Concern for others...

There was a lady on TV expressing her mind on twitter, facebook and blogging. She described it as "Verbal vomit". .... Thinking about that... I take a turn at presenting "Radio Church" at a local community radio station every few weeks. I once asked the sound tech person if they knew how many people actually tune into the radio church. He told me a guess at a figure but then said this, "It is not really important how many people listen. For a community radio station it is more important that you are presenting a radio church service." Well its a bit like that with my blog. It's important that I blog... journal... sort of. The numbers of people reading it don't matter that much. It is important to me to reflect on life through this medium. So here is one more lot of my "Verbal Vomit". ... sorry.

I thought I'd share with you two more of the quotes from my Graffiti board poster, and some burbling to go with them.

Human beings are like parts of a body

created of the same essence.

When one part is hurt and in pain,

the others cannot remain in peace and quiet.

If the misery of others leaves you indifferent and with no feelings of sorrow

You cannot be called a human being!

- Dag Hammarskjold

On Tuesday evening we watched the documentary "Black Gold". It is about the coffee market and how it impacts on coffee farmers. In short it showed that the producers of coffee were getting very little of the money made out of the coffee beans they sell. There were about six "middlemen" who were all making a substantial profit, while the coffee farmers were not getting enough for a decent standard of living. Some were transferring to growing drugs so that they can feed, house, cloth and educate their children in some sort of basic way. It showed a cooperative working together to cut out some of the middlemen and earn more profit for the farmers and for community development. I became more convinced that because of the suffering of these farmers and their families, we need to take "Fair Trade" issues much more seriously. I am hoping to increase our awareness of this through my Church. In this small world we should not turn a blind eye to human suffering, if we can help in some way.

Achievement of ultimate worth

is loving self-expenditure

not selfish accumulation.

This really is walking to the beat of a different drum compared to the generally accepted values in our society today! It is similar to what Jesus said.... "If you save your life you lose it. If you lose your life, you find it." and other teachings that have a similar message. During the last two days I have spent a tremendous amount of time listening to people. Yesterday, I hung around for a pot luck lunch at our Settlement Resource at Space2B. I knew I should have been working, as in doing some preparation or going to a chaplaincy, but it seemed "right" to stay and converse with people. Today I did at least six hours of on-my-feet, listening, reaching out to people chaplaincy. I am exhausted but as I head toward bed tonight I feel like I have done something significant. As I listen to people or connect with people something significant happens. Giving, self-expenditure, empathetically touching another's life gives oneself a deep sense of meaning and significance. Somehow "God" happens in the interaction. It is a tiring past time, but ultimately worthwhile. I find often that when I am depressed the surest way to get me "out of myself" is to discipline myself to give myself to others. It changes things. When I am dying and I can look back on a life in which I have "given" more than I have taken, a life that has made a contribution to the fulfilment and happiness of the lives of others and not just used people, I will go to my grave (or up in smoke) a reasonably contented man. I fall a way short of the ideal. ... but on my better days I try to live out the directions in this song.