Saints, Heroes, Role Models

I remember Charles Barkley saying emphatically star athletes are not role models. They are athletes and that only. He insisted that kids should look to their parents for role models.

With young people in confirmation class, I would ask for names of movies they had seen about the lives of real people. Usually, it was a very short list. Some had seen Gandhi. Several had seen movies in school about Martin Luther King. Most had seen a Jesus movie in church. But that was usually about it.

Last weekend,my wife and I attended the ordination to the priesthood of the son of long time friends. One of the aspects of the service of ordination and the mass the following day that struck me were the prayers for the saints. Those prayers began with the apostles and ranged through 10 or 12 names of the martyrs of the 1st and second century. We did hear the name of St.Francis and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. Sisters of her order were in attendance. But no other names from the present except the Pope and the Archbishop.

We all ponder this question of who are the saints, the heroes, the people who offer us spiritual inspiration.

Who are those people for us?

Clearly, that list cannot end with Christians martyred for their faith 1900 years ago. How do we as parents, as people, as church folk share with others those real life people who have been an inspiration to us? How do we remember and honor those whose lives inspire and challenge and bless us and who are clearly part of that mighty cloud of witnesses who surround and support us.

Giving Money Away

On a recent trip to Nicaragua, I met a professor who is active in a progressive Catholic parish in Philadelphia. He said that the priests of the church urged people to tithe by giving 5% of their income to the church and 5% to other causes. That is great and probably alot of us church types try to do that or something like that. If we belong to a Church, we know how to give to the church.

But how do we learn to give away that other 5% with efficiency and effectiveness and joy?

I guess I am feeling the need for a workshop or class or discussion on Giving Money Away. How do we find the right partners--especially as we look internationally? What kinds of accountability can we expect? If we are major donors, how do we use our influence in ways that are helpful and not paternalistic?

In the Chronicle of Philanthropy years ago, I read an article that argued persuasively that the reason more money wasn't donated was that there was a shortage of people who were fundraisers, who were actively seeking to create that flow of money from those who have(and often know that they have too much) and those who are in need.

Now, we don't just want to give to beggars, whether in the form of little kids on the street or organizations, that just appeal to our sympathies. I am amazed at today's Star Ledger which includes at least five ads pleading for people to donate their old car or boat and always to help children. These organizations almost always have obscure names and addresses, but a tax ID number. Smiling children draw the reader in. But they feel like quasi scams or at the very least organizations that spend an enormous amount of money on advertising.

So we know some of the kinds of organizations that we don't want to support. But we need to find those that are very powerful, cost effective and that call forth our soul's joy as well as our checkbook's power. How do we do that? Do you all know any helpful resources?

Gracias

Coming back from Nicaragua for perhaps the 15th time, I feel that painful and poignant mixture of hope and despair. Some of the kids that we visited at Inhijambia will die--of drugs or AIDS or despair or violence. Doesn't it make you angry that we human beings are both so cruel and so selfish. and yet there are these incredible, really mind blowing beacons of hope shining out into the storms of despair and death. and sometimes, even we aer those beacons. My wife, Gail, was a guidance counselor and guidance director for many years. She had innumerable families and students tell her `we couldn't have made it without you.' We each really need to celebrate those places where our work helps change people's lives for the better.
at the same time, certainly we have deep admiration for those who work in environments that are so difficult, we cannot imagine how they do it.

So every time I visit Inhijambia in Managua, I am deeply humbled by the courage, tolerance for pain,energy, hope that flows from the staff but also flows from the children, one to another. they sang a song called Casa Abierta. I will seek out the words.

What will it take for us to prepare our souls and minds to really address the global crisis of poverty and death? That crisis is personal and political--it is about the greed of many of us westerners, but also of wealthy Nicaraguans. It is about political structures that enrich a few rather than serve everyone. The global economy impacts Nica with great power. And culture--how can people work together across different cultural divides in order to build the earth rather than destroy it.One of the more depressing sights in Nica was to see the long lines all the time at Western Union. How are we going to live better in Nica--send one of the kids to America or Costa Rica and have him/her send money home. Ok--partly hopeful, but also sad. Cant we build a world where there are decent jobs in Nicaragua.

I am back to being committed to blogging five times a week, basically Monday to Friday. I appreciate your feedback.

No Gracias

Years ago, my wife and I visited Acapulco. We wandered the town. Saw the cliff divers. I tried para sailing, but when your eyes are really bad and you have to give up your glasses you can't see much. Mostly though, we relaxed on the beach. The beach was beautiful but the children selling trinkets, jewelry and shells just came at us in waves.

No, gracias. No, gracias. Over and over again we would say no, gracias, trying hard not to look them in the eyes.

I once asked a Dominican Republic pastor how he dealt with beggars as we walked through a congested market in Santo Domingo. He said he never gave to children as that encouraged them to be beggars. But since there was really no adequate provision for handicapped people or old people he would give to them. That seems to be a good guideline.

I have never had my shoes polished at a shoe stand in the US. But when kids offer to polish them on the streets of Santo Domingo,or Guatemala City, I occassionally have said yes. How do you deal with those situations?

so the challenge of being able to comfortably say No gracias, but also not having a greedy and hardened heart is upon us. when Christians travel on mission trips, they probably should contribute at least as much money to the cause of the organization that is hosting them as they spend on themselves.

we need to find our voice that enables us to say No gracias comfortably so that we can also say--Gracias, gracias for everything.

Nosotros Venceremos

I organized a group of 15 people that visited Nicaragua recently. We included friends from the church I currently serve as the interim pastor and 7 people from Drexel University. Only 3 of us had ever visited Nicaragua before. In part, we were tourists and so off to the Masaya Volcano and the Laguna de Apoyo and the markets and restaurants we went. But more importantly we were working with partners and searching for new reliable organizations where we could share goals and resources. So we visited cooperatives, schools, a cancer treatment center and a factory that builds concrete, prefabbed houses. We helped build one such small house one morning.

For ten years I have worked with a friend in Nica, who created and operates a center called Inhijambia, that works to save the children who are the throwaways of the society. About 4000 children live on the streets of Managua including 400 who live in the sprawling Oriental Market. Inhijambia works to get these children food, health care, hope and healing. Virtually all are addicted to glue. They have been physically and sexually abused. They are continuing testimony to the sin that abides in us and the evil spirits that throb through our cultures.

From a half dozen previous visits, I knew the children would sing for us. The boys song was particularly moving as they stood with their arms draped around each other shoulders. Two young homeless boys probably about 6 or 7 years old had entertained with dancing.

I had decided that we should offer a song for them. We will sing We shall overcome in English and then in Spanish. I asked our group--have you ever sung it in Spanish. Almost no one had. Three college students hadn't sung it in English.

But we remember vaguely Tiannemen Square on the 20th anniversary of the student democracy uprising. The Chinese sang We shall Overcome. We rejoice in the freedom won by the countries of the former Soviet block. The Poles and Hungarians sang We shall Overcome. What is it with us that we have stopped singing it and other songs of hope and struggle and solidarity. And that we haven't learned to sing it in Spanish along with De Colores and Gritare and other songs. Hearing Pete Seeger sing We shall Overcome before the inauguration should have been enough to stir up our singing souls--so that we can be strong and joyous in the battles for the lives of the precious children of God who live in the streets of Managua