My last post was a personal reflection on "deserving poor" and a challenge to see ourselves as perhaps less deserving then we might think. It was another angle on the concept of 'grace.' Grace is built into the nature of things. Any relationship is grace. No one can earn love, demand it or expect it. And theologically, it doesn't matter if it is human to human or human to God. People who demand love from another get called things like "stalker" or "psycho." "You owe me" is probably the single worst introduction to any conversation about love.
Because of the nature of this grace, gratitude (which is from the same root) is possible. Gratitude is a spirit of thanksgiving for what one has. We 'return thanks' in response to a 'gift given' (grace). If we all come to a deeper understanding of our blessings (and the graciousness of such blessings) we should also come to a deeper sense of appreciation and gratitude. The problem with an "I want more" culture is it is so hard to be thankful. Consuming everything with a voracious appetite, we tend to stew about what else we want and when we want it. Consumption also destroys the capacity for reflection and meditation, Most spiritual masters do not recommend a full belly when at prayer; meditation and contemplation are best done when the mental senses are not dulled by food.
Our culture is also rights based. We have a long list of what people have a right to. And like all things in a consumer culture, over time those rights seems insuffucient to satisfy so we generate new rights. The right to education. The right to free food at school. The right to babysitters while I am at school. The right to transportation to school. And as each individual finely hones his/her own list of wants and desires at some point the rights overburden the ability to deliver the services to which one "has a right." Rights generate a sense of entitlement. We see it regularly. People decide what they want and they let you know that is exactly what you are going to give them. Usually punctuated with an expletive to make it crystal clear.
The endless list of demands under the heading of 'my rights' can become wearisome. When someone walks in the door, demands $500 for their rent and then rants to me "that is what churches are for," they have made a serious error. Actually two serious errors. They made an errror in reason. The purpose of a church is to worship God and to grow in discipleship. Charity is a fruit of the worship and growth. The second error is thinking I am going to be moved to give them money because they yell at me.
To my knowledge only the government has the capacity to create entities which have the purpose of giving stuff away. And that is because they can take people's money from them by force. In response to the government largess with tax money, others have spoken out about their rights to 'keep what is theirs.' I admit to being partial to such arguments, probably a funciton of my own personality. (Maybe because I am doing well?) I have an inborm discomfort with people taking from other people for their own benefit, and that is what politicians are able to do. However, I admit the constant grousing of the well off about how much they pay in taxes is also wearisome. My understanding of math is decent. So if yo say you are paying more taxes than a hundred people, based on my computations, I figure you are making more that that same group of a hundred people. On the other hand, if half the people pay nothing at all...well you see where it ends up going. And while people ususally succeed because they are busting their humps it is also true that we benefit from the hump busting of others. We are in it together.
I am not a political person. I am a religion person, more particularly, a frequent though imperfect disciple of Jesus. Jesus was not big on rights. Such talk was foreign to His culture. It is no surprise He would not go there. However, it may well be that it was also because He live in a God focused culture. In a God focused culture one does not have rights. God gives us duties. Lots and lots of duties. So while no one has a right to walk up to me and demand I help them, God has told me that I have a duty to others.
Duties are given to me. If there is such a thing as a right, it is derived from those duties. My guess is the duty list needs to be the one we focus on. In a consumer culture duties are hard to remember. They are rarely consumption. But it is, to my mind, the only hope.
Are you poor? You have a duty to do all you can to correct the situation. And you have a duty to be greatful for anything you get. And you have a duty to take as little as you need. And you have a duty to make your society a better place in any way you can. You have duties above and beyond your own wants and needs.
Are you rich? You have a duty to create the possibility of others to become rich. You have a duty to use your blessings as a source of blessings for others. You have a duty to make your society a better place in any way you can. You havfe duties above and beyond your own wants and needs.
This does not solve the problems we face. Obviously, there is no bridging some divides. But I do think it a helpful place to reflect. Duties vs. Rights. Yes, I think we are better off focusing on our duties.
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