“We have lived our lives by the assumption that what was
good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our
lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, that what
is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the
effort to know the world and learn what is good for it.”
Wendell Berry, The Long-Legged House
________________________________________
Essential selfishness
It is the stuff that politicians sell
It the place from which comes
The darker angels
Hate
Greed
Lust of power
America First!
It’s all about us
The rest of the world is there to satisfy our rapacious
hunger
And they should be happy
Happy
To feed us
This plays out at so many level
It is seen in the acts of Congress
In the “minster” who drives up to his megachurch in his
$350,000 car
It is seen in the people “packing” in McDonalds
And in the super patriots who cheer the caging of children
It is seen in the desire to “remove” people who are
different from our country
In the ability to neglect the vulnerable and the poor
It is seen in the angry faces, and crude gestures of people
debasing the press
Some how we think all this power
All this anger
And this self focus
Will make us strong
Keep us safe
Get us what we need
It won’t
The odd economy of the Kingdom
Suggests that
We must think a different way
That is not about me, it is about we
It is about all of us
Who inhabit spaceship earth
Finding a way
To live together
Survive together
Flourish together
And the economy of God suggests
That if anyone is left behind
That is not good
It is not good for us
For they are us
And we have left part of ourselves behind
And we have become smaller
Perhaps that is the problem in America
We have become smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller
All in the name of seeking to be great
So it is time to change the question
Time to change the focus
From what is good for me?
What do I need?
To, what is good for us, for all the family of God?
And what can I do
To meet that need?
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