Episcopal Church Foundation Vestry Papers - for leading congregations

Having recently finished reading Tracy Kidder’s Mountains Beyond Mountains, and currently reading A Tale of Two Cities, I’m thinking a lot about the divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots;’ a divide that has existed for centuries.

In Mountains Beyond Mountains, Kidder shares Paul Farmer’s understanding of the Haitian proverb: “Bondye konn bay, men li pa konn separe,” or “God gives but doesn’t share.” Farmer believes, “God gives us humans everything we need to flourish, but he’s not the one who is supposed to divvy up the loot. That charge was laid upon us.”

Examples of this ‘not sharing’ are all around me: Today a morning news story featured a two to three minute promo for a new television program showcasing ‘outrageous birthday parties’ – extravagant galas for small children costing $10,000 or more, with thousands spent on elaborate cakes, decorations, and costumes. Minutes later the same news program covered the House battle over the Federal budget and the deep cuts made in programs designated for ‘the least among us.’ Promos for the evening news promised the report of an investigation into the problem of false claims and slow payment of legitimate claims related to the Gulf Oil spill.

Across the world, oppressed people are standing up and demanding a more just world. In Wisconsin, lines have been drawn over proposed changes to benefits for public workers with thousands of Americans standing together in protest.

Dare I believe that one day the Golden Rule will be the norm for human behavior?

As people of faith, what is our responsibility to God and to each other when it comes to ‘divvying up the loot?” What is it that is in our ‘human’ nature that causes this imbalance? Can we overcome this imbalance and divide all that has been given to us so that all will flourish?