Urbana.org WhirledView Blog - WhirledView

Christian Janitor Dies to Save Muslim Students

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:06:00 -0600

In Pakistan - a recently hired, Christian, janitor, living in poverty, gave his life to stop an attack from killing Muslim children in a school.

This is an extreme case of following Jesus. Most Christians in the world today won't find themselves literally in this situation of giving up their lives for others. But every Christian who follows Jesus should be ready to make this kind of sacrifice for others (regardless who they are) without time for second thoughts.

Are you ready? Am I ready? Would we think twice? Would it matter who we're saving, or helping?

Afghanistan Perspectives

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:51:00 -0600

It's important to hear multiple perspectives about complex situations -- before, during, and also after arriving at opinions or conclusions.

In America, far too often I hear people expressing strong but ill-informed opinions, which usually seem to be based on subjective sources of information (or misinformation) in which they place too much trust, and without having actually considered alternative perspectives.

Afghanistan is one example, there are widely divergent views and reasons given for why we should continue the war there, bring our troops home, send more troops, continue or change our strategy in the region. Probably the one area of agreement is we're not winning or accomplishing any longterm objectives yet in Afghanistan.

One of my all-time favorite photographers is Steve McCurry, who has started blogging. Steve is the guy who famously photographed the Afghan girl decades ago for the National Geographic cover.

On Steve McCurry's blog, he offers some thoughts about Afghanistan, painting in some background and history about the people, the culture, and the dilemma we face about what to do with the war, and whether we are honestly considering the needs and perspectives of the Afghan people.

I think if our leaders will listen to more voices like this, not just opinions and partisan conclusions but voices of reason and experience, we would find wisdom to make difficult decisions. Let's turn our ears to wisdom. It's something we need to watch for, listen for, search for. There's no other way.

If you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,
turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,
and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,
and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,
then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.
- Proverbs 2:1-5

Ramadan 2009 - Photographs

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:42:00 -0600

Ramadan is upon us, and around the world millions of Muslims are observing this sunup to sundown fast.

As always, the photos from The Boston Globe's The Big Picture - this set is from Ramadan around the world - are powerful and interesting images.

I love the Chinese lanterns in Cairo, used as Ramadan decorations by Arabs. What a small world we have.

Do you fast and pray? If not, why? If so, what is the experience like for you?

Do you ever consider fasting during Ramadan as a way of identifying with and praying for the Muslim world?

(This image of a crescent moon in Amman Jordan is by REUTERS / Muhammad Hamed)

Making Bricks in Pakistan

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:31:00 -0600

This Washington Post article, Pakistan's Kiln Workers Bricked In by Debt, is an example of indentured sevanthood that keeps people in slavery in so many parts of today's world, through their whole lives, just as their previous and future generations experience.

If you read the article (5 minutes) and have any sense of justice, it can make your blood boil. A few rich kiln owners, perhaps oblivious (and perhaps not) to the slavery and forced poverty of the workers who make their wealth possible, live so estranged from the realities of their own business that they might even think they're doing these kiln workers a favor by providing life-long employment.

Middle- or upper-class consumers who build homes are one layer away in their complicity, perhaps also ignorant of the human cost of the bricks they use.

Stories like this, which are also repeated in dozens of other countries and even within the United States, show how evil can thrive when greed is unchecked, and just how wide greed can reach even to common folks who are part of an economic matrix.

And it's complicated, true. Greed is often accompanied by corruption, entrenched systems, ignorance, and patterns of justice and economics which favor those with resources and options, not those with none; systems whose path of least resistance is to remain unjust. Extreme separation between consumer and producer can exacerbate evil and injustice like this.

The only thing that makes my blood boil even more than this is when naive people complain about "personal responsibility" of the poor (that they don't work hard enough, that they're lazy, that they're welfare sponges) and the inherent "right" of the wealthy to create more of their own wealth at any cost to people who might happen to be lower on the economic ladder. I personally know some of these folks and a surprising (to me) number of them are Christians. Yep, it makes my blood boil because it contradicts what the Bible seems to teach about God's perspective on money and people; and I haven't yet found a way to reconcile this or have some healing, honest conversations.

When will God's kingdom come and God's will be done on earth, among Pakistan's kiln workers, as it is in heaven?

If this touches me or you, we must do something. We MUST do something. I don't give up on prayer, but does it change things NOW for this generation of Pakistani kiln workers, or even for the next generation?

In a country thousands of miles away, from where will light shine or hope come?

The light and hope of Jesus could potentially come from the church, I believe. No slam-dunk. But I do pray for the church, the very poor, tiny minority of believers in Pakistan who follow Jesus. Maybe some of them are brick makers. Many others are street sweepers, sanitary workers.

And I pray for the church in neighboring countries and cultures, and the church all over the world, to seek and find ways to insist on "liberty and justice for all," not just for some.

Brickmaking's fine, someone's gotta do it. But how about a living wage, education, healthcare, nutrition, decent working hours and conditions, profit sharing, and the eradication of indentured slavery for starters? If political and religious conservatives, especially Christians, truly care about moral values, families, people made in God's very image... you'd think they'd be all over issues like this. Hm.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves;
defend the rights of all those who have nothing.
Speak up and judge fairly,
and defend the rights of the poor and needy.
- Proverbs 31:8-9

Homeless and High Tech

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:00:00 -0600

Though he's homeless himself, Eric Sheptock writes a blog, has a Facebook page and a Twitter account. He lives in Washington, D.C. and says he wants to educate the public about what he and many others like him are up against.

Who is more qualified to advocate for the homeless than the homeless? Not that people with housing don't have a significant role to play in addressing homelessness, because there's a lot we can do in collaboration with those who are homeless.

"...if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday."
- Isaiah 58:10

The End of Plenty

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:11:00 -0600

A few images from the June issue of National Geographic.

The world population, currently at 6 billion, is expected to increase to around 10 billion and then decline.

But already there are signs that our population is straining the planet's capabilities to produce and distribute food to everyone. At least this is true based on the way we are currently using resources.

The same is true of basic resources like water and clean air -- these are not things we will take for granted in the years to come.

"Nothing is left for him to devour;
his prosperity will not endure.
In the midst of his plenty, distress will overtake him;
the full force of misery will come upon him."

- Job 20:21-22 (read the whole chapter - the context is the outcome for the wicked who have oppressed the poor and left them destitute, seized things that were not theirs...)

What do you think? Have we abused the plenty we have had? ("We" could be anyone or any community or nation. For me as an American, I can ask these questions about myself and my country.) Have we abused the land? Do we responsibly share limited resources with others whom God has made? Do we consume things at the expense of the well being of others? How will we be judged? What if we didn't realize some of the repercussions of our lifestyles for a long time?

Words and Images

Thu, 07 May 2009 06:28:00 -0600

As a writer, I love words.

As a photographer, I love images, probably a little more than I love words.

As a designer and consumer of electronic information, I'm overwhelmingly bombarded with both words and images every day... [More]

Swine Get a Bad Rap

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 00:10:00 -0600

The serious and unwelcome "swine flu" is making its way into a growing number of countries and communities, another bad rap for pigs.

According to the AADS (Association Against the Defamation of Swine -- and as far as I know I just now invented this organization) this is nothing new... [More]

Earth 1.0, Continued

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 08:17:00 -0600

Happy Earth Day. I don't know, is that the proper greeting on Earth Day?

Revelation talks about the old earth and the old heaven passing away.

It might feel to many of us like that's happening during our generation, as it has been during many previous generations and may continue into who knows how many future generations.

Until this Earth 1.0 does pass away and get replaced by the New heaven and New earth, this is the one we've got.

If we're obedient to the one who made us, we don't just sit it out, using up this earth and waiting for the upgrade. We've been given a mandate by our creator:

to be fruitful, in all that means as God has taught us throughout all of scripture - what are the outcomes?
to multiply and fill the earth - how are we doing on that one, when will it be full?
to rule over, have dominion over, have stewardship over, be in charge of Earth 1.0

And until we have a New Jerusalem (which by the way won't be anything like the Jerusalem we have now, the new one will be SO different that it will come down from heaven) how well are we caring for the Jerusalem we've got? It's a place of division, mistrust, injustice, anger, violence, and suffering. All this happens in the streets and hillsides surrounding the temples and churches and mosques in various parts of the city.

Blessed are the ones who advocate for fruitfulness, who fill the earth as they work for true and lasting peace in the hearts and hillsides of the old Jerusalem and throughout the rest of the Earth 1.0.

May God's kingdom come and will be done on earth today and tomorrow, just as it is in heaven.

China's Poor Hit Hard

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:38:00 -0600

China's feeling the global recession (CNN) at least as much as anyone, and those who feel the pinch the most are always the poor, they have the least margin.

Twenty million Chinese migrant workers have lost their jobs in the past few weeks as global demand for products has taken a dive.

Looking at just one province: Chinese authorities say that 60 percent of Sichuan's 87 million residents are poor and live in the countryside. Millions of migrant workers who have lost jobs are returning to these rural homes and families, where the only alternative for many appears to be subsistence agriculture.

These very homes and families previously depended on funds from one or more family workers who migrated to the city for factory jobs - jobs that are disappearing fast as 70,000 factories so far have closed in recent months.

This is bad news. Like most, I would like some way to respond to this news. The most immediate response I can think of is to pray diligently for the church in China to rise to this occasion. When stability (even if it is a fragile stability) is pulled out from under us, the human response is to turn to God for help and hope.

God can and does use hard times for good, to remind us WHO we are and WHOSE we are, and to help us live lives of worship whatever the context. I pray this will be especially true in China during these challenging days.

As a consumer, one with an awareness of how many incidental things we purchase and use which are "made in China," behind these physical objects these are individual families and jobs and livelihoods.

We also need to pray for China's leaders. These economic challenges may also accelerate political changes.

Myanmar's Durable Evil

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 06:01:00 -0600

If evil is the opposite of good, there is a durable evil in Myanmar, where a totalitarian government does not appear to serve its people, a horrible Hurricane Nargis took the lives of 140,000 less than a year ago (made worse by the paranoid malpractice of the isolationist government) and most prospects for the future are bleak.

Here's NPR's Myanmar story from a below-the-radar personal visit by journalist Michael Sullivan.

What if we were to pray for Myanmar over the long haul? What if we were to pray for change, to insist that God bring change and hope to the people of this suffering nation? If we were to pray such a thing, it would need to allow for the fact that God has always gone before our prayers and is already advocating for people in need, made in God's image but suffering. God's already working before we arrive, before we care. The biggest sacrifice has been already spent, and even God's Spirit groans deeply in prayer wherever there is need for transformation and restoration.

But such prayers also need to acknowledge if they're honest that the all powerful God has not prevented calamity which could have been prevented, and loss which has been suffered. God has some purposes beyond the eradication of selfish behavior and its consequences; beyond the seemingly random selection of natural disasters and extreme weather, or even the whims of tyrants.

I don't understand it, but I do believe God's purposes are threaded through all of this. And even so, I pray against the suffering of people who I believe God deeply loves, every one. I pray for light, for the church of Myanmar to not only survive but to thrive with good news and abundant life and fruit.

How Long, Lord? When will your righteousness come?

A 19-year-old woman rocks a 3-month-old baby in the temporary shelter... blue plastic sheeting wrapped around four poles, topped with a crude thatch roof...
When asked how much it would cost to build a new house, she responds, about $500. And how long will it take to come up with that amount? About 10 years, maybe more, she says.

Slumdog Not-a-Millionaire

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:30:00 -0600

Even the global accolades and financial success of the hit film don't so easily translate into actual transformation out of a life of poverty for kids that were selected and paid to star in the film.

This AP article, "'Slumdog Millionaire' kid stars face uphill battle" is worth a read, it hints at many realities that make poverty a difficult nut to crack.

Not that anyone expected hollywood or bollywood to offer sustainable solutions to poverty. A few good intentions aside, the entertainment industry exists to make profits, not to help people or tackle global problems.

Ten-year-old Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail lives in a lean-to made of tarpaulins and blankets. Nine-year-old Rubina Ali's home is a tiny bubble-gum pink shack. A murky open sewer runs down her narrow lane...

Congo Struggles for Peace

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:00:00 -0600

Here's a powerful audio visual summary of several years of turmoil in Congo's recent history of struggling for peace.

(Warning, I wouldn't watch this with kids, until you've seen it and can decide for yourself whether it's appropriate.)

Seeing and hearing about such difficult, prolonged struggles, one of my responses is honest prayer to God.

Why, God, are we who are made in your image also capable of the evil things we do to one another? How can we become so blind and so desperate that we do unthinkable acts? Why do we so often abuse power when we have it? Why are we so selfish? Why are we indifferent? Why do we intervene in areas we should not, and refrain from intervention that would seem to be just and righteous?

4 Cities 16 Stories

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:31:00 -0600

As of last year, more people live in cities than rural places.

A billion of the world's people live in slums. The UN expects this number to double in 25 years.

The Places We Live presents 16 stories from four of today's huge city slums.

These stories are worth taking in, it only takes about a half hour of your time. There are voices of despair and resignation but also hope and resilience.

The panoramic VR images are powerful glimpses of the tiny living spaces in these slums. The narrator voices (though not always natural translations read in English) tell stories that are informative and real.

I find that without regular exposure to real stories of people who live in poverty, I am more likely to become numb to the reality of poverty in our world. I'd prefer to regularly be confronted, by choice, with the realities of the human struggle, because many of the choices I make and the economics of my own north American society have threads of influence interwoven with those who live in poverty half a world away.

My suggestion is to not just take this in and then move on with life as usual; but rather, after taking this in, choose one action you will take to respond to extreme poverty. It doesn't have to be a big action. Choose something small and achievable. Write it here in the comments, to help others.

"If we tell people about our house, will anyone believe us?" - Nagamma Shilpiri, Mumbai

Latin Am: "Poverty May Soar"

Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:13:00 -0600

This BBC piece says that due to the global financial crisis, poverty may soar in Latin America by as much as 15% this year, according to a senior UN official.

That's pretty huge. 2.4 million Latin Americans could lose their jobs.

The smallest and medium sized governments and economies may suffer the most, without the means to inject needed funds into their economies. There's a possibility of widespread unemployment in countries like Panama and the Dominican Republic. Even major oil exporting countries like Ecuador and Venezuela feel the pinch of the big drop in the price of oil. Brazil feels the pinch too.

On the one hand, a person could perhaps sit in some safe place over a latte and analyze the causes of the global financial crisis. Much of the cause is human greed and abuse of power. Some of the cause is malpractice, by citizens and experts and leaders alike.

On the other hand, when there are poor people, whether the number of poor people expands or contracts, what are those who follow Jesus called to do? Serve the poor, in season and out of season; in the boom and in the bust. It doesn't matter why they are poor, or how recently they fell into poverty.

What can be difficult for me as a midwesterner American is how do I help to serve the growing number of people living in poverty in Latin America during this crisis? One way is through my church's partnership with a congregation in Mexico. Another way is through giving to an organization like LAM.org or World Vision who have established, experienced workers on the ground, extending the reach of the global church.

Another way is through fervent prayer, which (I'm confounded to explain why or how but it) makes a difference. Another way is through listening, learning, and being not only informed but trying to become educated so that when I vote, when I write letters to the editor, when I talk to friends, when I form opinions, there can be some wisdom and understanding in the mix.

God, please help the almost 600 million people in Latin America, too many of whom live in poverty. Things are going to be worse for a while before they get better. Help the church in Latin America to rise to this occasion. Help the church in the rest of the world also rise to this occasion.