Am I My Brother's Keeper

Everyday in the news we hear about health-care reform and I am so tired of hearing about it. Don't get me wrong I am not tired of fact that we need health-care reform I am tired of all the rhetoric about it. Media saturation is one thing overkill is another. The overload of rhetoric is going to desensitize some and create antagonists on both sides of the issue out of many others.

I think the majority of people in our nation agree that we need health-care reform but the question is who and how it is to be accomplished. Who is responsible for the care of others? Are governments in general and more specifically is our government theoretically and practically organized to manage and provide health care for everyone in our nation? Our government is both to small and to large to be the health-care provider for every single person in our nation. It is two small because it does not have the monetary means or personel to accomplish it. It is to large with its multiple layers of bureaucracy to accomplish it efficiently and equitably.

So who is responsible for health-care and health-care reform? As Christ-followers we are told, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world" James 1:27. Throughout the Old Testament God tells us to care for the poor, the widow, the orphan, the stranger or alien in our midst. This theme is carried through the New Testament and is vividly portrayed in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) where a man cared for and provided the health care of a man whom considered him part of a hated and inferior ethnic group.

When we ask the question, who is responsible for the care of others or we want to make the government responsible are we not asking the same question that Cain asked God? He asked, "Am I my brother's keeper?" It is a question meant to evade responsibility but God's implied answer would be yes we are our brother's keeper.

I don't have the answer for America's health-care reform but it probably needs to be found on the local level and grass roots activities where each of us get involved. It would involve the downsizing of government and major corporations, the release of tax money back to the citizenry to be used to help others, the developing of co-opts and many other community based organizations. Most of all it would require a new heart a new birth in each and everyone of us. Because that will not happen, God says we will always have the poor, the needy, the helpless with us until Jesus returns. But we are still responsible and must do our part to provide for others. It has always been the responsibility of the people, especially God's people to provide care not the government. Let's start today by helping those in need taht we come in contact with.

What does is mean to be human? We hear all the time the phrase, "I'm only human." Does that mean I cannot be held responsible for my bad actions because somehow being human means I am incapable of consistently good actions? Does being human mean that I am driven by desires, impluses and drives I cannot control because I am human. Steve Martin told Dave Letterman that as a result of the recent revelations that he has had sex with multiple employees we now can have a sense of relief because this proves he is human.

Does being human give me a free pass to live rudely or immorally? It is as if being human means we are held to a lower standard. Here is my thought for the day. "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Being human means our lives are filled with incredible ability and potential. To be human is not an excuse but a partnership with God. Being human raises the bar so let's step up today.

Blowin In The Wind

Woke up last night to the sound of the wind softly blowing - the start of one of our Santa Ana Winds - and the slight smell of Fall. I love the small of the change from summer to Fall it brings a sense of anticipation. I don't know why but my mind went to the song "Blowin In The Wind" by Peter, Paul and Mary. I could only remember the chorus, "The answer my friend is blowin in the wind the answer is blowin in the wind." What does that mean? The song dealt with society turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the ravages of war, but the answers are in the wind? I don't know about you but if the anwers to our questions were dependent on the eratic and arbitrary nature of the winds we would rarely ever receive any anwers.

Then I began to think that God's Spirit is pictured as being like the wind. Like the wind the Spirit is invisible but like the wind we can see the results of the Spirit's work in a person's life. Answers, strength, comfort, character traits of Jesus and much more come into our lives on the Wind of the Spirit - the Ruah of God. So I guess the answers are blowin in the wind.

I know late night ramblings but that is the best that I have for today.