something that's stuck with me for a few weeks... we operate in central, apparently it's a scary place. maybe i'm blind, but i don't always see the scary side as much as i see the potential for live, grace and freedom from oppression, but the thing that's stuck with me for the past few weeks is we decided to put a lock on the tap of our front garden outside the church office. (i say we, because i was part of the meeting where the end result was a tap lock, but let the record reflect i was vociferously opposed to the idea.)
doesn't seem like much does it? one lock on a tap. we're on water restrictions after all. who even noticed? nobody in the congregations i'm sure. but what about the people for whom the tap at the methodist church was their only source of water, those people who have no home and in the middle of winter wash themselves in the freezing water? i've seen this with my own eyes. do we even care about them?
widjet said in his last post "Welcome to our church, keep out... Jesus loves you, get off my lawn..." so i suppose all i'm saying is, ja, Jesus loves you, but you can't use our fucking water.
it's stuck with me because i don't know what to do with this feeling of helplessness when i hit these walls of opposition we seem to always face when we want to reach out in love rather than in scared protracted protection. any thoughts?
Wow what a question to deal with.
ReplyDeleteI suppose that in times of water restrictions even a church has to restrict their water use, as they need to also help the planet. This is then also offset against the fact that in today's world water equals money, and in reality many churches are struggling with money, in this particular church it is because the congregation is getting poorer and those not getting poorer are moving to wealthier happier areas where you don't have to be depressed by poor dirty people, which is very inconvenient when all you want to do on a sunday is go to church. So you are left with the result that to leave the water on keeps the poor close and to turn the water off... well that just keeps the poor away from the church, the place where they should be able to come and find just a little hope and a little life...
So keep the rich or fight for the poor... I know what Jesus would have done!