Blessings and Woes 2

It was a turning point. I had just climbed to the plateaued peak of a mountain in central Ethiopia. Fears and insecurities had been pierced for the moment, and the cold air of elevation was fuel in my lungs, powering the countless microscopic pistons of my brain. My mind's eye focussed for a moment on the few verses I had read in the Bible the night before, from Luke, chapter six.

"Blessed are you who are poor," Jesus had said, "for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets."

These were blessed, I had always heard, because the poor and the hungry and the weeping will listen to Jesus, become his disciples, and go to heaven.

Jesus goes on, but the message seems to change. "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets." These poor souls, I had been taught, were being read their sentence. Jesus was saying that those who are rich, who are eating and laughing, they won't heed his message, won't become his disciples. They will go to hell.

A simple juxtaposition it seemed: the saved and the damned, Jesus' disciples vs. Jesus' ignorers. But as I had read those verses the night before I had seen something rather curious. Just before Jesus launches into the blessings and the woes, Luke reports that he is speaking to his disciples. The whole unbroken monologue was spoken to the people who were already following Jesus, who were heeding his message. Blessed are some, woe to others. They are all his disciples.

The night before I had put down my Bible in puzzlement, and as I descended this Ethiopian mountaintop a new synthetic understanding of this passage crystalized in my mind. It wasn't about heaven and hell. Jesus is telling his disciples what it feels like to continue on the path that they have begun.

The bulk of Jesus' teachings are about how people ought to live, about loving their neighbors and praying for their enemies and walking an extra mile. And a big part of this was how to live together in community, even saying that his disciples' love for each other was the greatest proof to the world that they were his disciples.

I stopped in my tracks on the mountain. I'm pretty sure I spoke aloud, my voice falling over a nearby cliff. "It's not about salvation and damnation, it's about now. It's about now. It's about a great leveling."

Track with me for a minute. Jesus' was teaching a radical new way of life in which the first were last and the last first. When he says that the poor are blessed for theirs is the kingdom of God, he's saying that their needs will be taken care of by this amazing new community. And to the rich entering the community, woe to them, it's going to hurt. Their money is needed to care for the poor, they are going to have to do without the luxuries and comforts to which they've accustomed themselves. They've "received their comfort in full."

And blessed are those who are chronically hungry because their new community will feed them, but it means that those who are used to having all they need might have to go without every once in a while, so woe to them.

And for you who are mourning, you are blessed because your new community is going to take on that suffering with you. They are going to bring you back to a place where you can laugh again. But for those who laugh through life, it's going to be tough because you are going to have to embrace the mourning of your new brothers and sisters.

Can you see it? It's a way of life. It's the great leveling of community, where the troubles and successes of each are the troubles and successes of all. The good news is that this is how it was always meant to be. But need and greed, capitalism and communism, life and death taught us a new and primal way of living, one in which our own survival and success is our only concern, in which sweatshops and oil wars and predatory lending are not only acceptable, but expedient.

Jesus showed us, and continues to show us through the four written accounts of his life, how to live like we are sons and daughters of God. It is deep community, a great leveling, an association so thorough it's as if we are a single organism. For some it will be a relief to enter it, for others it will be a test of their commitment. For everyone who chooses it, it will be an abundant life.

As I wound my way down the mountain I descended into a world whose flaws were more plain, and whose hope was as great as the mountain.

The Economy of Community

When I talk about income redistribution, I'm not talking about national level, wellfaresque policies, I'm talking about what I call The Economy of Community. I'm talking about people who take each others' material needs seriously and work to meet them.

Check out Relational Tithe - each person in this group has committed to giving 10% of their income to meet the needs of others. This is what I'm talking about.

Or partners in The Simple Way's Potter Street Community - these closely knit people share deeply in terms of finances, even taking on each others' financial debts.

There are hundreds of other examples of this Economy of Community. And this is what I want to explore.

Blessed are the poor

One of my great fascinations lately is income redistribution - that is, using money that I earn (or you earn) to meet someone else's needs.

Not long ago some friends and I did an experiment. We committed to give a small percentage of our income into a communal account. Then, as we went about our lives, if we met anyone in need we could use the money from that account to meet the need. It was spectacular. Not that we had a lot of money to use, because we didn't, but because my whole mindset changed in regards to other people's material needs.

My usual reaction to someone else's needs used to be sympathy at best, and avoidance at worst. Only in the rarest of circumstances did I consider actually digging into my wallet for them. But once I had money waiting and ready to address people's needs, I was glad to hear them, I was ready to act.

We stopped our experiment due to logistical difficulties (Uganda's banking facilities aren't wired too well with America's), but what I learned has stayed with me. I continue to set aside money to meet needs that I encounter around me. And more than that, I've seen that our attitudes about money are one of the great hindrances to right living.

If you read the teachings of Jesus, he talks about money or financial circumstances an awful lot for a spiritual teacher: "Blessed are you who are poor... Woe to you who are rich... Sell everything you have and give to the poor." I don't think he'd spend so much time on money if money wasn't important.

But most Americans don't treat money the way that Jesus teaches - even those who claim to be his disciples. Instead we use our money however we like, and if we're so inclined we creatively interpret and apply (or not apply) his teachings to allow us such freedom.

So here's my quest. I'm seeking out people who are treating money differently. I want to find those who are using their money to meet the needs of others, who are sharing money, sharing bills, giving money in creative ways. I want to see what happens when people let go of the American norms about money and embrace the teachings of wiser men.

If you have anyone to introduce me to, or ideas to share, or if these ideas intrigue you like they do me, please contact me: james(dot)a(dot)pearson{@}gmaildotcom.

Back in the brilliant tumult

Back in America, back for Christmas and New Year's and families and get-togethers and small talk and resolutions and overeating and finding the funny in suburbia because suburbia is all we have. I'm in Phoenix for a short spell with good friends Aaron and Christen, and their son Xavier.

For those who might wonder, here's what I'm doing now:

Acholi Beads: My family and I are defining a new type of business - the compassion of the NGO merged with the strength and longevity of a business. It's the beginning of something big.
Invisible Children: Though my time in Uganda is finished for now, I may keep working for them on a new project stateside. Or I'll find other creative ways to support the incredible work they're doing.
re:tithe: I'm formulating some thoughts and many questions about the economy of community and compassion. This is going to be a serious pursuit ASAP.

For those who might wonder, here's what I'm thinking now:

So much must change, and so much is changing. Faith and action are synonymous unless you are a fatalist. Jesus' teachings and commands are much more applicable to tomorrow morning than most people will acknowledge. Unless someone takes the first step, we won't have anyone to follow. Life is about stepping into the void between the familiar and the impossible. Those who live with a reckless disregard for what is possible are the only ones who do great things. Impetuousness is the seed of greatness.

The theme of 2008 thus far is Action. It's been in the air and on the web and in my head and in the expectant, impatient rhythm of time.

So far I've been resting, recovering, readjusting, and I've been slow in getting in gear and in contact with many of you, but look for that to change soon. Happy New Year!

The economics of prostitution

Sex tourism is a direct result us being better off than them. A desperately poor family sends their daughter away to ‘work in the city’, a rich old American man flies across the world with a suitcase full of t-shirts and condoms. It’s the old story of rich and poor. We’re rich, they’re poor, so we get to buy their daughters. And as long as we’re buying, someone is sure to keep selling.

I use the example of sex tourism because it’s disturbing, yes even revolting, but it's not extreme. It isn't. It is practiced by millions all over the world. Most countries that I’ve been to have a prominent sex tourism industry – India, Thailand, Nepal, Ukraine. And Uganda’s sex industry, though relatively hushed, is still thriving. These countries are poorer than us rich countries, so we get to buy their daughters.

It happens in America too, poor women sell themselves to rich men. And we import. We buy the daughters of poor countries and have them shipped, over-nighted. Why not? We can afford it.

As I prepare to come back to America I'm thinking a lot of about economic disparity and I realize that it's more than that. It's economic injustice. Our wealth coupled with their poverty breeds injustice - like a sweaty sock breeds bacteria.

These thoughts crystallized while reading up on our presidential candidates. Each one talks about how to keep America at the top of the economic ladder, how to assure ourselves that our daughters won't be shipped away. And I can hardly blame them.

The problem is that as the reigning economic leaders of the world our protectionist policies don't just protect us. They inflict serious damage on the poor. Our economic policies are meant to benefit Americans, and only Americans, even if they are to the detriment of other countries and people, and even if the economic activities that they describe take place in those countries. Our power is so great that we can economically subjugate people in their own country. We can walk into their house and buy their daughters, as it were.

More about economic injustice to come.

Outliving Yourself

Changing the world.

It’s about changing people, right? It’s about millions, even billions of people changing the way they treat each other. But then, all of them are going to die. And the world will be left with the next rebellious upstart generation that wants to change the world.

Maybe that’s the significance of the Biblical story where God knocks down the life expectancy from 900 to 90. Whether you take it as history or myth the meaning is the same: any changes that we make are erased in 100 years. We live in perpetual cultural upheaval.

So how do you change the world for generations? What lives on after people pass away? Two things come to mind – ideas and organizations.

There’s a lot of talk these days about viral ideas – ideas that spread from mind to mind the way that a virus spreads from body to body. Once it plants itself in a host, the host spreads the idea to others, almost involuntarily. The idea takes on a life of its own. Some even have the power to jump generations.

Organizations can also last – look at The Red Cross, Ford, the Mormon church. And it seems to me that the stronger the commitment to an organization’s ideas, the more likely it is to last. (And its ability to make money. That helps too, for a time.)

The collision of ideas and organizations is what gives religions their amazing longevity. They are organizations built completely on ideas, or perhaps they are ideas that people perpetually build organizations on. Either way, they have staying power.

The ideas that Jesus talked about were archetypically viral. Viral ideas have spreading mechanisms built in. Like an email forward that promises you a new iPod if you send it to enough people. The idea is spread by virtue of its contents.

Jesus’s ideas had a different spreading mechanism. His ideas were about life change, and his life was their first showcase. When they spread to a new host, I mean really took root in her like a virus, her life changed. And when people saw the life change they were introduced to the ideas in a powerful form. If actions speak louder than words, then a new way of life is a sustained shout. Jesus’s ideas were shouted from his and his followers’ lives.

The reason his ideas spread so powerfully in the years immediately after his death was that the change they created in his followers was overwhelmingly attractive. These hosts of Jesus’s ideas loved each other, provided for each other, transcended extreme difficulties with joy and patience. Who wouldn’t want to know more? The virus multiplied.

I wonder about today’s Christian church, though. Is it founded on Jesus’s viral, life changing ideas? Or are there new ideas at its core? Or is it more like an organization (or group of organizations) that propagates because it has learned how to make money? Perhaps, like one of my last posts, it's a mix.

It's okay to depend on friends

In my current field of work - nonprofits, NGOs, aid, development - there is a lot of talk about 'dependency.' The idea is that if one person helps a second person for some length of time, the second person will become dependent on the first person's help, and won't be able to fend for himself (gender bias unintended - another big NGO concern).

Here in Uganda I often hear that we should not give 'handouts' to 'locals' because 'locals' will become 'dependent' on 'handouts.' The prevailing wisdom says that my every interaction with a Ugandan will effect the 'stereotype' of the 'white man' giving 'handouts' to 'locals.'

But what about when 'locals' become friends? What happens when we're no longer 'white man' and 'local,' but just together, talking, relaxing? And what happens when my friend has a need he is too poor to meet and I have more money than I need to spend?

Then, my friends, I am happy to build dependency. Because then it's not the 'white man' that my friend depends on. It's his community, of which I am a part. And after all, that's what we all crave: A community that we can depend upon. Sometimes that means family, sometimes friends, sometimes religion, sometimes clubs and teams and gangs and book clubs.

So here's to dependency. I hope that someday you all find yourselves wonderfully dependent.

Social Revolultionaries

"Lots of people let themselves be wholly absorbed by militant politics and the preparation for social revolution. Rare, much more rare, are they who, in order to prepare for the revolution, are willing to make themselves worthy of it."

-Georges Friedmann, 1970

courtesy of my friend and Invisible Children cohort Kelly Shearon

Live in the place where you live

Wherever you live, if you are not a part of a trusting community of people you don't really live there. You live in your own little world.

This is something that I've learned here in Uganda, where wealth differentials, culture disparities, and language barriers make trust a hard thing to build. But if I don't trust people here and invest in them and let them invest in me, then I'm not really here. I'm just passing through this place, like a breeze: inconsequential, quickly forgotten.

The same goes in America. You exist where you build trusting community. That's why, in a culture where most people don't talk to their neighbors, people's worlds have shrunken to their immediate families, their houses, perhaps their offices.

If we are going to make our communities better, we have to start by really living in them, building relationships based on trust, developing understanding. The larger you want the impact to be the more barriers you'll have to trust across - socioeconomic, geographic, ethinic.

But you might want to start with your next door neighbor.

A Friend in Need

If we're talking about helping other people in other countries, and we do talk about that every now and again, I think the best place to start is friendships. If you're worried about people in some neglected part of the world, first go make friends there.

Don't go to help, or worse save people there. Go to listen to them. Go to understand. Go to make friends. Offer nothing but your ear and your heart. Accept everything that is given to you.

Then you will have an idea of your role in addressing the problems of your new friends. You're probably less necessary than you think, but probably more important as well.

Charity and The Answer

The non-profits (or NGOs) here in Uganda are doing some amazing things. We are serving and saving a lot of people. But not all of them. In fact, not close.

And this place, Gulu, may be the best they can do. All the big boys are here (UN, Red Cross, AVSI, MSF, and scores of others); it's pretty peaceful now; there's a limited population living discrete, accessible areas. But still we can't reach them all. Again, not even close.

The NGOs are doing amazing things. But they are not The Answer, they will not save the world, or even change it all that much. Why? Because we are only a few people trying to fulfill the responsibilities of millions.

The world won't be changed by millions of people writing a check and going about their lives. It isn't changed by projects and programs. The world is changed when people change. Millions of them. When they care enough to get involved with the people around them. When they see the needs of their neighbors as their responsibility. That will change the world.