As members of the Body of Christ, we can cure the sickness that is hopelessness. We can wash away the leprosy of listlessness. We can cast out the demon of despair. We have received God's love without payment, we can give without payment. We can show what it means to be treasured. p. 14
How wonderful to be given hope! ++Katherine offers us many glimpses of those who offer hope to others, not just in the Christian tradition but also in other traditions. The challenge for many is in seeing how our lives are interwoven and how our journeys may well be parallel.
Growing up in the Appalachian Mountains of western Pennsylvania did not provide me with many opportunities to meet those who were not Christian. In fact, the only distinction offered between faiths in my hometown were Roman Catholic and Protestant (denomination was almost inconsequential!). Imagine my thrill to come to Erie to attend Gannon University, and discover that there Jews and Muslims, even right here on the campus. Friendships arose, and opportunities as well to share in other forms of worship. I never lost my faith, but somehow it became even more dynamic in relation to the others I was finding.
What was surprising was the realization that many on the journey were reaching out to others in need. I wondered about their desire to do so, and what motivated them. It was a Christocentrist view of working for social justice, until I realized that Christ could certainly work beyond Christianity. I found hope in the fact that we could share energies, share resources, and share the burden of making a difference. Our call for us to see that each of us is special and are agents of God's salvation may even allow for us to imagine a Christ who can reach out to everyone, even to those who do not yet know intimately of His grace.
How have you seen Christ at work in the world, not just in the hands of His faithful, but in places you would hardly expect to find Him?
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i don't even know if anyone is going to read this being that it is about 2 weeks late- but i am trying to catch up with my reading and this particular segment really got me mad. well maybe i shouldn't say mad, but more like, annoyed.
When she talks about the generations that are hopeless, i think that she is partly talking about my generation, which i don't know specifically when that starts but i am thinking long about anyone born after 1980- and she does mention gen x'ers specifically, but anyway, i can tell you firsthand yes, i am hopeless, but it isn't about God or my relationship with God- granted faith has never been an issue for me, its my hope in people that is completely lost!!! at least anyone that has come before me, you people who came before me have everything so f'ed up how can i be hopeful? for crying out loud! our environment is in shambles- the most dangerous thing we are living with at the time, as in more dangerous than nuclear weapons which are also scary and will be the end of us all for sure, its just a matter of time- both of these things very real threats and all the generations before mine can talk about is the SLIM chance that we might be killed in a terrorist attack! THIS- is ALL that your generations can talk about?!?!?! IGNORING every other important issue that our world is facing such as disease poverty and starvation which also is more of a threat to higher numbers of people than a terrorist attack- but i don't want to rant too too long.
and on a personal level- i mean come on! how many idiots does she deal with in the course of a day?! one maybe 2?! people don't like the fact that she is a woman and the leader of our church WOW- yeah that would be tough i don't mean to downplay it, but at my job, i deal with over 300 different people a DAY over the phone, just TAKING MESSAGES FOR COMPANIES! THATS IT! and probably right around 250-270 of those people a night treat me like CRAP! swearing at me, calling me names, screaming and yelling at me, gicing me attitude ALL BECAUSE THEY AREN"T GETTING THEIR WAY WHEN THEY THINK SHE SHOULD BE!
now come on! it doesn't take a priest/ religious-spiritual person-to figure out "hey maybe i shouldn't treat other people so badly" - which is why, i can yes, partly blame capitalism, military complex, and societal selfishness on everyone apparently feeling so hopeless- but ultimately isn't it their own fault?! i certainly am not going to blame other christians for others feeling hopeless! if they want that for themselves fine- but its not my responsibility to make sure others ahead of me aren't hopeless! its becuase of them that i am! in the middle of this rant i am YES agreeing that i should problably be in some sort of STRESS management counselling- LOL "Book club now becomes group" Shawn said of me, and YES i understand that i need to be more forigiving of people, and This is just the way that some people are, YADDA YADDA YADDA- but my point is- THIS is what causes hopelessness in people. some people are foolish enough to tie in their hope in God and Faith in God in what people do. I belive that is a fatal and stupid mistake! why on EARTH would you want a GOD to be anything like what you see on earth?! i'll just say it! if God were anything like me- I WOULDN'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH HIM! as you can see my many flaws!
my faith in God and my hope in God is still there, i know that it is becuase of Him that we haven't been nuked yet- and it is because of him that global warming hasn't YET destroyed our entire planet- but peoples relentless obsession with all things, NOT God, in our society is causing their own hoplessness- the only hope i think (on a large scale anyway- which is why this is the ministry that i want to be in)- is educating those younger than me to see things different- to realize that hope does lay with them, that they cannot depend on society to just hand it to them it is something that starts with you- and grows- HOPE fueled the civil rights movement- and most of those people are still alive- WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THEM?!
we have been overtaken by selfish capitalist "ME's" and we are wondering why people are hopeless?!?!?! but you can't question SOCIETY! becuase that is unpatriotic- and to me its pretty obvious over here- Patriotism comes first/ capitalism/money come second/ self comes third and then "Godliness" comes in last on the level of importance, - but in America- Isn't God on ourside ? therefore - Patriotism = Godliness/ and God wants us to be rich and comfortable so Capitalism/Money = Godliness and Ultimately God is just concerned about OUR happiness so Self = Godliness.
As a christian you are like "where does she get off?! thats Whack!" Look around you! how are can you wonder "where is this hopelessness coming from?!"
i am not trying to sound unchristian or bore anyone who might read this to TEARS with my blathering- but our only HOPE is our current students below like the 9th grade! THAT is wehre the hope for our planet- and some of our lives- lays, in these kids! i am desparately clinging to the hope that we can educate these kids to see the possibility that lies out of sight- NOT just teaching them to "accept" things the way they are in the "real world" the way that i was taught.
finding spiritual hope i think is a personal thing- there is no real formula- except to, for the love of God - be nice to everyone. which isn't going to happen but i guess we can strive for it. - LOL even when they are screaming and swearing at me on the phone when all i REALLY want to say is "excuse me sir, how about your cram your own head up your own arse?"
I can always count on Carrie to bring it all back to where the rubber hits the road!
It can certainly seem sometimes that sermons are idyllic and that the world if filled with those who want to do good. And I can PROMISE you, C., that there are MANY days that I as a priest encounter the same "I want God to give me what I want!" Christians. Sometimes they even imagine that their piety has earned them something special, and yet we know from Jesus' own words, that the answer to our prayers is sometimes, "No," and that no outward demonstrations of piety and purity are going to coerce God into doing what we want.
And I also agree with you that the future lies in our children. I love entertainment, and I love cartoons and networks dedicated to entertaining kids, but I also know that they need to be TAUGHT that they are loved and should love others in the same way, regardless of whether or not they're economic allies with our country. Every life matters, and God created a WORLD, not just a CONTINENT.
Keep the faith, sister--you've got the tongue of a prophet!
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