Brokenness

If Christmas is anything, it is a reminder and a loud clarion call that the world is broken and needs us to come to its aid. Faith in the God who made us; faith in his/her creation – the world (His/Her world!). If the world needs repair, God calls on us to do the heavy lifting. Because we are here on the scene. And because we are part of the problem to begin with. It follows that we are called on to do our part to fix it.


So here we are in 2019. The world community has trade, war, cultural, health and climate dangers galore. Poverty and illness lay low at least 25% of the world’s population. In America we are wealthy but over 60% of her people earn less than the minimum wage and have little or no health insurance.

Here in America, education is not equally accessible to those who need it or are able to make the most of it to advance the aims of humankind. We continue to view education as the passport to future earnings and wealth. Yet we keep that passport out of the hands of many.


Climate Change is a real problem. We may argue about its definition and scope; but it is real and we need to respond to lessen the damage done to our home planet. It is our life hanging in the balance. And the lives of our kids and their kids. What can each of us do to address this problem?


Healthcare in the end is palliative. We use it to soften suffering. We ought to be using it to prevent illness and premature death. But do we? Yes. We do. But normally as that last resort. The poor come to the emergency rooms for common treatment. They have nowhere else to go. And the hospitals do their best to ease suffering of all who present themselves. What can we do together to make this better?


Out of wedlock births by teenage girls is dramatically less today than it was 10 years ago. We are making progress here. But why can’t we do even better with better sex education and cultural tolerance? Why must this be a war on pregnancy or abortion? Why either?


Democracy is messy and chaotic. Not all the time. It is susceptible to manipulation by wealthy people and corporate interests. And ideologues when backed by wealth. The voice of each of us is easily erased with the lack of campaign finance reform, purging of voter rolls, difficult voter registration processes designed to thwart voter registration. Gerrymandering political districts to favor election of candidates of one party over another. These are the warps of our governance system and it demeans and devalues all of us. What can we do to regain control over our very own governance?


Our social discourse is mean, dispiriting and destructive. How do we restore civility among us? Who will step forward first? Who will suffer slings and arrows to begin the better conversation? Who will join in this crusade to be humble, loving creatures to and for each other?


All of the above are needs we have right now, this instant. All is manageable if we collaborate and cooperate with one another. Can we agree to strive in 2020 to do better?


Why not right now?


December 27, 2019