Session 1 - Taking a Closer Look |
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Voluntary Simplicity Study/Action Guide
SESSION I--TAKING A CLOSER LOOK
Prior to this session each participant should be responsible for reading the following:
1. The Preface and Introduction to this manual.
2. Chapter 2, "Global Waste" in No More Plastic Jesus. 3. Chapter 3, "Theology of Enough" in Enough is Enough.
I Opening:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is sadness, joy; where there is darkness, light.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console; not so much to be understood, as to understand; not so much to be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life. --The Prayer of St. Francis
In each session, allow time after the opening prayer or meditation is read aloud, for silent prayer and spontaneous intercessions.
II Sharing:
Circle the room, having all participants introduce themselves and give a brief account of why they are interested in the study-action program and are participating. Try to keep this very relaxed and informal, allowing for participants to ask questions of each other.
III Objectives:
In this session we want to accomplish two things. First we need to begin to gain an appreciation of the inter-relatedness of the problems and injustices which plague our world today. Hunger, overpopulation, pollution, waning resources, deteriorating quality of life and maldistribution of power are hopelessly related to each other. We need to try to understand how and why. Second, we must learn that if we call ourselves Christians, God must be the highest authority in our lives. God rules not only our hearts and spirits, but our economic, political and social lives. Furthermore, since God is the Creator of the world, God is the final authority over even those people and institutions who do not recognize God. It is the Christian's responsibility to bear witness to this fact in an often unfriendly world. The readings in Finnerty and Taylor should be very helpful in introducing us to these truths.
Obviously, these global problems are not simple. But that doesn't mean that simple actions and activities won't have real impact upon them. The whole point of the Bible, from the witness of the ancient Israelites to the teachings and example of Jesus is that a few people, willing to live radically and faithfully enough can revolutionize the world (cf. Mt. 5:13-16). This happens when the impact of Jesus upon our hearts becomes translated -- as it must -- into the impact of our lives upon the structures of our society.
As caring Christians, who decide to change our lifestyles; by transforming our celebrations, we can enter into this great biblical tradition. But first, we must have a little better understanding of what we're up against and of the tools we have at our disposal.
The first thing we understand when we take a good look at poverty, hunger, deprivation and inequity in the world is that these conditions exist because their opposites exist. That is, wealth, overconsumption, self-indulgence and inequity are also rampant. Notice that the word "inequity" remains on both sides. That is because inequity relates to the whole gamut of systemic problems. Those of us at the wealthy end of the continuum are just as much victims of inequity as are those at the deprived end. But we must remember also that the wealthy assume much greater power and influence over these systemic problems and therefore are also much greater perpetrators of this inequity.
Furthermore, when we speak of the situation which faces the world today in terms of "problems" we must never forget that an understanding of problems is always relative. When the rich define the problem, the poor are the problem. But it's well for us to remember with E.F. Schumacher that "The problem passengers on spaceship Earth are the first-class passengers and no one else."
Having understood this, we are in a position to realize that all of us, rich and poor alike, are at the mercy of systems which are essentially responsible for the inequity and injustice we see all around us. Adam Finnerty pinpoints (1) military spending, (2) planned obsolescence (and other "consumer strategies" in the U.S. economy) and, (3) Third World imitation of "first world" practices as the three most guilty symptoms of the systemic evil around us.
Some points for discussion on the Finnerty material:
1. Military spending is wasteful of money, natural resources, and production energy, as well as of human talent and brain power. Yet most of us have allowed our governments to convince us that this spending meets an urgent need. "The U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal today contains enough nuclear bombs to create the destruction and death of 685,000 Hiroshimas. This is equal to 20 tons of TNT for each person on this planet." Surely there is no justification for this kind of waste or for these kinds of priorities -- not even for those who believe that war in the national "defense" is justified. How can we begin saying "no" to military spending?
2. Finnerty says that if planned obsolescence, advertising, packaging and other wasteful strategies of the U.S. economy were eliminated the U.S. economic system would collapse. But does this mean that we must continue to cooperate wholeheartedly with these strategies? Is there a way out? What are some ways in which shifts in consumer values and buying habits could serve to reorganize rather than destroy our economy?
3. American advertising is built on the assumption that human wants are insatiable. Is this the kind of people we really are and want to be? Is having insatiable material wants in any way compatible with Christianity?
4. While I was a seminary student, a classmate from Zaire gave a talk to a peace colloquium about development in his country. He said almost exactly the same things as Finnerty's article about Third World "development." He lamented the choices being made for his people about economic and development models which were entirely irrelevant and inappropriate to the realities of their lives. And he ended by literally pleading with Americans not to sell the western brand of "development" to his country and others like it. If this group were in a position to determine U.S. policy with respect to Third World development, what would your recommendations and course of action be?
IV Bible Study:
The four considerations just discussed should serve to give us an introduction, at least, to the ways in which the problems of injustice and inequity with which we are concerned are systemic in nature. Now, if we are to deal with them as Christians we must next take a closer look at our biblical and theological underpinnings. For this we turn to Bishop Taylor's "Theology of Enough." Immediately we see that the biblical writers consistently addressed themselves to systemic evil at least as much as they did to "private" sins.
Taylor directs our attention to the major biblical themes which reflect this concern. He notes that our problem is ". . . not so much our way of grabbing at things as our way of looking at things" (p. 40). And in ancient culture as well as our own society, our way of looking at things is usually a corporate, culturally-conditioned way. He goes on to observe that "A culture is an outward expression of the dreams by which men live," (p. 41) and then assures us that in the Bible "it is the Hebrew dream that matters." The prophets could never forget it and so they continually called the people back to it. Jesus was born to history's most radical understanding of it and he was destined to build his Kingdom on it and to call his disciples to live their lives for it. This dream "was summed up in the word shalom, something much broader than 'peace': the harmony of a caring community informed at every point by its awareness of God" (p. 41, emphasis mine). St. Francis understood this well as is demonstrated by his famous prayer. He asks to be made an instrument of God's peace and then spells this out by praying about all kinds of broken human relationships.
Shalom means wholeness -- the wholeness which comes from living in harmony with God by living in harmony with God's creations. To approach the biblical spirit of Shalom we must live completely in the knowledge that God is the sovereign of the world, of everything in it and of all its interrelationships. Shalom is God's answer to the needs of all humankind. Not just to the inner, spiritual needs but also to the economic, political and social needs. Not just to the needs of those who believe in and follow Him, but to everyone -- the believers and the followers being the ones called to demonstrate that answers to the others. God's values and God's priorities, therefore, must be the values and priorities which inform human decision-making right down to whether or not to buy a new car or get the kitchen remodeled -- right down to whether or not to get a live Christmas tree or new clothes for Easter.
This is what is meant by our initial statement: there are simple actions which can effectively address complex problems. They are Simple but not easy. The biblical way -- the way of Shalom -- the way of the Kingdom which Jesus came to inaugurate, is the way out of our present mess. We begin by recognizing, with Taylor, that ...
We shall not find in scripture the blueprint of an economic system relevant to our own day. What we do find is a number of independent enactments, moral judgments and traditions, obviously relating to different periods and cultural backgrounds, all of them utterly different in detail from that which we know today, and yet together revealing a consistent attitude and style diametrically opposed to the excess and the waste and the misplaced priorities we have been discussing (P. 42). This "attitude and style" begins by recognizing and honoring certain realities:
That the Earth is the Lord's and everything in it. Therefore, we cannot legitimately consider ourselves the owners of our property, but only its stewards.
That the dominion (Gen. 1:28) granted by God to humankind is just that -- dominion -- not domination. We have not been commissioned to devastate our environment or to enslave and dispossess brothers and sisters who are weaker, poorer or a different color. We have, rather, been given a grave responsibility for ourselves and our relations with our environment and our weaker and poorer brothers and sisters.
That the biblical way is a way of balance and moderation in all things. Whether it is property and material possessions, devotion to duty, family or career, or indulgence in pleasures and interests, there is never any room for justification for excess in a biblical lifestyle.
That the God revealed in holy scripture unequivocally sides with the poor, and commands God's people to do the same. God's mighty historical acts of liberation and relief have always been acts in behalf of the poor and the enslaved. God's biblical call to God's people has always been a call to follow God in this way.
Finally, that Jesus, in his life and teachings, provided us with a living model for enacting Shalom in the human situation so that we would not ultimately have to rely on human rules and laws but upon the example and Spirit of Jesus Christ.
Some points for discussion:
1. Have someone read aloud Psalm 24. Then recall the story of the plagues in Exodus, chapters 8-11. One of the important points of that story was simply that the Earth is the Lord's (Ex. 9:29) and everything in it. The Israelites may well have had a special relationship with God but the Egyptian Pharaoh was just as surely accountable to God for his use of the land and for his domination of people.
2. Read through the Sabbatical and Jubilee Laws in Deut. 14:22-15:11 and the Holiness Code in Lev. 25. These writings are deeply fundamental to our study and we will refer back to them again and again. Begin now to become familiar with them. Discuss the remarks that Taylor makes about these ideas. Take some time to discuss how the concepts expressed in these laws could be realistically applied today. Make this consideration a part of the permanent agenda of the group.
V Closing:
O Lord, help us to order our lives better. Help us to use our gifts more industriously. Help us to turn from no one in need and to see You in the hungry, the sick, the prisoners, the lonely. Help us each day to do some work of peace for You.*
Choose a leader for next week's session. Be sure to read through all the material for Session II prior to the meeting. Be prepared to take action on the proposed study-action project at the beginning of Session II.
Notes:
1. E.F. Shumacher as quoted by Taylor, Enough is Enough, p. 20.
2. Quoted from promotional material on the updated edition of KM for Pence? by Richard McSorley, S.J.
*This, and other prayers, similarly marked, were paraphrased from Instrument of Thy Peace by Alan Paton, Seabury Press, 1968.
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