October 1, 2012

It took a child to raise a village

We have a desire, we have a desire within.
Recently as I sat talking with a friend, he was telling me about his plans for an ideal city.

Things such as these came up in conversation:
Communal vegetable gardens, 
People gathering to play board games on rainy days, 
Potlucks, 
People living as families, and part of one big family,
Jobs provided for those who can't find work, 
People genuinely loved and cared for,
a large group of people all with different skills, talents, and abilities
coming together for the greater good of the community. 

The more he listed off things, the more I smiled. This is exactly it. This is progress, and more than progress, this is the Church. This is exactly what Jesus came to do, he came to show people how to live life to its fullest, he came to show people how to live, and live in love. 

As our society moves farther and farther away from this, I think it's time to reevaluate our sense of the word "progress". Is it progress if we own a huge home, but our neighbours are hungry? Is it progress if we have the technology to bottle water, and the money to buy it, when thousands of people don't even have access to clean drinking water. Is it progress if we have a 5th generation iphone, but thousands of people are too poor to buy shoes. 

Our world is progressing in a negative way. Millions of dollars are put into research, development, manufacturing  advertising, and distributing new gadgets, but it is only the people on the top of the pyramid that are helped by these things. I like to believe that there is something deep within us that stirs up a yearning to go in the right direction. I really think that there is. Who knows if my friend has been to church within the past 10 years, or if he's ever been there? Who knows if he's ever read the bible? It need not matter, because he is listening to the needs of our world, and he knows that our world needs love. It just so happens that the way that he wants to live his life, is the exact same way that hundreds of thousands of people want to live too. It also just so happens that greed, pride, and envy happen to get in the way of millions of people living that way. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but what is really important is to know that it took a child, born in Bethlehem, to raise a village, a global village of people striving to live, and to live in love. 

2 comments:

  1. An owner of two adorable kitties! :)October 1, 2012 at 7:16 PM

    Wow! He speaks volumes through you, my friend!!

    ReplyDelete