@tenet
and I would strongly challenge your challenge
I think there are groups of people you might not think to include in the 'ready' group. Personally, I think there are a LOT of younger people who are 'checked out' and don't want to participate in the system. I think they are part of the calling. I think you have a lot of beleaguered elderly folk who wonder what their adherence to the 'system' got them in their life. I think they are part of the calling.
And that's only in my own community!
My point of view in this matter is greatly influenced by both my current environment and my past. In my current environment, I work with a refugee from the Congo/Uganda. He lost his family when he was young due to a car bomb, ended up being taken in by a church in uganda, lost his surrogate family to rebels, and actually was the first african to administer his move to Canada completely through the internet. He never met his sponsors in person until he came here.
I have spent much time with him talking about Africa and his life. In my previous experiences, I have gone to impoverished place and built houses and did 'mission trips'. Looking back on them now, the thing I remember most about those experiences was how happy the children in these mudholes were. They didn't care that their ball had no air; they just wanted to play.
In this way, I feel like we may have it backwards. The 'most of the population of the planet that are barely subsisting' may actually be doing great in spiritual terms. Christian, my Congolese friend, holds honor, responsibility, and morality higher than any 'north american' I know. In fact, it has been his greatest downfall as our society likes to punish naivety (he's signed a lot of 'contracts' thinking he was getting good deals; most were very predatory in nature)
What if these 'poor, barely subsisting' populations are really teeming with spiritual treasures? Here in the first world, we have EVERY reason to never think outside of ourselves and our environment. We can endlessly distract ourselves with bells, whistles, and useless hobbies. In these other places, the catalyst is much more pressing.
In this way, I often feel like while we live with material pleasures, we are actually in the spiritual ghetto. Again, if we're measuring countries by their spiritual quotient, I think places like Tibet would be kicking our ass. So can we really make such a statement that we're 'not ready' as a global population when the vast majority have no voice, no camera, and no story? How would you know about them otherwise?
and I would strongly challenge your challenge
I think there are groups of people you might not think to include in the 'ready' group. Personally, I think there are a LOT of younger people who are 'checked out' and don't want to participate in the system. I think they are part of the calling. I think you have a lot of beleaguered elderly folk who wonder what their adherence to the 'system' got them in their life. I think they are part of the calling.
And that's only in my own community!
My point of view in this matter is greatly influenced by both my current environment and my past. In my current environment, I work with a refugee from the Congo/Uganda. He lost his family when he was young due to a car bomb, ended up being taken in by a church in uganda, lost his surrogate family to rebels, and actually was the first african to administer his move to Canada completely through the internet. He never met his sponsors in person until he came here.
I have spent much time with him talking about Africa and his life. In my previous experiences, I have gone to impoverished place and built houses and did 'mission trips'. Looking back on them now, the thing I remember most about those experiences was how happy the children in these mudholes were. They didn't care that their ball had no air; they just wanted to play.
In this way, I feel like we may have it backwards. The 'most of the population of the planet that are barely subsisting' may actually be doing great in spiritual terms. Christian, my Congolese friend, holds honor, responsibility, and morality higher than any 'north american' I know. In fact, it has been his greatest downfall as our society likes to punish naivety (he's signed a lot of 'contracts' thinking he was getting good deals; most were very predatory in nature)
What if these 'poor, barely subsisting' populations are really teeming with spiritual treasures? Here in the first world, we have EVERY reason to never think outside of ourselves and our environment. We can endlessly distract ourselves with bells, whistles, and useless hobbies. In these other places, the catalyst is much more pressing.
In this way, I often feel like while we live with material pleasures, we are actually in the spiritual ghetto. Again, if we're measuring countries by their spiritual quotient, I think places like Tibet would be kicking our ass. So can we really make such a statement that we're 'not ready' as a global population when the vast majority have no voice, no camera, and no story? How would you know about them otherwise?
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