Day Two

An interesting observation followed by a well thought out decision surfaced to me while I was getting my seats amidst youngsters-yes I feel as though my 10 year seniority over a good chunk of the attendees gives me that allowance. My observation was this, no longer can I go to this conference and be influenced spiritiually by the emotional and social high of my peers. Instead, I have to inentionally make the deicision to worship out of a pure heart.

Mrs. Green ended up taking me to lunch, and we had a long talk about her daughters-my best friends. Something that never changes with age is that everyone wants to be listened to and receive a socially drawn emotional response to their disclosed woes. So I sit, like with most of my friends, and I listen. I always listen.

For a long time I have been seeking God's will for me in terms of going to Iraq. Its been a year since he first spoke His plans of me going over there. This summer in particular, I have felt disillusioned and disheartened. More specifically I have been asking God for confirmation in these plans. During Shane Claiborne's talk today, God spoke a very direct and almost comical confirmation overy me. Claiborne, in one of the most conservative, military, and Evangelical towns in the nation talked about his time spent in Iraq. September 11th sparked a compassion in him for the Iraqi's suffering as a result of the new found war. Thus he went to Iraq and worked with the local community of Muslims and Christians. While bombs were being dropped on Baghdad, Claiborne along with the local community of Christians prayed for protection over their Muslim brothers. Such examples of community leave me speechless, but also motivates me to do the same. Claiborne spoke from a place of wisdom, humility, grace, and love. He was simple in his message, and powerful in the truth it beheld. I'll finish this long blip with one of his quotes that summarized a good portion of his talk today:

"And that?s when things get messy. When people begin moving beyond charity and toward justice and solidarity with the poor and oppressed, as Jesus did, they get in trouble. Once we are actually friends with the folks in struggle, we start to ask why people are poor, which is never as popular as giving to charity. One of my friends has a shirt marked with the words of late Catholic bishop Dom Helder Camara: ?When I fed the hungry, they called me a saint. When I asked why people are hungry, they called me a communist.? Charity wins awards and applause but joining the poor gets you killed. People do not get crucified for living out of love that disrupts the social order that calls forth a new world. People are not crucified for helping poor people. People are crucified for joining them."
? Shane Claiborne (The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical)