Spiritual Life/Public Life

A quote from Evelyn Underhill:

Here the further question of the relation of spiritual life to public life and politics comes in. It must mean, for all who take it seriously, judging public issues from the angle of eternity, never from that of national self-interest or expediency...Did we act thus, slowly but surely a body of opinion-a spiritual party, if you like-might be formed; and in the long run make its influence felt in the State. But such a programme demands much faith, hope, and charity; and courage too.

I wonder, if we were to apply the standards of "the least of these," and the Beatitudes, what kind of a public policy might we have?

Abundant Life and Justice

Today in her sermon on the text from Luke12:13-21, Jill Christopherson contrasted the abundant life with "the good life." The text sets out on of Jesus' parables in which he tells the story of a rich man.

Someone in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.' But he said to him, 'Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitor over you?' And he said to them, 'Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.' Then he told them a parable: 'The land of a rich man produced abundantly. and he thought to himself, "What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?" Then he said, I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry." But God said to him, "You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God.'

She went on to contrast the self-involvement and self-referencing of the rich man, with the life of abundance and sharing that characterizes healthy families and communities. Jill mentioned that in the 1990's of all the children born in that decade, 6% were born in "the north" and 94% were born in "the south" and the 6% had more world resources used for them than were used for the 94%.

No doubt the rich man thought of himself as being just what was expected, and no doubt, he lived according to the values of his time and place. We do too. Yet, those values are not the values of life for the 94% or for the living creatures or even the fundamental elements of earth, air, and waters of the planet. May we learn to live in true abundance of life and an overflowing justice!