we can't possibly fix it all, but does that make it alright?

I belong to and am a pastor in the United Church of Christ denomination; a church that believes that God is still speaking. Many in recent years have seen the use of a comma in explaining who we are. It's a comma that represents a belief that we should "never place a period where God has placed a comma" (Gracie Allen).

Yet, if we as a church believes that God is still Speaking, then where do we think God's voice is in the divisions of this world?

Are we waiting for some deep and booming voice to thunder down from the heavens in order to straighten out the sins of the world?
Didn't God do something better than that in Jesus?
It was God who came to earth and lived among us, experiencing the ways of humanity in the fullness of life.

It was God in Jesus, who humbly lived among us in order to
- show the ways of peace,

- call for unity,
 - and teach truth over the ways of the world;
and yet the world killed Him.

We live in a world that silences the voice of God.
We participate in that silencing whenever we remain silent or inactive or ignorant to the ways in which God's voice continues to cry out, even in the depths of our living..

That's why I think it's important for we who believe that God is still speaking to come together as one to tune in our hearing for what it is God is saying to us today.
That's why I think it's important for us to gather as a church to worship and recharge our spirits in order to live in a world that will seek to silence the ways of God and work against anybody who doesn't "tow the line" that strengthens the divide.
That's why I believe that God's voice needs to be heard in church so that the community can take that voice into the world to work against the lines of division.

God's acts don't have an ending.
Christ's Life didn't end with the cross.
The Spirit continues to flow in and among the world through the we who choose to allow It.

Hundreds rally to back hard-line Arizona sheriff
God is Still Speaking

Struggling with Good Friday

There was a time in my life when I struggled with understanding Holy Week, especially the services that seemed to value what I understood as the unjustifiable punishment and death of One who was innocent. In avoiding the services that moved through Holy Week, I believed that they were nothing more than depression sessions, used to manipulate the guilty into feeling more guilt. For me, Jesus was found in Easter, the resurrection and New Life that is birthed through His living.

In recent years, though, having to lead worship and bring the story to life to my church, I have had to struggle with how to honestly portray something that I truly resist. There are so many more questions that have been born within me because I have allowed myself to face my resistance and wrestle with it. As time has gone on, I have allowed myself to appreciate those for whom these services really mean a lot. At first, I found value in the services only out of my love of those in my congregation who seem to have their faith rekindled through them.Although my faith is rekindled with more of a resurrection focus, I feel that in order to honestly pastor a congregation, I need to allow myself to explore the entire realm of which faith is born within all of my parishioners. As I have struggled with texts that I resist, I am beginning to discover something. It is out of struggling with things that do not make sense to us that our faith is strengthened. Through what I saw as depressing and death focused, I now am able to more fully value as a way to allow New Life to be born within me.

Perhaps out of the struggle, I found myself trying to put to words how I now value these moments in life. In a way I want to convey that it is in these moments when we allow ourselves to dive into what we normally would avoid only to discover how much we were missing.

Here is how I am opening the services this Thursday. Please let me know what your thoughts are (the copy and paste reformatted the line, hope you can follow along anyway).

I'd like your feedback...no matter whether you are a Good Friday person, an Easter person or somewhere in between.

Having this time invites all of us to sit with whatever comes to us.

Here, we may discover questions that surrounded the disciples when all this took place.

There may be questions that come that we haven't considered before.

We go to this place so that we can take heart

         in discovering that it is okay not to have all the answers.

There are some things that only one's faith can move us forward.

 Many times in life we find ourselves right where the disciples and Jesus were this night;

         between light and darkness, on the edge of the unknown,

                     unsure and afraid; because living in God's reality,

                                 we find that there are no easy answers, but only mystery.

Yet, we live in a world where absolute verifiable proof is required for truth to be understood.

Like reading the black and white pages of a book,

         fact and fiction are separated on our library shelves.

However, for those who yearn to live in the Truth that is God's,

         discover that the world's truth is subject to one's individual reality;

         where my black may your white and God's truth rests somewhere in between.

Tonight we will sit in the shadows,

         among the mixed hues of black and white;

                     and discover that somewhere within the gray shades of the unknown

                                 we can take comfort in knowing that we are not alone.

Tonight, we join those who have struggled before us;

         those who also encountered the unanswerable questions, the pain and the fear;

         those who felt the isolation and loneliness in the black and white world;

         those whose faith helped them sit in the gray shades that didn't make sense;

                     and become one with them.

Tonight, we discover that all of this which is too difficult to get through alone,

         offers healing and wholeness when we share this Holy meal together as one.

 Following our Holy meal, our service turns towards journeying the shadows of darkness,

         into more questions that cannot be answered,

                     and into a death that makes no sense from the world's viewpoint.

Together we will remember the biggest of our world's absurdities;

         while holding onto the hope that in allowing faith to enter into the shadows;

         we will be able to discover New Life that brings unimaginable beauty

                     and find a way to believe within the simplicity of a gray uncertainty.

Low IQ and Conservative beliefs?

http://news.yahoo.com/low-iq-conservative-beliefs-linked-prejudice-180403506.html

I'm wondering what others think about this article?

I do think it takes a higher level of thinking to be able to consider multiple layers to a situation, but does the article assume that just because somebody is conservative, it means that they can't do this?

Can somebody consider multiple layers to a situation or thought and remain conservative?

Scary Situation

I can't imagine how scary this was for the mother and her two girls.
I am sorry for the trucker who lost his life and for his family, who may never know what caused him to veer off that bridge.

Praise God for all the emergency workers who came to the rescue and for the Navy Seebees who (get this) happened to be at the right place at the right time with the right equipment...(simply amazing)! Plus the fact that they were willing to head there and offer their assistance reveals much about the moral fiber of our troops and that there are genuinely good people in the world still!

Thanks to the heros; something that could have been a worse tragedy was avoided!
Praise God for your willingness to serve; both the emergency crews and the military crew!

Read and see video here:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/27895211