Live 8 and the G8

Posted by Peter Heslam Fri, 01/07/2005 - 9:17am :: Events and Occasions | more by Peter Heslam

A year that began so tragically in the wake of the Asian Tsunami could yet be remembered as a turning point in the fight to help the world’s poor. Poverty has always been with us but it has never been so high on the agenda of the rich countries as now, thanks to the concerted efforts of campaigners, celebrities, politicians and the public to ‘make poverty history’.

Decisions made at the G8 summit in Gleneagles could contribute directly to the cause – which is why a million or more campaigners are making the trip to Edinburgh this weekend, and why so many millions more will be tuning in to Live 8.

Yet for all the strengths of Make Poverty History – and they are many – the campaign seems to suffer from one significant weakness: it underestimates the potential of the private sector - of business – to help in the battle.

After fifty years and more than a trillion dollars spent on international development, two billion people still live on less than US$2 per day. Yet we know that a flourishing and responsible business sector, along with well-regulated direct foreign investment, can deliver the kind of economic growth that lifts people out of poverty.

Business enterprise does more than save the poor from the despair of the present. It also gives them hope for the future, offering a vision of dignity and well-being which can be achieved through their own, honest endeavour. Without such a vision, people perish as they resign themselves to a life-sentence of poverty.

Business alone is not enough, of course. The campaign rightly stresses the importance of well-targeted aid, debt cancellation and reform of global trading rules. But there’s no other way to banish poverty long-term than through the vigorous growth of enterprise. This has been true for every rich country, and it’s true for every poor one now.

To really prosper, however, any nation requires two added dimensions. First, it needs the social institutions that characterise all free societies: property rights, democracy and the rule of law. These have strong biblical foundations, and provide the context in which business can flourish. Second, every country needs the cultivation and exercise of virtue beyond the requirements of the law.

The next few days promise to be extraordinary. From charity to justice, the journey continues. And it’s everyone’s business – rich and poor - to finally make poverty history.

Peter Heslam

Peter Heslam heads up Transforming Business, a new research and development project at Cambridge University that is developing a theology of transformative business. See www.licc.org.uk/capitalism.

additional resources

An interesting example of business, Africa and development can be found on the Shell Foundation's website: 'Blair backs Shell Foundation to support Africa's entrepreneurs' - at www.shellfoundation.org.

MakePovertyHistory is at www.makepovertyhistory.org.

The Millennium Development Goals can be found at www.un.org/millenniumgoals.

The official website for the G8 is at www.g-8.org.uk.

Another quasi-official website is at www.perthshireg8.com.

Action Aid's G8 website is at www.action8.org.uk.

For a report on a letter from religious leaders to Tony Blair regarding the G8 summit, and for many useful links, see politics.guardian.co.uk.

For a groundbreaking position paper by the Shell Foundation on the role of business in poverty relief, see 'Enterprise Solutions to Poverty: Opportunities and Challenges for the International Development Community and Big Business' - at www.shellfoundation.org.

A book that everyone with an interest in private-sector solutions to global poverty is talking about is CK Prahalad's The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty through Profits (Wharton 2005). Commended by Bill Gates and Madaleine Albright, it comes with a free CDR filmed on location. Visit www.whartonsp.com.

A balanced ecumenical assessment of the opportunities and responsibilities of wealthy countries can be found in Prosperity with a Purpose: Christians and the Ethics of Affluence, published by Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, who contracted the well-known commentator Clifford Longley to do most of the writing.

Transformational Business Network is a group of Christian business practitioners seeking to tackle poverty through enterprise. See www.tbnetwork.org.

For two new skeptical assessments of the potential of development aid in addressing poverty see Aid and Development: Will it Work This Time? by Fredrik Erixon - at www.policynetwork.net; and 'Aid Must Help People, Not Governments' by Moeltsi Mbeki (Deputy Chair of the South African Institute of International Affairs and brother to South Africa's President), published in the New Statesman, 4th July 2005 - at www.newstatesman.com.

The official Live 8 site is at www.live8live.com.

'LIve 8's lofty aim is to change the world, not feed it' - a recent story from http://today.reuters.co.uk.

Wikipedia's website has a useful entry for the G8 at http://en.wikipedia.org.

'A noose, not a bracelet' - Naomi Klein writes about Africa, oil and Gordon Brown in the Guardian at www.guardian.co.uk.

Hmmmm

Posted by Andy Bastable on Fri, 01/07/2005 - 10:16am.

Just throwing out a question though - isn't business enterprise fueled (at root) by personal greed? Does benevolence (for benevolence sake) count as 'business'?

AB

No, it has to be classified a

Posted by Rob G on Fri, 01/07/2005 - 10:21am.

No, it has to be classified as marketing, otherwise why would they bother?

Having said that, it's a bit of a catch-22 for businesses: they donate and tell people about it, which turns it into boasting, or they donate and don't tell people about it, in which case people think they're stingy.

Can 'business' be truly benevolent?

Posted by Andy Bastable on Fri, 01/07/2005 - 11:45am.

I guess my point is more about the ideology of business. If its root objective is that of personal (or corporate) wealth, than surely it cannot truly be a force for good, in the way that Jesus was?

If the only benevolent act is done for personal gain - surely it is not truly benevolent? Morally corporations can *only* act for self (in the case of big corporations, for the good of the shareholders) - so if an act of kindness has no gain attached, than surely it will be ignored. That is no way to eradicate poverty, especially as those who need help have little power in a consumer-driven market.

AB

I think one needs to consider

Posted by Anonymous on Fri, 01/07/2005 - 11:10am.

I think one needs to consider what the real purpose of business is. Is it to make money? Or is it to serve society by providing goods, services and employment in the first place and be rewarded for this by monetary returns? I think if the latter one applies (and to me this is closer to Christianity) then yes, business activity should be focused on in all efforts to lift people out of poverty. The issue therefore is how business activity is embedded in wider social and cultural values. A crucial question is owner-ship structure (a co-operative or an SME is often run differently from a plc!!), another one the ethics and morals of the people who manage the business. I personally would not expect too much from profit-maximising multinational enterprises (they only help as long as they can see a business case) but rather from individuals and institutions who feel a calling to transcend the focus on the bottom-line and to genuinely help and serve others through business activities.

AW

Is enterprise fueled by greed?

Posted by Peter Heslam on Wed, 06/07/2005 - 12:54pm.

Enterprise can be fueled by greed. But even when it is there are generally other motives at work as well - such as human creativity and the quest for human dignity.
Many writers for whom I have great respect, such as Lesslie Newbigin, have argued that business is based on greed. But it's far too simplistic a view of what motivates business people.
The potential for greed is common to all human beings. A scholar, for instance, may not be greedy for money but can be greedy for academic recognition, status and acclaim.
From the little we know about Jesus' early life we can probably safely assume that, as a skilled craftsman, he ran a business. Would this in itself have made him open to the charge of greed? Surely not!

What kind of business?

Posted by Anonymous on Fri, 01/07/2005 - 11:23am.

Peter seems to be flirting with an approach to this whole issue that one associates with the right. When he talks about the crucial role of 'business' and 'enterprise', he seems to align himself with the apostles of multinational capitalism and their trickledown economics ('Let us have a picnic in Africa and certainly we'll drop some crumbs for the natives'). Maybe he doesn't mean to - after all, these words are not the monopoly of freemarket capitalists and they can also refer to indigenous business and local enterprise. And that is, surely, why the trade rules need to be reformed, to allow indigenous business and local enterprise to prosper, rather than giving big foreign companies a free hand to make profits in Africa for their Western shareholders and, sure, drop a few crumbs for the locals.

The role of large corporations in developing countries

Posted by Peter Heslam on Wed, 06/07/2005 - 2:17pm.

It's too easy, I think, to dismiss multinationals as being interested only in the bottom line. They are made up of people like you and me. And the shareholders to whom they are accountable are like you and me as well.
True, limited companies are legally cound to maximize return to their shareholders. But one ought not to make too much of this. Firstly, we're generally too complex as human beings only to do things with one end in view (such as profit maximization) and this is reflected in corporate behaviour.
Secondly, it's not too difficult to make the case in business that a particular course of action will lead to social good AND greater profitability. There is, of course, a pressure to deliver short-term gains. But any business that focuses too much on the short-term risks going out of business. Sustainable business always has a long-term dimension built into its objectives and understands the importance of investing in its workforce and local community. Success in business is vitually impossible to maintain in unsuccessful communities.
I know one big multinational that even dares to speak of returning 'an acceptable return' to its shareholders in its mission statement. And so far, no shareholder has objected! In fact, the shareholders are delighted to be part-owners of a company that brings them good returns AND invests heavily in the people, infracstructure and communities in which it operates, whether in low- or high-income countries.

I think this article misses t

Posted by icoleman on Fri, 01/07/2005 - 11:27am.

I think this article misses the fundamental point of the Trade aspect of the Make Poverty History campaign.

Successful wealth creation for poor communities is all about the development of strong local enterprise, and this is precisely what the Trade issue seeks to promote. Local enterprise in poor communities is too often stifled by trade rules which reduce their profitability and allow richer external companies to undercut them. All too often external enterprise does not create wealth in the community, but rather funnels it out of the country.

This is a complex issue, and no campaign can hope to cover all the bases, but the Trade, Aid, Debt grouping is well thought out. The G8 cannot impose the strong social institutions that poor countries need, but they can (and should!) ensure that the development of such structures are not hog-tied by a massive debt burden, and undermined by unjust trade rules.

Biblical Basis

Posted by Anonymous on Sun, 03/07/2005 - 11:29pm.

Where is the Biblical basis for democracy and property rights? Specifically for the latter, I see the opposite in Acts, for example, where the early church is portrayed as owning everything in common.

Property rights unbiblical?

Posted by Peter Heslam on Wed, 06/07/2005 - 2:34pm.

Surely the most obvious place to turn for the biblical endorcement of property rights is the 8th Commandment: 'thou shalt not steal'. Without property rights, this command fails to make sense.
Just imagine a society that didn't acknowledge the validity of property rights - it would be chaos and injustice on a massive scale!
If you're not convinced, think how you would feel if I were to steal your mobile from you, or your Walkman. Surely then you'd believe in property rights! And you'd be reassured to know that I believed in them and that our system of law believes in them, as it would mean there'd be some hope that I'd return them, either by internal conviction or external coercion!

"If someone takes your coat,

Posted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/07/2005 - 3:08pm.

"If someone takes your coat, let them take your shirt also".

Someone stole my bike earlier this year. It wasn't insured. I bought another one. It wasn't a problem. I hope whoever stole it is making good use of it.

Most property ownership is founded on theft anyhow. Most of the land in Scotland where I live was stolen from people during the Highland clearances. Land is being stolen all the time from indigenous peoples to make way for hydroelectric schemes, cattle ranches, etc.

We don't own anything. Everything belongs to God, including our bodies. We don't have rights - we are given all these good things by grace.

"The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

One significant problem

Posted by Anonymous on Mon, 04/07/2005 - 12:11pm.

I'd disagree about the one significant problem from which MakePovertyHistory suffers: it is the failure to recognise that WEALTH is a bigger problem than poverty. While the atmosphere in Edinburgh on Saturday was fabulous, I found the prevailing sense of "we are people without a problem seeking to help the people of Africa who have a big problem" very discomforting. Seeing Franciscans in t-shirts proclaiming "Franciscans against poverty" did my head in - although I know that it's destitution we're trying to make history and not poverty in general.

Wealth is not just a spiritual problem, keeping us apart from God. It's also causing poverty, because there's literally not enough to go round: our profligate consumption is changing the climate, using up resources, causing desertification, lowering biodiversity, and lessening the ability of the earth to feed its people.

Let's make the next campaign MAKE WEALTH HISTORY... and instead of patronising the poor, let's join them, as Jesus did.

well said

Posted by Ross Kendall on Tue, 05/07/2005 - 12:54pm.

Personally, I find your comment a refreshing perspective. Although I do suspect that a 'make wealth history' campaign would be even more ambitious than the 'make poverty history' one.

To me, the ideal goal would be to get rid of both poverty and (excessive individual) wealth. I think the two go hand in hand.

If you look at a definition for wealth, you will find that the term is broader than just the notion of being rich. For example: " All goods and resources having value in terms of exchange or use". Considering this, I suspect that there would be a reasonable argument for a legitimate place for 'wealth' in the world.

Poverty, however has no legitimate place in this world, and I think you are correct in recognising that concentrated wealth is one of it's primary causes.

Does wealth cause poverty?

Posted by Peter Heslam on Wed, 06/07/2005 - 3:15pm.

I entirely agree that we need to address the issues surronding wealth as much as those surrounding poverty. But one reason for doing this is that all the most reliable measures indicate that the world as a whole is getting richer. This isn't, of course, to dismiss the problem of growing poverty in places like sub-Saharan Africa, which is very real and needs to be urgently addressed.

Your argument is that wealth causes poverty because there's not enough wealth to go round. But this assumes that the pie we have in front of us needs dividing up equally, or at least in such a way that no-one ends up with an piece so small as to leave them destitute.

But how about if we expand the pie? Surely then everyone gets a decent slice!

Your argument is what economists call a 'zero-sum game'. It's very prevalent in voluntary bodies such as churches and NGOs. But the facts of economic growth show that the real game is very different.

Expanding the pie through wealth creation, and the benefits this can bring in terms of jobs, improvements in health and education, investment in infrastructure and even greater care for the environment does seem to be the only sound way forward. It appears to be the only way we'll effectively alleviate the scurge of poverty, which so mars the image of God in people he has so lovingly made to reflect his glory.

What is enough?

Posted by mikej on Wed, 06/07/2005 - 11:44pm.

I want to suggest that 'rich' and 'poor', 'wealth' and 'poverty' are relative terms - they aren't absolutes. For example, I'm not rich but neither am I poor, - I've enough to meet my needs. Your needs may be greater than mine, in which case my income level would not meet them, and you would be relatively poorer than me.

Sahlins (1974) says:
"......The world's most primitive people have few possessions, but they are not poor. Poverty is not a certain small amount of goods, nor is it just a relation between means and ends; above all it is a relation between people. Poverty is a social status. As such it is an invention of civilisation."

Of which Hendry (1999) says:
"....he makes the interesting point that if people want no more than their food, and that is available, they have all they desire. In other words, they have not been corrupted by the addictive and competitive traps of property ownership and capitalism."

It has been said that there's enough in the world to meet everyone's needs, but not their greeds. At present, 30,000 children die every day as a direct result of poverty, and more than 840million people go to bed hungry every night. 1 billion people are consuming 80% of the world's resources, leaving 5 billion others to exist on the rest. The MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY campaign is not asking for charity; it's calling for justice, trade justice!

I've argued elsewhere (2002) that the socialist slogan - 'Production should be for Need, not Greed' is meaningless and impotent until we define 'Enough'. The world's resources are finite, but our desires are limitless, - our inherent human condition. Capitalism knowingly exploits this flaw, - that we always greed beyond our need, - to optimise capital returns.

Climate change is causing

Posted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/07/2005 - 3:13pm.

Climate change is causing different rainfall patterns, doughts, floods. The only way to stop Africa getting poorer (and to stop Bangladesh from disappearing altogether) is for me and you to consume less oil, timber, meat, water, iron..... That means being less wealthy: fewer flights to New York, smaller houses, fewer burgers, fewer electronic gadgets to play with.

We've confused the 'wealth' which God offers us with greedy profligacy, and we spurn valuable poverty because we can't tell it apart from unjust destitution.

Peter, Friends,

Posted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/07/2005 - 4:06pm.

Peter, Friends,

It is true, I believe, that enterprise is the way out of poverty BUT the point you and most respondents to your statement appear to be missing is that enterprise occurs within the context of the market. But to function effectively and sustainably, MARKETS NEED GOVERNANCE; i.e. they need minimum wages, redistribution of wealth from richest to poorest, environmental minimum standards and so on. This, indeed, is the key lesson that western countries learned in the centuries that followed the industrial revolution.

But today, the market is a GLOBAL one but we have, as yet, no means to apply minimum standards, redistributive taxation, etc in the international/global context. And that is why advocating enterprise as the solution to poverty IN THE ABSENCE of those safeguards is a dangerous thing to do. As some respondents have indicated, it will simply mean most of the benefits will go to multi-national corporations and not to the poor! Indeed, while overall wealth in the world has increased, as you point out, it is extremely poorly distributed! This happens BECAUSE no such safeguards exist in the global economy.

So, making global poverty history I'm afraid thus comes down to the question of how we get nations to apply the appropriate minimum standards across national borders; how do we get nations to raise certain taxes globally (eg. Tobin Tax) and to redistribute the proceeds debt-free to the poorest nations? Furthermore we need to get them to implement such safeguards SIMULTANEOUSLY to avoid any nation, corporation or citizen losing out to any other.

One organisation which permits citizens to use their right to vote in a completely new way to drive the politicians of all nations to implement such safeguards is the International Simultanoeus Policy Organisation (ISPO) which you might care to add to the list of links you gave with your original statement. The web address is http://www.simpol.org

many thanks and best wishes
John Bunzl - Trustee
ISPO

After thoughts

Posted by mikej on Sun, 24/07/2005 - 6:52pm.

What a good idea, John - thanks for ISPO, a site well worth visiting.

This concept complements other ethical initiatives, like the international trading standard, Fairtrade (qv: www.fairtrade.org.uk), and the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), an international consortium comprising Government, Trades Union Congress (acting through International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and key Transnational Corporations. It was ETI which recently negotiated with Chinese manufacturers to ensure that the white MPH wristbands are ethically produced qv: www.tuc.org.uk/eti. According to the Business Observer, it has been the market success of Fairtrade and ETI that has ushered in phenomenal growth in social enterprise and corporate responsibility (alluded to in another contribution).

Much of what you've mentioned is embodied in the Trade Justice Movement's appeal, - one of the key strands of MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY. It's good to have you and many others raise public awareness of the need for good governance in the market. After all, why should labour be so constrained at every border-crossing, whilst capital has free rein to transcend all territorial limits - taking jobs with it?

Finally, another item for the resources list above could be the excellent publication from Christian-Aid, "Lifting the burden, weighting the rules: faith foundations for the Trade Justice Campaign" Ref.F791 - order FREE online from www.christianaid.org.uk

Please continue to petition PM Tony Blair, Chancellor Gordon Brown, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelsohn, your MEPs and MPs for Trade Justice to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY at WTO Hong Kong Ministerial, Dec 2005

LIVE 8 PHILADELPHIA

Posted by rosemary on Wed, 06/07/2005 - 11:40pm.

LIVE 8
PHILADELPHIA

We war against
hunger and poverty
Stepping over tossed
fries, rotting fruit
dogs rummaging around
discarded hoagies.

Cell phones
'private' conversations
loud and inconsiderate
Picture taking
empty documentation
accumulating overcharges.

Families bickering
provoking tantrums
individual wants for
stuff junk
Ultimately thoughtlessly
trashed.

We claim
politicly correct
consciousness raising
amid conspicuous consumption
Gathering together
protesting world hunger.
Aghast that families
live on nothing
We thoughtlessly take
everything
for granted

rosemary

Make wealth history?

Posted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/07/2005 - 2:27am.

Make wealth history? Could you re-read the proverbs of solomon, specifically the ones that promise God's blessings, and then rephrase that, perhaps?

Or...

Posted by Andy Bastable on Fri, 08/07/2005 - 2:33pm.

...and then go and read the gospels, and underline it some more.

It's not about earning lots, it's about using it responsibly.

Firms join global poverty fight

Posted by Ross Kendall on Tue, 05/07/2005 - 12:25pm.

A relevant news item on the BBC website...

Firms join global poverty fight

(maybe someone is listening Peter)

While it is easy to be sceptical about the words, motives and actions of large companies, it is at least a little encouraging that ethical issues are begining to make it into discussion around the board-room table.

Well said on the role for business

Posted by Anonymous on Thu, 07/07/2005 - 4:29pm.

As a senior manager within a large UK company, who is also committed to Christians supporting the MPH campaign, I was beginning to find this thread depressing.

So much has been added to the debate already I will not rehash that but would suggest that a writing-off of business as a godless greed-fuelled enterprise is just too much of a reactionary over simplification. Yes greed infects business decisions, as it does decisions by celebrities and politicians, but that does not mean we should abandon hope in all these voices.

My experience is that due to the changes in postmodern society more and more companies are seriously addressing the issue of ethics and social responsibility. This is only good business sense. In today's globally competitive markets only those companies with a high-performance culture will survive (and fulfill their ethical obligations to shareholders & empolyees). With the high level of awareness of global crisis in today's connected society, no employer can claim to have really implemented value & culture which will encourage long-term commitment from employees without having a social responsibility aspect.

Perhaps as Christians rather than critising enterprises in socialist sounding polemics (like I did when younger), we should be encouraging them with the good sense of giving to the poor. Better still we could work hard within companies and rise to positions of influence to actually be able to take some of these decisions ourselves in a ministry of 'wealth creation' (I bet that is a controversial label).

One final thought. I think the biggest gap in the MPH campaign is it does not criticise African leaders and the exploiting affluent elite in many African countries. As well as the Aid/Debt/Trade actions which are sorely needed we also need political. For instance we should be putting pressure on South Africa to stand up to Zimbabwe and deplore the exploiting dictatorship of Robert Mugabe. Unless these tyrants and corrupt governments in Africa are dealt with then much of the aid will be wasted.

Let's remember that what we should be working towards is not a grateful dependant Africa whom we dote on like some affluent Aunt, rather we want Africa to be able to stand on its own two feet and deal with us like adults. Lets not patronise the situation by pretending that all the guilt & problems are in the western world. If we love our brothers & sisters in Africa then their exploiting leaders (thak God that is not all of them) must be addressed.

Hope that makes sense - sorry it is soooo long.

It's me

Posted by paul.laughlin on Fri, 08/07/2005 - 5:38pm.

Apologies, I did not mean to post this anonymously; I had system problems.

Paul

Interested in Transforming Business?

Posted by Peter Heslam on Tue, 09/08/2005 - 5:02pm.

Paul, it sounds as if you might be interested in the Transforming Business project I am directing at Cambridge University. The project certainly needs people like you around it to help advize on how its resources can best be of help to Christians seeking to apply their faith to business.
If you are interested, do drop me a line on peter.heslam@licc.org.uk
Thanks for your comment.
Peter

I agree that business is the

Posted by matthewcadbury on Fri, 08/07/2005 - 5:11pm.

I agree that business is the key to a sustainable end to poverty. Trade is also a great way to combat poverty. Trade between Western countries and the developing world can be counterproductive for developing countries because of the rigged trade rules that the West uses (e.g. the Common Agricultural Policy). But that doesn't mean that there aren't opportunities for developing countries to trade fairly and freely with each other. Unfortunately trade has a bad reputation these days (even worse than business!)and developing countries are throwing the baby out with the bath water, cutting off trade between each other as well as trade with the West. It's a tragic situation, developing countries would have a huge opportunity if they would only remove the trade barriers between them. This opportunity is several times larger than what the G8 are offering in debt cancellation and aid.

WORLD INJUSTICE Last Sun

Posted by rosemary on Fri, 15/07/2005 - 3:27pm.

WORLD INJUSTICE

Last Sunday our church joined the international community praying for Darfur.
Still pictures were flashed upon a screen showing women and children in refugee camps. Starving. Men trying to find work and hope for their families.
I remember other pictures like these. Pictures actually depicting the slaughter in Rwanda. The desperation of the people.
As we prayed I felt I was in the presence of the God of the Old Testament. I could hear him wondering about us.
What would it take? He had lead the Israelites from Egypt yet had to keep them in the desert for 40 years before bringing them to the Promised land because they refused to listen to Him, to trust Him, to surrender to Him.
We are on our journey through the desert, also on our way to the Promised Land of Eternity and He continues to try to get our attention. He continues to 'seek' us out and show us exactly what our purpose here is. Here is not the Promised Land. Here is our desert. We have gotten as egocentric as the Israelites and look only to our own needs (which are really ...greeds) and our oun happiness.
We feel rightous because (maybe) unlike the individuals who heard of Rwanda, we are 'doing something', like a day of prayer. How deceitful we are. Prayer today does little to make us uncomfortable. It takes little time to pray the way we want to.....Lord 'fix'....'give'....'take away'....'do'.....for me, for my family, my friends....
Lord remove the problems of the world ..... so I don't have to see them, feel guilty about them, experience shame over them.
When we gather with others we intellectualize and generalize the situation, considering it overwhelming and unconquerable. We point fingers at all people, institutions, nations.
I believe God wants us to take it personally. Hard to do when we leave our comfortable churches in our comfortable cars and return to our comfortable homes that are filled with most of the 'conveniences' of life. So easy to readily distance ourselves when we choose to surround ourselves with our 'reality'.....which often has nothing to do with the real world.
I see God continue to allow these situations to exist and over and over again waiting for us to respond with His love, not our selfish agenda masked in self-righteousness.
I can hear Him wondering how many people will die, be slaughtered, starved to death, raped, tourtured, before we, His children respond with all the Christian love He has provided us with, with all the grace He gives us, with the compassion He has shown us in our sinfulness.
My fear .... as long as we focus on the here and now we will never be ready to open our hearts. Only when we begin to realize that this is only the journey on our way to Heaven, our promised land, will we be willing to surrender to the will of the Almighty.

Frightening? Uncomfortable? Without doubt!It makes me angry... with myself! Conflict mounts in my mind.

I call to My Father and cry out. What do you want from me? What am I to do? This is so big. I am so small.It is complicated, Father.

The silience ensues.

I continue to pray and see Jesus going alone to the cross suffering pain beyond our knowing and total humiliation (something we don't often focus upon).I think it probably didn't look like he was doing much there. Even those closest to him thought he had lost it and was done.
I know better. I know my salvation is secure. If I can say that then I must believe in heaven. If I believe in heaven then the here and now is only my journey to my eternal life with the Lord and God of all.
If I believe this, what must my response be?

I cry out to the Almighty, Father, what do you require of me?
A small voice at the back of my mind wispers....WHAT DON'T YOU GET?

I beg, Lord, Jesus what must I do? The same wisper comes....YOU ARE ASKING A QUESTION YOU ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER TO.

Holy Spirt I pray, guide and direct me. Reveal to me what you would have me do.
A small voice within me wispers.....I left you my Word....WHAT DON'T YOU GET?

separation

Posted by Jim Harries on Tue, 16/09/2008 - 7:03pm.

This has proved a long and fascinating discussion.

Through much of it, the assumption seems to be that 'helping or not helping' the poor, is a matter of a 'decision' that 'we in the west' need to make. The plight of the poor is in our hands!

I feel with Rosemary, as she hears of and sees suffering around her in the world, from which she seems incredibly isolated.

What has been less considered, is that sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. This is acknowledged within our own 'culture' - some marriages cannot be helped. The 'members' just have to live in it and through it!

Much 'activism' on the part of the west is unfortunately rather blind. Helping people, surely, requires first 'knowing them'? It is about time 'we' in the west had some folks in the worlds poverty-spots not just to 'rescue' people from themselves and their predicament, but first to say 'well, let's understand what is going on here. Why does poverty persist despite all the west's great efforts?' Having been doing something much like that for 20 years - I think we need to stop and reevaluate.

We are coming at people saying 'take my money and my language and do what I tell you and I will solve your problem. That's not the way Christ worked. Where is the vulnerability? Let's try - their language and their resources first, and see what we can do with them. If we can do something with them, we could be making some progress. If we can't, then what hope for them?

This is what we are promoring in the alliance for vulnerable mission: www.vulnerablemission.com

Jim

With love (and extra resources, group-work ideas and links...)
from www.licc.org.uk/culture.

Live 8 and the G8

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