Thursday, February 08, 2007

just let the poor die

"just let the poor die"


you'd never hear me say or think that in a demi-century. but my actions. the selfish things i strive for, and the meaningless accruement of more material wealth. even the title of "Missionary" -even for a short term- which only serves to boost my already inflated ego. all that...disables me from doing the things that really matter.

what inspired such impassioned introspection - i hear someone ask? here we go...
it is not enough to have an "open heart/ and an open mind". BOLLOCKS. i heard someone say this-in regard to the plight of innocent people whose blood is being shed all over the world. what good is an open heart/open mind if nothing of 'time-worthiness' is collected in that filter we call brains. we are saturated with crap everyday. in the news - we hear about new zealand winning that sevens rugby game.yay. yawn! in the media - we hear tom and katie are squabbling over baby suri? people talk about how their workmate is a biatch for getting that promotion instead of them. and even church. yes. church - lets store up treasures in heaven guys - c'mon. Jesus wants YOU TO PROSPER ! oh. by the way your hair looks great , oh dude...that is a sweet outfit.you have soooo much style. oh u play the guitar? you should totally play at some christian concert/festival thinig! yeah!

sorry. maybe that was a little harsh. can't delete that now though. on a roll.
the church stands at the junction of power and powerlessness. i cannot help but feel we are standing with our feet pointed towards the latter. now let me first disclaim that i am in no way implicating any particular body of worship here. i speak generally. having said that however - it does have personal implications. at least i hope it does. i too am guilty of the same crimes - including the one of blissful ignorance. ah. free will. when was the last time you sung a song at church about Amadou dying on the street because he got no malaria pills - [you can buy them here for less than a dollar from the pharmacy in new zealand]? probably never. no no no. that would be too "in your face" ... too "confrontational". oh yes yes yes. you are quite right, we wouldn't want to tell people what its really like out there in the world, let alone think about that stuff. people just gotta get closer to God. we just gotta pray more. fast more. read our bibles more. lets get spiritual. coz that's what the world needs now isn't it.

c'mon man. lets do something with our lives. i feel like cussing right now. f'in lets do something!

finish that university degree so you can use that knowledge to free martyrs in jail.

go write that poem so you can inspire the oppressed.

go paint that painting - make people feel.

go finish that engineering degree so at least Amadou doesn't have to breathe dust while he's dying.


1 comment:

Hami said...

Hey Davin, Hami and Kat here, interesting thoughts bro.

Here are some of mine:

I think we need to balance material and spiritual civilization and the advancement thereof.

Science (in the broadest sense of the word) will teach us to develop the tools we need to build a better world.

However religion/spirituality will teach us how to use those tools.

Teach only science to our children and they will be disempowered by a starving materialism.

Teach them only religion and they will become bigoted and fanatical.

Both need to be taught and developed.

Example: When we split the atom it gave us two huge possibilities:

1. End the human race through nuclear weapons.
2. Solve all our energy needs for building the civilization we seek.

I think therefore we can't disregard our personal devotional life as well as community gatherings. Neither can we stop learning from the eternal teachings of all the Prophets of God. These will make whatever we achieve worthwhile and purposefull, also without faith perhaps we will never have the patience to achieve anything really worthwhile at all.

I think we need to labour continuously and inspire a great deal of hope into a hopeless world. But not a separatists hope. We have to deny the natural impulse our minds have of categorising everything, including peoples of the world...this includes race (as we all know) but also religion (as we are beginning to have to face more and more now).

'This is the changeless faith of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future'.

Peace brother,

Hami