“There is a murder mystery this Friday.” The words were were mumbled as a cheap plastic looking glass was dropped haphazardly on the table in front of me. I did not look up as I let the words sink in. I felt a tinge of anger and injustice as I picked up the cheap piece of plastic and examined the blue plastic. Some might call it irony that the words “Made in China” were inscribed on the handle.
We have a condition. Truly, there is a murder mystery this Friday. After that, there is a murder mystery Saturday morning, and then the following evening. In fact, there is a murder mystery every day. The mystery is how we can be so detached from the reality of our world while we indulge ourselves on the fattening cycle of Western/European privilege. Is there no one to be found who is disturbed the fact that while we give our money to purchase useless items, people in our very own communities are sleeping in tents (in the winter) and slipping into drug use and hopelessness? Let us be clear for a moment before we get on the defensive, this is just as much our responsibility as it is the responsibility of the politician.
We choose to fritter away copious amounts of cash to make our time in life more “fun”. Is there something wrong with fun? By no means! However, there is something deeply unnerving about the disconnectedness between us (a generic term referring to the American public) and those in need. There is a deep level of corruption that runs beneath the barriers of international lines which allows disease and death to ruin and steal the lives of the innocent. There is an ingrained sense of “More! More! More!” which disillusions and pollutes our minds. In plain words, there are simply not enough resources to support our unhealthy standard of living and consumption or our exuberant spending that provides comfort and a false sense of justified security.
Are you satisfied knowing that you are a direct influence on the cyclical injustice that makes poverty, hunger, genocide and preventable diseases acceptable? That is what we do. Every time we chase after a white picket fence and shiny car, we close ourselves off to the world. We take that new car, roll up the windows and turn up the music when we drive through the slums and when we see something the makes us uncomfortable. So you say, “Well these people don’t deserve it! They didn’t work for it!” You are right. They did not work for your money. That is probably because many of them are unable to. If a starving child were to be standing before you, would you tell them that they did not work for your money? That you were too busy living on too much? Does that help you sleep at night? They are standing before us. Right now.
Every day there is a murder mystery. Today, right now, a child dies. What do you do? What do we do? Keep buying our cars and buying the newest “necessity” for living? Who are we fooling?
Wake up, nation of fools. The murder mystery is solved and we are found guilty with evidence pointing its finger in our face. Case closed.
amazing post. i got the same advertisement today and thought partly the same thing– what a waste of money when there are so many more important things..
Comment by Chelsea — March 13, 2009 @ 1:22 am |
Amen. Great post.
Comment by Allison H-G — March 13, 2009 @ 2:17 am |
Amen brother. Some may consider this harsh – it’s because people choose to remain ignorant to the truth. My sister phrased it well when she told me that when people ask her how Iraq is they are disturbed when they hear the reality. While some are genuinely interested and concerned, many people want the answer that will make them continue feeling comfortable and being ignorant in their white picket fenced homes. Unfortunately, it is not just individuals. It is the church, the body of believers, too. Sometimes I feel like churches, with the newest technology, the best sound systems and perfect this and that are contributing to the furtherance of fellow believers thinking it is okay to have the “best” while people suffer, die, and we remain ignorant. What would our body of believers learn from only having a Bible, fellow believers and a simple hall. I have no intention of tearing apart the church – as God does seek to prosper us and we have to take into consideration how to reach the masses, but I look at some (not all) the churches here in India – simple halls, no extravagant lights that change the mood of the room, not the best sound system, and I look at how they worship. How pure their worship is. How honest their worship is. How the electricity being cut off does not change anything. The words of songs are not words on the screen, but rather words within our hearts. I consider how much of the money is therefore able to go into supporting missionaries and ministry workers. I consider how this mentality of not competing with the Jones’ is then brought into the home. How serving God in every area of life beings in the Church and spreads out into the hearts of those that are only seeking to get more in Christ.
I pray that God uplift this movement to ridding ourselves of the white picket fence image, and I pray that it begins with the Church, the body of believers.
I pray that
Comment by Marisa — March 13, 2009 @ 4:57 am |
I like it man, I see too much of this too often. Keep leading by example my friend, someone is always watching.
Comment by heartofawarrior — March 17, 2009 @ 7:43 pm |
Kind of a cheesy beginning, but I get you.
Have you seen this?
http://everystudent.com/features/reallife.html
Comment by ahem — March 19, 2009 @ 9:57 pm |
oh, and I thought the very same thing on my drive back this afternoon. It’s so strange seeing “smart cars” next to full-sized, american-made gas guzzlers. Even something as simple as the cars we drive varies so much from culture to culture… to the point of some walking for miles without one.
But you’d never know that there are those that go without from the way we carry on.
Comment by ahem — March 19, 2009 @ 10:00 pm |