Lots of arguments are about money. This is true in our families and in our faith communities. We are witnessing today how true it is in our government!

            Over the last decade, there has been a fundamental shift in terms of the economic situation in American society. The best way to describe it is a redistribution of wealth. The wealthiest have gotten wealthier. The poorest have gotten poorer. And the people in the middle have gotten poorer with many who were in the middle class now living below the poverty line. The changes have affected minority communities in our society even more than the society as a whole.

            This direction is dangerous and unjust. The danger comes from a great many people being placed at risk because they can't afford the basics of life. The injustice is both simple and profound. Many of us are getting poorer really through no fault of our own. And as people feel more desperate about their survival, the bonds that hold our society together in peace begin to break. In fact, some breakage is already being seen.

            What does that have to do with our religious faith? People of faith and communities of faith have an obligation of love to speak out against injustice wherever we see it: in our government, in the corporate world, and even in the church and non-profit arena. We also have a responsibility to act as we can to bring justice. This includes providing immediate help to those who are suffering and also to change unjust systems. It also includes teaching people not to act out of a sense of fear that can lead to violence and even war; to greed and the hoarding of wealth by the few and poverty for so many; and to exclusivity in religion and the need to control what and how others believe.

Many faith-based organizations share a mission to be a prophetic voice that identifies the suffering in our world and also its deeper causes. We are called to hold the truth we see up to the light for all to see, and to confess our own complicity in that suffering. We are called to work for solutions. At the same time, we are called to share a message of hope: that true love casts out fear.

We have another mission as well: to share a vision of how life can be. This vision reflects what our faith proclaims to be the will of God. It is a vision that emerged in the biblical narrative with a God who desired to free a people from slavery and with the concept of Jubilee-when every fifty years all debts were canceled, all slaves are freed, and all lands were returned to their original owners. This vision shone in the prophets of ancient Israel who announced the coming of sight to the blind, freedom to the captives, and good news to the poor.

This vision shone in Jesus who identified so clearly with the suffering people of the world.

So, how should we respond to suffering in the world? The simple answer is, we should respond as deeply and honestly as possible according to our abilities and resources. When the pain we encounter is the problem, we need to respond with charity to ease it. When the pain we encounter is symptomatic of a deeper problem, we need to embrace the pain, confessing our complicity when that is appropriate, and commit ourselves to becoming agents of transformation. It's simple justice!

Thanks for continuing to bless me as we journey together.  

--Jack F. Price

To read more by Jack, be sure to order your copy of Finding Faith: Honest Answers about God, the Bible, and the Church Today at:  www.findingfaithnow.com or www.lulu.com/buy (download available)

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