America vs patriotism, patriotismFreedom, patriotismFreedomWar, patriotismFreedomWarPropaganda
I googled for Camden, the place in America where I was for six or seven weeks recently.
“A city where you can buy any drug you want on pretty much every corner. The most dangerous city in the country it has been rated as for the past 2 years now. There is no reason to be there unless you are buying a gun or buying drugs. You have no business being there if you are white unless you are a cop or some crazy a** m’fer. Never go there at night.”
“If your white, don’t be caught in camden, especially after dark, without a f****in shotgun and a large posse. Otherwise buy lots of rufus or join the mafia.”
Urban Dictionary. I won’t do that ta.
“Camden has been named the nation’s most-dangerous city, snatching the top spot from Detroit…..out of 369…” NBC
(How can you let a city be defined by these things and not rather love the people, pay attention to them not the tourist warnings. Did Martin Luther really start a revolution? Do Americans just note the unfortunate facts and change the channel? People Matter.)
Camden isn’t the poorest city in America but its like looking at poverty. The streets are filled with rubbish, the air stinks, 75% of the kids where I was have a respitory condition. T is a lady whose monthly income didn’t even match her rent. Too many buildings are crumbling down. I didn’t believe it when I heard it but then I saw it – many of the doors just don’t actually lock even though there can be gang fights and all sorts going on outside. Education seems to be unacceptably weak, especially in comparison to adjacent white towns. People matter, people matter, people matter. There’s corruption, with a recent mayor being connected to the mob, and schools not being built because of money swindled away.
Best overseas trip ever though (actually only one for me), definitely best place I visited in America (out of NY, washington, ocean city, philladelphia). Because of the people. Nothing of that above tells you anything about the people. I could talk about this for a long time but here are some lessons I learned:
1) Sometimes you shouldn’t have an answer to ‘Why did God let this happen’. Sometimes you should just cry with them.
2) Love can be hypocritical. In this case, if you give the kids all the patience they need but don’t give the same to your team (especially if, Christians, you believe they have the very Spirit of God in them), then you have a double standard, a hypocritical love. Application is how people can stack up little things about church but have so much patience for the world. Even those passionate in love and outreach can fall for this one.
3) It was an absolute privelege to play with these kids. It was a total privelege to hand a home-made basketball team tshirt to Jonel, watch his face light up until I had to look away or cry. It was a privelege to sit in church next to Alex, who had sacrificially looked after his brother for so long until the day before when his brother took overdose. More accurately I was in a staggered awe. It was a privelege.
4) I have an idiot list. As an ENFJ personality type (was really cynical about these) I automatically give a quota of respect and trust to every person I meet upon meeting them. However if they do one thing that seems stupid or incompetant to me they lose all of it, not just a bit of it, and it is very difficult for them to get much back. Certainly they can’t ever get to the height they were at.
But the Bible says you only notice ’sin’ in others because of your own sin. So I only notice it because I would do it myself, have done it myself or do do it myself in some other more personally acceptable form.
So I had to clear off my idiot list.
(I didn’t even realise I did this and to the extent I was aware of it probably twisted it to some kind of self image of discernment but it is *not*)
Had some great conversations with people after that.
5) There but for the grace of God go I
6) The meaning of phrases ‘represent’ ‘na mean’ ‘truth’ ‘dog’ ‘chillin like an englishman’ and how to use them in conversational english.
Singer called Eli wrote this song, God weeps too:
This is for the man who never learned to read or write
He worked two jobs instead of going to school
I know it hurt you as a child, please remember all the while
that God weeps too
This is for he widow who now must sleep alone
When the memory of a kiss will have to do
Every night when she lays down you an almost hear he sound
When God weeps too
God weeps too, God weeps too
Thouh we question Him for all hat we go through
Still it helps me believe and my faith it dos relieve
Just to think that God weeps too
For every survivor of the wickedness of man
Whether your a black man or a Jew
some people kill in Jesus name
He is not the one to blame
Cause even God weeps too
lithgo advos
I’ve always thought, from young age, ’People Matter’. I think thats true, unshakably true. However I’m not certain about the stuff I build on that. Its true on its own but in practice I justify things I do by saying ‘People matter, so…’
My evil alter ego Forge believed that you should always help everyone and try to solve their problems. Some people would agree that you should at least do this to the extent that you can. (Unfortunately Forge didnt realise his own problems)
I think the temptation as a Christian is to try and solve problems for folk and give answers rather than live and model them. We have a bible, and we believe thats a powerful two edged sword – that the words in it are powerful – and it says it is able to divide marrow and bone. But often its weilded with less understanding, knowledge or preperation than a surgeons scalpel. Yes if you’re a Christian you may be able to relate to me when I say God’s given an eye-opening mind expanding light goes on revelation and I want to share it but oops in my enthusiasm I want to arrest peoples attention by using that revelation to solve their situation, then showing them what I’ve found.
Loving people yes. But one things missing.
If someone says my daughter died why would God let this happen I’m not sure the spiritual response is a cerebral answer to that question. God didn’t say sit down and talk to people who are mourning, he said to mourn with them too (Romans 12:15, Hebrews 13:3). I’m trying to remember why God was angry at Job’s friends in his plight. I can’t remember, but I remember they gave answers to Job. Maybe it was the answers God was angry at. Maybe they were just supposed to cry with him and leave their answers at the door. Because those answers would disappear in an eyeblink if they themselves lost a son.
Loving people yes. But crying with them too.
Because, aren’t we supposed to actually become like the poor? We’re not supposed to just give money but we’re actually supposed to love on, ie know the names of, ie share the distresses of, people in need. I’ve met folk in US affiliated with The Simple Way. One thought from their book is you dont get crucified for giving money to the poor but for actually being identified with them as one of them. And Jesus came from the spiritual riches of heaven to be with us. He didn’t send a letter with good answers. He could have sent a prophet. But Jesus came. Jesus wept once before He healed. (Although I know, that He apparently directly healed too, although for all I know He was weeping the whole time and they just didn’t write that down)
So I’m genuinely wondering if its always right to help.
I’m hearing too many instances of people actually being mucked up by folk’s attempts to help them. I’m starting to think that there’s a huge place for just crying with the folk that are crying.
I originally thought I would dismiss this almost instantly. But it could explain why a while ago I felt that the way I did things was wrong, and that I needed to change without fully knowing the reasoning why.
So I dont know I’m just thinking this stuff today.
