I was telling her stories about a local minister here who preaches what they have come to call the prosperity gospel. In simple terms I will tell you all that this man boils my piss.
This man actually chased a local poor man who went on a Sunday morning to sell empanadas which his wife made. The man did this to live. The minister chased him and lo and behold the next week end there appeared an empanada stall which benefited the minister. It does seem that the Prosperity gospel works if you are a minister..........
As we were talking about this I was reflecting on the implications of this type of religion. The religion of the individual, self sufficiency and every person for themselves!!!
This belief system is the complete opposite of our way.
We do believe in the individual and in self sufficiency but we also know that by looking to our great teacher nature that a system is only as healthy as all its parts. If part of the system is suffering then the whole system suffers.
We hold a faith which calls us to acknowledge the individual and yet we also are called to see the bigger picture. We are called to see society.
A society which is imbalanced and uneven will never prosper. It is built on a false foundation and will in time fall.
What can we do? We need to make it clear that we do not accept injustice. We need to speak out. We take the time to study. We look beyond the nice words and we begin to read the actions of the people. We need to vote with our feet and with our pockets. If a company or institution acts in an unjust way we make sure they no.
We have to make the decision to look past our own gates and to look at our local communities. A strong community has power. This is why they try to keep us thinking in terms of the individual. Take time today to connect with your neighbour and see if you can help or be helped.