What do you want for Christmas or Hannukah (or whatever you observe the holidays as)? you may ask of others. Many of us parents may, for greater ease of reference when holiday shopping, request that our children make out their "wish lists." True, especially if we have limited financial respources to work with or are on budgets, we have no intention on getting everything, even most of the items, we see on such wish lists. A couple of years ago, when my nephew who is close to our daughter, was asked to create his wish list, he wowed us with his list. For it was so long and contained so many items that he took a number of sheets of paper and taped them together! Of course, we could grant only a few wishes on his list and he understood that. A well-known nonprofit organization has been built on and named after granting wishes, year-round, for terminally ill children. We often hear people, normally adults, frame their holiday wishes to underscore their year-round passions or things we should all be wishing for. And what is so special about one time of the year that we should want something that we would not want at any other time of the year?
There are many people whose life circumstances are such that their desires have become singular and focused, even though they want many things. But they have a focused desire; they want "one thing." It is the thing that they care most about, whether because of tragedy or because it is something that they have invested much of themselves in.
What do people with all kinds of severe, chronic, or terminal illnesses, want? Physical health, healing and life. Their suffering, pain and the uncertainty of their very existence has reduced them to this passionate, all-consuming desire.
What do military troops and their families, who are often physically separated by being in different countries or even continents and who may wonder if they will even see each other again, want? They want to be re-united. The loneliness and agony of separation has focused their desire on this one thing that can end all this.
What do people living with addictions want? Though it may seem to them and to us that they want to satisfy their addictions, whether to drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, food, or other addictions, what they really want is to be free of their addictions and to be free to deal with and to be healed of the underlying issues that fuel their addictions.
What do families of victims (especially murder victims) and victims and survivors of a host of crimes want to see? They yearn for justice, answers and vindication. The sheer agony and pain of what has happened to them and which never should have happened in the first place, has made their hearts cry out for this as their single heart's desire.
What do people of faith, worldwide, who face severe persecution because of their faith, desire? They want to be empowered to serve their God. Even more than religious freedom, they want the support and resources that the free world can provide, including Bibles and other Christian or equivalent literature or resources. The very reason for their persecution being their passion and devotion to serving their God, this has reduced such heroic individuals to desiring to be empowered and supported above all else.
What do people hungry people, especially those living with severe and even life-threatening hunger, want? Food! Of course. But the sad and tragic fact is, especially in areas like Africa, millions die of starvation without this all-consuming desire being met!
What do thirsty people, especially those living with severe and even life-threatening thirst or who have no access to safe drinking water, yearn for? Water! Of course. But here too, the sad and tragic fact is that, epecially in Africa, millions likewise die of dehydration or from the effects of unsafe drinking water and this all-consuming desire is not met!
What does an unborn child, especially one conceived to an abortion-minded or abortion-vulnerable family, yearn for? Life! Reasearch shows that, during abortions, especially late-term abortions, the unborn child will fight mightily to live. The video by Dr. Bernard Nathanson, "The Silent Scream," is sound evidence of this fact. This makes abotion not only a trauma for those left behind but a human rights abuse of the unborn child.
What does an abused child want? To be free of abuse! The sheer helplessness and hopelessness
of their situations has reduced them to this singular yearning. Ideally, the yearning is that those who are the only ones they know, would stop the abusing. Child removal is traumatic but should a child remain with abusive parents who will not reform their ways?
What do families with missing loved ones want? Above all things, they want to see their loved ones come home; they want answers! Even if the outcome is not what they yearn for, they yearn even more for answers. Ideally, they want to see their loved one come home safe. But the sheer uncertainty and agony of not knowing drives them to crave this one thing above all else. Even a proper burial and seeing their loved one be honored and remembered as well as knowing what has happened to them, in preferable to remaining in limbo.
What do couples struggling with infertility and the effort to bear children, want? Children. The anguish and the emotional pain of not being able to obtain what so many others gain without any effort on their part, has reduced these couples to this one focused desire.
What does a homeless person want? A roof over his or her head. The indignity and fear and the drive just to survive every minute, makes their hearts cry out for one thing. But it will not come to them through handouts but by the hand that provides them with life skills and job skills training as well as job opportunities and education.
What do many aging people, especially in our free world, want? Respect. The rudeness, insensitivity and even abuse that so many are treated with in our youth-worshiping culture, has caused many of our seniors to yearn for the respect and honor that most of them deserve.
What do many pastors want? Unity in their congregations. Gossip, inner dissension and infighting, divisions and church splits, cause pastors heartbreak. Their anguish causes so many pastors to yearn for this one thing.
What do people with special needs of all ages and their families want? Acceptance and support from others. More than for cures, treatments or therapies, people with disabilities and their families yearn for one thing, acceptance and to be and feel welcome. The intolerance, stigma, misunderstanding and lack of accommodations most deal with make their hearts cry out just to be welcome and accepted and to be seen as people who can and do contribute to others.
There are no doubt others who want "just one" thing" not covered here, but for the sake of space and because they are not coming to mind now, I will not cover them here. But what does God want? It would be easy to say that He wants world peace. And He does. But more than anything else, He wants us to be at peace with him through coming to know Him through His Son, Jesus. He wants us to ask Him to forgive us for our wrongs and to trust Him to save us through what Jesus has done for us in coming to Earth, being born as man, living a perfect life, dying for us and returning to life. By being at peace with God, we will be at peace with each other and this will bring about world peace.
Have you granted God's wish?
Have you granted another person's wish?
You can help grant the wish of families with missing loved ones to bring their loved ones home by visiting:
http://lostnmissing.com/
http://missing-and-unidentified.org/
http://www.doenetwork.org/start.html
You can grant an abused child's wish to be free from abuse and visit:
http://www.childhelp.org/
You can grant a desperately poor child's wish for a better life and visit:
http://worldvision.org/
http://www.compassion.org/
You can grant the wish of the persecuted for resources and support so they can serve their God by visiting:
http://www.persecution.com/
http://www.persecution.org/
You can grant a seriously ill child the resources and support needed for healing and recovery by visiting:
http://www.stjude.org/
You can help a cancer patient in your life increase their odds of healing and recovery by visiting this site and the referring them:
http://www.cancercenter.org/
You can show your support and care for one wrongfully convicted and imprisoned autistic young man by visiting:
http://avoiceforneli.com/
You can help show your care and give people in emotional distress hope by visiting:
http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
You can grant autistic people's desire for acceptance and understanding by visiting:
http://www.grasp.org/
You can grant a soldier's wish for support by visiting:
http://www.thankasoldier.net/
Friday, December 23, 2011
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
The TEA Party vs. The Occupy Movement
Throughout this year, there have been two, massive, grassroots movements comprised of people who have been much dissatisfied with their government and who wanted to show their displeasure and inspire change through awareness. This year has, in my opinion, been the year of profound discontent with government to such a degree that citizens have exerted pressure on politicians to make substantial changes. The coming of age of social networks, including Facebook and Twitter, have played a big part in these monumental efforts.
What are the political dynamics that finally have gotten citizens so fed up that they joined forces with like-minded people to spend time and often money, to organize and to demand government to make changes? Well, to start out, to enter political office, elected public servants must run campaigns and these campaigns cost $$$. Many $$$! And who have the resources to fund political campaigns? It is not the overwhelming majority of middle-class and definitely not low-income citizens. No, those who are able and willing to fund the campaigns and elections of our politicians are millionaires and billionaires. And because our public servants are usually "paid off" by these super-rich, it is to they to whom they feel indebted and are most driven to please, even if pleasing their benefactors' demands go against the grain of the consciences and convicted of our public servants. And to show their gratitude to their benefators, President George W. Bush instituted tax cuts for these super-wealthy, beginning in his first term in 2001. In the current tax code, which I make no claim to understand, the more $$$ one makes, the lower one's taxes in proportion to one's income. Conservatives and liberals differ sharply on how to address the inequities in the current tax code. Conservative deeply desire to preserve the status quo and to limit the role of government in our lives, so they hold fast to the notion that the current tax code must be left alone, that politicians must not meddle with citizens,' including wealthy citizens,' private affairs. Also, conservatives reason that since the very wealthy are usually the job creators, paying higher taxes would leave these job creators with fewer $$$ to create new jobs. To me, this begs the question of our declining economy and high unemployment rate. It is also an argument of the those who lean toward the liberal view, that it is reasonable and moral to require millionaires and billionaires (NOT small business owners) to pay their fair share, that is, a higher proportion of taxes according to their incomes. This would ensure fairer and more equitable economy for middle-class and low-income citizens.
Actually, there has always been an undercurrent of resentment toward millionaires and billionaires, especially those on Wall Street, and of their corporate greed and and their buying of our public servants through huge contribution to politicians' campaigns. Since Wall Street CEO's and other very wealthy corporations and individuals have traditionally been most able to fund poltical campaigns ans elections, and since "money talks," they, not the rest of us, have enjoyed much more influence and power with our public servants. Though I'm sure most politicians start out with the finest of motives, seeking power for the sake of helping and advocating for their citzenry, it is clear that the temptations and trappings of public office tend to make them lose their focus. Once they settle into office and encounter the temptation to cave into the pressures of the greed of their "benefactors," because they want to get re-elected, it becomes easy for our public servants to forget why they entered public office in the first place. So we see so much greedy, corrupt and even criminal behavior on the part of our public servants.
And this is where two mass grassroots movements come in; the only thing they have in common is their profound discontent with our public servants and a deep-seated belief that they hold the solution to the country's problem. The first mass movement, the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party, is a fiscal movement which claims to be founded on the original Boston Tea Party in the late 1770's. Largely conservative in their worldview, the TEA Party claim the American flag and the Constitution as their their symbols. Their philosophy is that the governments is our problem and that they should have only a small role in our lives. And since those who support them and those who speak for them tend to be upper-middle-class or wealthy, their outcry not to be taxed anymore favors the affluent and the wealthy. Some Members of Congress speak for this TEA Party and are known as "the new Republicans." Earlier this year, especially, Members of this movement were real go-getters, applying all their efforts, time, skills and passions into maximizing all forms of media to organize, raise awareness and to put forth their agenda. This TEA Party movement reached deeply into many different parts of the US. Members and supporters of this movement oppose higher taxes on the wealthy, in part because many are among those wealthy, and even if they are not, they have bought into the notion that these job creators will lose $$$ needed to generate jobs, meaning that unemployment will continue or get worse for the rest of us. And they hold to the belief that spending cuts, no matter how deep, hold the key to turning the economy around. Today, Members of the TEA Party seem to have lost much influence but make no mistake, they continue to seek to influence the current, raging national budget debate and their agenda for the upcoming elections in 2012.
Later this year, another movement, called Occupy, sprang up. It claims no official leaders, unlike the TEA Party. The core beliefs and philosophy of the Occupy movement stand in opposition to that of the TEA Party. Members of Occupy and their supporters hold that government should retain a role in our lives, because of their power and resources. This movement began in New York City, as the Occupy Wall Street movement that organized to protest the corporate greed of Wall Street and their corrupting influence on those in elected office. And soon this movement spread in many other cities all over the US as more and more people "caught the vision" and "occupy" soon become the buzzword for many other Occupy movements. And this movement also has reached outside the US and has spread to many other parts of the free world, as people all over the world watched this all unfold from their TV screens and from social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Their photos and videos demonstrate that countless people of a wide variety of different languages, ethnicities, races, and walks of life hold membership in and support the Occupy movement. This is in contrast to the TEA Party, which seems to be far more homogenized. And yes, people of various political persusions also support it, as indicated by the fact that many don't claim to support President Obama. At the heart of their agenda and far-reaching, tireless efforts on the ground and online, is the passion and determination to drive money out of politics. They want to reform the way political campaigns and elections are funded. This way politicians will be free to act out of their convictions, and to speak and vote their consciences without the fear and pressure of not wanting to lose the support of super-wealthy donors. If their elections are taxpayer-funded, they will gain the incentive to work for the overwhelming majority of their citizenry. However, unlike the TEA Party, we keep hearing about the many arrests of Occupy protestors as well as trashing them as "idiots," "thugs," and even "low-lifes," "welfare bums" and "criminals." I find so much of the hostility toward the Occupy movement hard to understand, especially since I don't see that TEA Party Members have been nearly so vilified, trashed and experience so much police brutality. Yet their influence continues, but unlike the TEA Party, I'm not aware that they are trying to get into politics to gain influence.
In this media age of biases, propaganda and politicking, it is hard to know what to believe about anything, especially two massive grassroots movements. I have provided the websites for both of these movements and my hope is that, if you have the time to spare, you will check them out and see for yourself who you should support and stand together with. And looking at all this from the perspective of faith and specifically the Christian faith, we should thoughtfully check out both these movements and decide what values tally with what we believe. As a Christian who holds to Biblical values and who sees much in my Bible which shouts out God's heart for the poor and His sympathy for the working-class and all the vulnerable, it seems to me that the entire diverse structure of the Occupy movement and their passionate advocacy for the vulnerable and the middle-class is closer to Scriptural values than the TEA Party.
If Christ were on Earth at this time, what movement do you think He would identify with?
Occupy Wall Street
http://occupywallst.org/. This is the website for this mass movement.
The TEA Party
http://www.teaparty.org/. This is a social networking site for anyone interested in supporting this movement.
What are the political dynamics that finally have gotten citizens so fed up that they joined forces with like-minded people to spend time and often money, to organize and to demand government to make changes? Well, to start out, to enter political office, elected public servants must run campaigns and these campaigns cost $$$. Many $$$! And who have the resources to fund political campaigns? It is not the overwhelming majority of middle-class and definitely not low-income citizens. No, those who are able and willing to fund the campaigns and elections of our politicians are millionaires and billionaires. And because our public servants are usually "paid off" by these super-rich, it is to they to whom they feel indebted and are most driven to please, even if pleasing their benefactors' demands go against the grain of the consciences and convicted of our public servants. And to show their gratitude to their benefators, President George W. Bush instituted tax cuts for these super-wealthy, beginning in his first term in 2001. In the current tax code, which I make no claim to understand, the more $$$ one makes, the lower one's taxes in proportion to one's income. Conservatives and liberals differ sharply on how to address the inequities in the current tax code. Conservative deeply desire to preserve the status quo and to limit the role of government in our lives, so they hold fast to the notion that the current tax code must be left alone, that politicians must not meddle with citizens,' including wealthy citizens,' private affairs. Also, conservatives reason that since the very wealthy are usually the job creators, paying higher taxes would leave these job creators with fewer $$$ to create new jobs. To me, this begs the question of our declining economy and high unemployment rate. It is also an argument of the those who lean toward the liberal view, that it is reasonable and moral to require millionaires and billionaires (NOT small business owners) to pay their fair share, that is, a higher proportion of taxes according to their incomes. This would ensure fairer and more equitable economy for middle-class and low-income citizens.
Actually, there has always been an undercurrent of resentment toward millionaires and billionaires, especially those on Wall Street, and of their corporate greed and and their buying of our public servants through huge contribution to politicians' campaigns. Since Wall Street CEO's and other very wealthy corporations and individuals have traditionally been most able to fund poltical campaigns ans elections, and since "money talks," they, not the rest of us, have enjoyed much more influence and power with our public servants. Though I'm sure most politicians start out with the finest of motives, seeking power for the sake of helping and advocating for their citzenry, it is clear that the temptations and trappings of public office tend to make them lose their focus. Once they settle into office and encounter the temptation to cave into the pressures of the greed of their "benefactors," because they want to get re-elected, it becomes easy for our public servants to forget why they entered public office in the first place. So we see so much greedy, corrupt and even criminal behavior on the part of our public servants.
And this is where two mass grassroots movements come in; the only thing they have in common is their profound discontent with our public servants and a deep-seated belief that they hold the solution to the country's problem. The first mass movement, the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) Party, is a fiscal movement which claims to be founded on the original Boston Tea Party in the late 1770's. Largely conservative in their worldview, the TEA Party claim the American flag and the Constitution as their their symbols. Their philosophy is that the governments is our problem and that they should have only a small role in our lives. And since those who support them and those who speak for them tend to be upper-middle-class or wealthy, their outcry not to be taxed anymore favors the affluent and the wealthy. Some Members of Congress speak for this TEA Party and are known as "the new Republicans." Earlier this year, especially, Members of this movement were real go-getters, applying all their efforts, time, skills and passions into maximizing all forms of media to organize, raise awareness and to put forth their agenda. This TEA Party movement reached deeply into many different parts of the US. Members and supporters of this movement oppose higher taxes on the wealthy, in part because many are among those wealthy, and even if they are not, they have bought into the notion that these job creators will lose $$$ needed to generate jobs, meaning that unemployment will continue or get worse for the rest of us. And they hold to the belief that spending cuts, no matter how deep, hold the key to turning the economy around. Today, Members of the TEA Party seem to have lost much influence but make no mistake, they continue to seek to influence the current, raging national budget debate and their agenda for the upcoming elections in 2012.
Later this year, another movement, called Occupy, sprang up. It claims no official leaders, unlike the TEA Party. The core beliefs and philosophy of the Occupy movement stand in opposition to that of the TEA Party. Members of Occupy and their supporters hold that government should retain a role in our lives, because of their power and resources. This movement began in New York City, as the Occupy Wall Street movement that organized to protest the corporate greed of Wall Street and their corrupting influence on those in elected office. And soon this movement spread in many other cities all over the US as more and more people "caught the vision" and "occupy" soon become the buzzword for many other Occupy movements. And this movement also has reached outside the US and has spread to many other parts of the free world, as people all over the world watched this all unfold from their TV screens and from social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Their photos and videos demonstrate that countless people of a wide variety of different languages, ethnicities, races, and walks of life hold membership in and support the Occupy movement. This is in contrast to the TEA Party, which seems to be far more homogenized. And yes, people of various political persusions also support it, as indicated by the fact that many don't claim to support President Obama. At the heart of their agenda and far-reaching, tireless efforts on the ground and online, is the passion and determination to drive money out of politics. They want to reform the way political campaigns and elections are funded. This way politicians will be free to act out of their convictions, and to speak and vote their consciences without the fear and pressure of not wanting to lose the support of super-wealthy donors. If their elections are taxpayer-funded, they will gain the incentive to work for the overwhelming majority of their citizenry. However, unlike the TEA Party, we keep hearing about the many arrests of Occupy protestors as well as trashing them as "idiots," "thugs," and even "low-lifes," "welfare bums" and "criminals." I find so much of the hostility toward the Occupy movement hard to understand, especially since I don't see that TEA Party Members have been nearly so vilified, trashed and experience so much police brutality. Yet their influence continues, but unlike the TEA Party, I'm not aware that they are trying to get into politics to gain influence.
In this media age of biases, propaganda and politicking, it is hard to know what to believe about anything, especially two massive grassroots movements. I have provided the websites for both of these movements and my hope is that, if you have the time to spare, you will check them out and see for yourself who you should support and stand together with. And looking at all this from the perspective of faith and specifically the Christian faith, we should thoughtfully check out both these movements and decide what values tally with what we believe. As a Christian who holds to Biblical values and who sees much in my Bible which shouts out God's heart for the poor and His sympathy for the working-class and all the vulnerable, it seems to me that the entire diverse structure of the Occupy movement and their passionate advocacy for the vulnerable and the middle-class is closer to Scriptural values than the TEA Party.
If Christ were on Earth at this time, what movement do you think He would identify with?
Occupy Wall Street
http://occupywallst.org/. This is the website for this mass movement.
The TEA Party
http://www.teaparty.org/. This is a social networking site for anyone interested in supporting this movement.
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