Jim Wallis spoke at Seattle's First Baptist Church tonight on his latest book, The Great Awakening, and I wished more of my friends were there. He raises some profound questions about faith, government, and democracy that can be wrestled with regardless of where one falls on the religious or political spectrum.
Lots of thoughts are tumbling around, but one is lingering. Wallis responded to a question from the audience about national interest, and in his response declared we need a re-visioning of what national security means. He asked the question about who Jesus would torture here...Folks laughed at this, but I think he might be onto something. I mean, there was the time in the temple when Jesus got pretty mad and threw some tables, and that time when the disciples fell asleep and he was annoyed, although I think he was more sad than mad at that. But...the question is a good one.
And this idea of hope, that hope is what's behind real change, that hope is what leads to the action of getting things done, hope is what sustains when you see what is possible but not currently happening. I can get with the hope piece. Wallis posits the big choice as being between hope and cynicism. I'm not sure this is a choice everybody has, but much of privileged America does have it.
Friday, February 1, 2008
"Who would Jesus torture?" - Jim Wallis
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2 comments:
I've been struggling with hope lately. Correction: struggling to hope. Strange considering that hopefulness has always seemed like a compulsion of mine. It feels weird to be without now. I liked this little bit that you through in near the end: "hope is what sustains when you see what is possible but not currently happening."
Hope is the thing with feathers, or something like that...it's a hard one. To really do it and not be a pollyanna or naive about things. Have you read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal Dreams? It's very worth reading...No answers, but it's good stuff.
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