I
just received an email invitation to join one of our many community groups for a
social evening of meet and greet networking. During the evening people can
write out their suggestions on how to improve the community and then those
suggestions will be categorized and “…given to those entities who have the ability to read those
suggestions and make the necessary changes to put them in place.” The
reality is that individuals don’t need a surrogate to carry their suggestions,
they can go directly to the entity themselvs. Even people of faith can easily fall into a similar mind set thinking they need others to carry their burdens and petitions
— Saint Christopher, Mary the mother of Jesus, Mother Teresa. The writer of
Hebrews reminds us that through Jesus we have direct access to God, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time
of need” (Heb 4:16 NIV).
1 comment:
Gail;
-----Sometimes surrogates are important. These two times you discuss they’re not so much. The whole process of meet and greet in which suggestions to improve the community are submitted sounds highly suspicious. That suggestions will be carried “to those entities who have the ability to read those suggestions and make the necessary changes to put them in place” underlines the suspicion. But as close as it sounds to community organizing, it really doesn’t smack of it. The process of community organizing doesn’t seek to change community aspects immediately; it seeks to change community hearts, which will change community aspects.
-----Community organizing sounds good, but being a tool of fascism is its problem. Left-wing ambitions use it to stir up unrest amidst sentiments of “improving the community“. It is unfortunate that the godly have not discovered the effectiveness of community organization to stir up some peace, goodwill, and loyalty to the truth into improving the community. But the truth of the matter is, it takes a lot of funds to organize communities, and the only organizations funded well enough to do it are the militant, left-wing political organizations with designs on transforming communities rather than improving them. We can do quite well without left-wing surrogates.
-----Chari often phones the county road maintenance department with locations of various potholes around. They usually seem to get filled within a few weeks. She got a little miffed at the conditions of some of the street/railroad intersections last Summer. I don’t know who she called, but they actually asked her if she would visit all of these intersections across town and inform them of their relative conditions. I think maybe they tried to burden her heavy enough to silence her, but she did her homework, then kept regular at follow-up calling until finally that mess at La Salle was fixed and the Main Street crossing was smoothed out. She doesn’t need surrogates. That’s why she’s mine.
-----But surrogates won’t help where this community needs improvement. I remember the ballot measure for building a new wreck center was voted down. Seems that after that there was another vote I didn’t get to participate in, and now my tax money is being used to build the wreck center my community voted down. Seems there’s some truth problems about needing traffic lights stopping traffic on vacant intersections throughout the night so nobody gets hit by God’s fresh air moving through the empty intersection, while traffic lights were completely eliminated from the busy and now confusing Main St/Cascade Ave intersection. It seems our community’s good senses in general and sense of honesty-to-the-vote could use some amount of improvement. But how do you write that on a suggestion paper, and who do you give it too? Too bad the godly can’t do some community organizing to change a few “ community heart aspects” like these.
-----But in the end, communities are made of people, and people are somewhat more than short of perfect. So it will do for now. And I can actually be joyful in it. For the most important and greatest of all surrogates and community organizers is soon to set foot on the Mount of Olives. Thenceforth communities will be peaceful, benevolent, and true to their members.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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