muting the noise.

I find it curious that we Americans desire to plug-in order to tune out. It is our opiate of choice. I often count iPods during my morning commute. I recently walked past 49 people between the dock where my ferry drops me and the office building in which I work. Of those 49 people, 15 were plugged in - a full 30 percent. There were another 9 iPods visible from my seat on the ferry. That does not include mine. We are plugged in.

Bill Gates recently communicated that he is stepping out of Microsoft leadership to focus more time on his foundation. I am glad that so much energy and so many resources are being mobilized to meet the needs of the poor. Warren Buffet, Bono, George Clooney, and the Google empire are all doing great things and raising public awareness for meeting physical needs.

In a 2005 speech to the WHO outlining the genesis of his foundation, Mr. Gates stated that he “learned that millions of children were dying from diseases that had essentially been eliminated in the United States.” He went on to say that he and his wife Melinda “couldn’t escape the brutal conclusion that—in our world today—some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not".

That statement has weighed on me.
Do I value the lives of the global poor as much as my own? Do I love them?
Do you?

The WHO now estimates that 13,000,000 people die each year from preventable diseases.
Is one of those 13,000,000 of equal value as your son …. of your daughter? Do they matter?

Many more people struggle to survive in abhorrent conditions with limited access to food and on the banks of open sewers.
Many more die without ever hearing the message of Christ or experiencing the wealth of God’s love.

Do I love their lives as much as my own life? God forgive me. I clearly do not.

Mr. Gates went on to say, “But the desire to help means nothing without the capacity to help—and our capacity to help is increasing through the miracles of science.”

It is true that we have more technology at our disposal than ever before.
But with all due respect to Mr. Gates, the capability to help will only come through our desire to help.
Our desire to help is limited to our perspective on humanity.
Our perspective on humanity is limited by our ability to unplug, mute the mindless commercial chatter and reflect upon humanity.

Thomas Merton wrote, “…when a man is lost in the wheels of a social machine he is no longer aware of human needs as a matter of personal responsibility … he is by no means free of care; he is burdened by the diffuse, anonymous anxiety, the nameless fears, the petty itching lusts and the all pervading hostilities which fill mass society the way water fills the ocean.”

We cannot reflect on humanity when our minds burdened - full of noise and the manifestations of that noise.

My personal prayer is that:

I learn how to be poor in spirit.
I learn how to disconnect.
I learn to be still.
I learn to listen.
My love for the poor would grow.
I have my eyes open, my temporal gripped loosed and my feet ready.
I act.
And finally that my prayers of “I” would evolve into my prayers for others.

yes men.

I just finished watching "The Yes Men". The film comes from a group of pseudointellectual activists that seek to expose the exploitative behaviors of global power brokers (big business, WTO, the US). Their intent is to "turn up the volume on their [the power brokers] ideas as we talk, until they can see their ideas distorted in the funhouse mirror". The documentary follows its founders as they impersonate WTO representatives at conferences and in classrooms - brandishing phallics and butt sensors or discussing the possibilities of recycling the McDonalds hamburgers Americans eat for third world consumers. They run a number of spoof web sites including sites for the WTO (http://www.gatt.org/), Coca-Cola (http://www.coca-colacorporate.com/), Halliburton (http://www.halliburtoncontracts.com/), and Cargill (http://www.cargillcorporate.com/).

I do see a problem with their work.

It is not with satire. Good satire is insightful.
It is not with activism. Activism for something beyond one's self is admirable.
It is not with rebellion. The right form of rebellion for the sake of truth will ultimately yield its intended result.
It is not with their implicit cause - if it is truly the plight of the exploited global poor. That cause is worthy.

It is with their explicit cause. The cause that has become the cause.

Their web site (http://www.theyesmen.org/) includes a FAQ that asks "What are your ideas and ideals?"
Their response : "We are your standard-issue revolutionaries. For example, we would hope that our impostures so shame Messrs. Cheney and Bush that they crumble into regime dust along with their motley assortment of clever-ass thugs. "

It seems that somewhere along the way toward seeking the betterment of mankind, they got wrapped up in themselves. Their work is self-indulgent. It brings attention to them. The issues are lost somewhere. They relish political smack talk. They can do it better than the suites and the "top %1 of intellectuals" at the conferences at which they speak. I guess they are more intelligent. They win.

Perhaps this was the true cause from the beginning. Perhaps their impostures are multifaceted. The global poor were an afterthought. A nice bow on their true identities.

In renting the movie, I was hoping to find insight from bright and creative people intent on raising important issues. I found a group of people that exploit the poor for their own political agenda and narcissism. They may have entered the fun house with the best of intentions, but they seem to have brandished clown suites and got caught up amusing themselves in the funhouse mirror.

I hope that they soon tire of the circus and focus their wit and cleverness on fresh ideas on true reform. True activism. True rebellion. True cause. The world needs those kind of people.

not dead yet

the company that i work for was recently acquired and its put a crimp in my blog time. stay tuned. there is more fun to come.

eating, drinking, walking, talking

I recently had the opportunity to meet with Dave Day, the founder of Grower's First. Dave owned his own coffee roasting business for ten years and became acquainted with some of the farmers growing coffee beans in the remote villages in Oaxaca Mexico . It came to his attention that most farmers were struggling to earn less than $1 per day on coffee that was being consumed by a large affluent population. The average farmer was earning less than five cents of a $3 Mocha Latte. Due to financial struggles, many of these farmers were leaving behind the farmlands of their grandfathers in order to seek work in the cities or further north in the US - resulting in a breakdown of both the individual farmer and his family.

Dave sold his business and personally financed a program to better equip these farmers with better agricultural methods, means to buffer themselves in spite of unforeseen natural complications, and build a brand and demand around high quality organic coffee. These programs are now being rolled out in Africa, Honduras, and Indonesia and Grower's First associated farmers now supply the coffee to everyone from the Saddleback church to companies like Ugly Mug.

However, Grower's First is focused on much more than coffee and raising wages. It is seeking to share the message of Christ and equip local leadership to build Christ-centered communities, working alongside other missions organizations such as Wycliffe in evangelism and church planting. Dave reminded me that Christ did not head to Rome and plan a large evangelistic event at the coliseum. Instead, he took twelve people and changed the world through eating, drinking, walking and talking. Dave and the Grower's First team are doing the same.

His time with me was meaningful on a number of different levels. For one, it was a good reminder of the importance of being intentional. Intentional in what I buy- cognizant of how my decisions affect those who supply me with my daily grande drip, no room for cream. Intentional in my relationships - eating, drinking, walking, and talking.

...

Note: Dave's 10 year old son Cody was diagnosed with brain cancer 30 days after he sold his business in order to focus on ministry on a full time basis. He is currently undergoing chemotherapy treatments. Your prayer would be well worth the time.

My father-in-law recently forwarded me a link to an article posted on Christianity Today entitled Politically Driven Injustice, written by Andrew Paquin, the founder of a the 10/10 Project and a teacher of global studies at Colorado Christian University. The commentary outlines some of the concerns that Mr. Paquin has with Rick Warren's P.E.A.C.E. plan.

In all honesty, I have little personal knowledge of Warren's foray into the world of the global poor. As such, I am ill equipped to provide much in the means of commentary or opinion.

However, Mr. Paquin highlights a few key concerns that I think are worth highlighting. While I believe that the questions raised extend beyond Mr. Warren, they are valid. Mr. Paquin asks "I wonder if Warren has been able to sit with the leaders of the European Union and the United States to address the injustices of these countries' current agricultural trade policies." I read a booked entitled "Globalization and Its Discontents" by Dr. Joseph Stiglitz that opened my eyes to some of the shortcomings of US foreign policy and our anti-competitive behavior to insulate America from global hyper competition in certain market segments. One example is the significant subsidies paid to US farmers to help compete internationally. While not terribly egregious in isolation (a free market country seeking to stay competitive in a global economy that is outside of its control), the US' strong-arming of foreign countries to reduce tariffs and disallow similar behaviors seems highly anti-competitive, anti-free market, and certainly not in line to what we verbally claim to be American ideals.

What is the right balance of patriotism vs. global concern? Do we confuse patriotism with consumerism - the protection of our right to consume vs. our stated core ideals? Is it possible to change foreign policy without significant spending on lobbyists? The answers are complex and often emotionally slanted. Nonetheless, I hope that we at least take some time to understand what the global community decries and the impact of the decisions that we make as people and as a country.

Andrew Paquin and Rick Warren - God bless your efforts.

one

The one campaign recently released a new video spot. It's worth your three seconds.

For those of you not familiar with the campain:

What is The ONE Campaign?
ONE is a new effort by Americans to rally Americans - ONE by ONE - to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. The ONE Campaign is engaging Americans through a diverse coalition of faith-based and anti-poverty organizers to show the steps people can take, ONE by ONE, to fight global AIDS and poverty.

bono's prayer breakfast remarks

A friend recently forwarded me Bono's February 2nd prayer breakfast speech. I love the awareness that he is bringing to the plight of the poor. I love his genuine spirit. He has done a tremendous amount of work in raising money and eliminating the debt of the oppressed. I do pray that we better unite to bring both temporal and eternal hope and relief. I don't believe these to be independent - Jesus modeled service to the whole of the person.