Just sharing some of my favorite books and 1 video.
Poverty and the Earthquake
2010
03.02
03.02
8.8 on the Richter scale. 880 dead, so far. A tsunami to help finish the job. It’s the latest disaster and again in our hemisphere. And if the natural disaster wasn’t enough, people looting (stealing) everything that isn’t nailed down. See pictures of the devastation and looting in Chile LA Times
Though the earthquake was something like 500 times stronger than the one that hit Haiti, the death toll was, mercifully, much less. Why? Probably the main reason is that the Chilean earthquake happened in a less populated area. Port-Au-Prince has a population density of 73433.9/sq mi. Compare that to Los Angeles with a a population density of 8,205/sq mi. BBC article why fewer died in Chilean earthquake
Chili has 18.2% of its population below the poverty rate. Haiti has 80%. United States 12%.
Haiti can’t win. The extreme poverty of Haiti caused the overcrowding in Port-Au-Prince. After the 1960 earthquake Chile enforce strict building codes. Haiti? Building Codes? With all their problems that was the last thing the government was worried about.
I feel that poverty can make horrific disasters even worse. It was poverty that drew people to Port-Au-Prince. It was because of poverty that no one worried about building codes. It was poverty that makes the health crisis even worse because there wasn’t a decent health system in place to begin with.
So why all this? Because Haiti’s poverty sheds a glaring light on how we, as the world community, are failing our brothers and sisters around the world. As for foreign aid, the US really doesn’t do that well. Denmark is the biggest giver, giving 1.01% of GDP, while the US manages just 0.1%. In 1970 the United Nations established the target of 0.7% GDP for development assistance, although only four countries actually achieve this: Denmark, 1.01%; Norway, 0.91%; the Netherlands, 0.79%; Sweden, 0.7%. (For up to date statistics go to QWIDS)
I’m not picking on the US, but we could do so much better. If all the developed countries would strive for the .7% imagine the healing and stability so many countries would enjoy. As a church we should always lead the way. Yes, we need to “take care of our members” but we also have to take care of our neighbors. In these economic times the last thing we should be cutting is our benevolence. After all didn’t Jesus say something about “the least of these?” Matthew 25:31-46
Ashes to Ashes…
2010
02.18
02.18
I was asked to do the noon Ash Wednesday service at All Peoples Church yesterday. “It’s very low key,” the pastor told me. I didn’t realize how low key. I’m a Lutheran pastor who likes a little order and a bulletin, especially if I’m the guest pastor. Upon my arrival, which by the way, was only 15 minutes because of my bad sense of timing, no one was to be seen. Ash Wednesday at St. John’s is always bustling. But 10 minutes before worship no one was getting ready for worship. There wasn’t a bulletin or song sheet or ushers or acolytes. Once I did find someone I was informed about my need for a bulletin, “Bulletin?! It’s just you pastor.” And it was.
So candles were lit, and people meandered in from the basement where they had just finished lunch. In my hand was my sermon and within a moment I realized my sermon was definitely not going to fly. “Dear God give me the right words.” How do you go into worship (with no bulletin!) to preach about our sinfulness when just 2 minutes before a gentleman asked me whether or not I know anything about such and such a program. Why? It seems he had been released from about 2 months ago and he was struggling with his addictions. Oh? Yeah, he’d relapsed a couple of times. Reminded of his sinfulness? He didn’t need to be reminded. And knowing some of the other people there, they didn’t need to be reminded of their brokenness either.
So I stood in front of that very small congregation and like at a funeral where our mortality stares us right in the face, the cross of ash held a different meaning. We were gathered as the broken people of God, struggling with addictions, unemployment, and broken relationships. The cross of ash we received was not just pointing out our need for Jesus. We were all painfully aware of that fact that afternoon. But the ashes were also a sign of hope. God won’t give up on us no matter how awful our sins, our addictions, our selfishness or our screw-ups. We fall and we fail, but we can start all over again. And all the while Jesus is there to cheer us on, to pick us up and to love us until that day we see God face to face.
I give thanks for those people for sharing their struggles with me yesterday and our worship together. To be reminded that with Christ we will be raised from the ashes to new life…no matter how bad we screw up! (I still like bulletins though)
Lutheran World Relief – Disaster Response, Fair Trade, and Advocacy
2010
01.13
01.13
Please Pray and Act for the victims and country of Haiti. This disaster only adds to their already desperate situation.
via Lutheran World Relief – Disaster Response, Fair Trade, and Advocacy.
