Someone has blown the whistle and we all have had to get out of the pool. As we stand around the pool, shivering and looking cautiously at each other, we have time to reflect on what we are doing.
As individuals, we are rather helpless creatures. But as members of society, we can be incredibly wealthy and powerful. Yet our society cannot end at some arbitrary border where once we cross it, anything goes.
We need to free ourselves of the belief that we are competing for limited resources. The human species has survived by sharing and cooperation. While hoarding may have limited benefits for a brief time for an individual, society has a whole cannot survive that way and the world community certainly cannot.
As individuals, we are rather helpless creatures. But as members of society, we can be incredibly wealthy and powerful. Yet our society cannot end at some arbitrary border where once we cross it, anything goes.
We need to free ourselves of the belief that we are competing for limited resources. The human species has survived by sharing and cooperation. While hoarding may have limited benefits for a brief time for an individual, society has a whole cannot survive that way and the world community certainly cannot.
This vision is contrary to the vision propagated by many who are currently in power. In their view of the world, America wins when it gets the best deal for itself even if it means that a poor nation will become even poorer, that the environment will be totally wrecked, that local people will be denied clean water to drink and fresh air to breathe. In response to the inevitable outcry of people in poverty, we militarize our police and sell weapons to corrupt governments to put down legitimate protests.
With COVID-19, we have been forced to pause for a moment. If we are open to it, this could be a moment of grace. In many ways, humanity is racing toward a cliff of extinction and dragging the rest of the world with it. Scientists estimate that between 200 and 2,000 species become extinct each year. We are called to be stewards of the earth. But we cannot be good stewards if our only thought is enrichment either as individuals or as a nation.
In the United States, the wealth gap increases each year. The top 10 percent average more than nine times as much income as the bottom 90 percent. Worldwide, the wealth disparity is equally alarming. Individuals owning over $100,000 in assets make up less than 11 percent of the global population but own 82.8 percent of global wealth.
With COVID-19, we have been forced to pause for a moment. If we are open to it, this could be a moment of grace. In many ways, humanity is racing toward a cliff of extinction and dragging the rest of the world with it. Scientists estimate that between 200 and 2,000 species become extinct each year. We are called to be stewards of the earth. But we cannot be good stewards if our only thought is enrichment either as individuals or as a nation.
In the United States, the wealth gap increases each year. The top 10 percent average more than nine times as much income as the bottom 90 percent. Worldwide, the wealth disparity is equally alarming. Individuals owning over $100,000 in assets make up less than 11 percent of the global population but own 82.8 percent of global wealth.
The interesting thing about amassing wealth is that there is no end to it. Millionaires want to become billionaires. Rich countries want to become even richer. Human values are lost. The earth itself is in danger of being lost.
So while we are standing around the pool, take a look. How dirty has the water become? How much water is left? Look at the people around you and around the border rivers and across oceans. Are they simply our competitors? Or are they very much like we are? How do we want to relate to them?
Soon we will all dive back into the water. Will we resume our frantic race with each other?
We are in a moment of grace. Now is the time to be open to the transforming power of the Spirit.
So while we are standing around the pool, take a look. How dirty has the water become? How much water is left? Look at the people around you and around the border rivers and across oceans. Are they simply our competitors? Or are they very much like we are? How do we want to relate to them?
Soon we will all dive back into the water. Will we resume our frantic race with each other?
We are in a moment of grace. Now is the time to be open to the transforming power of the Spirit.
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