Feeling Compassion

I would rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it.
Thomas Aquinas

Work for Food That Endures..

"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." JOhn 6:27

""My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.." John 4:34

Compassion and Justice Learning Community

PCC's Compassion and Justice Learning Community welcomes people who are intested in learning together, praying together, humbly serving together, as we demonstrate the love of Jesus to the least of these in Redwood City. We desire to live out our Christian mandate to LOVE GOD and LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR.

As Mother Teresa so beautifully puts it:
“I wish to say that every person must be concerned with the welfare of his neighbours. It is a duty of charity. We must show our love for all men and women who are God’s children and, so, are our brothers and sisters”“We can not show our love for God whom we can not see and who is in need of nothing except by loving and serving our neighbor who we see and love as God’s child”

OUR COVENANT
1) GATHER with other Christ followers
2) READ & REFLECT on scripture and books related to the poor
3 ) SERVE – Acts of Compassion – individual service and group service (1-2 hours a week)

For more details on our community at Peninsula Covenant Church in Redwood City, please check out the other posts in this blog or contact me at virginiahuffman@yahoo.com

Be Rich Towards God

Mt 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Well I can tell you where my heart and mind have been. Struggling with the pull of the material world and the Everlasting Kingdom. It is so true that my heart, mind, soul and energy are given to things that don't last. I have to constantly realign myself with God's priorities and it' so hard. I am glad to finally be in community with people who are also on this journey towards Kingdom values. I am glad I have to give an account and am trying to immerse myself in the Word which brings me life and proper perspective.

As I am thinking more and more about the poor, I am seeing things in scripture through a new lens. For example, last night I read Luke 12:15-21. It's the parable about the rich man whose land produced abundantly. He had an excess crop and instead of asking God what he should do, he hoarded it, tore down his old barn (which was probably still useful) and build a bigger better barn. If he had done so today, he probably would have hired an interior decorator to make sure it matched his house or consulted the latest version of Pottery Barn to make sure it looked vintage yet new and oh so cute. Maybe he would have been highlighted in "This Old House" magazine or sponsored a Sunset Magazine Tour.

What I had not seen in this passage before is not that he simply hoarded and built bigger barns bu that he failed to share with the poor. He was not "rich towards God" and God took his life that very night and he was not able to enjoy it nor pass it on to another. So how do we respond when we have and overflow? Say $10 or $10,000? Many times I just spend it on myself, buying again more things that will not last. Somehow it seems easier for me to pray about the bigger amounts than the everyday $5-$20 expenditures. But that adds up too.
Lord, please help me be rich towards you!! Help me to spend my money toward Kingdom purposes.

Luke 12: 16-21
And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' 18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." ' 20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Jesus Does Not Want Your Spare Change

I have been surfing the web for video clips and other dynamic resources for our Compassion and Justice Learning Community. Alas right before bedtime I found a great resource you should visit called The San Damiano Foundation http://www.sandamianofoundation.org/

Click on www.myspace.com/sandamiano -- The PROMO video is on the right side of the page with a picture of a man driving a car. The phrase that is etched on my brain is, "Christ is not looking for us to give our spare change, he's looking for us to give our lives." Hmmm I guess that will require some self investigation and trasformation. It kind of goes along with a book I am reading called "Compassion" by Henry Nouwen. It makes me realize that I think of compassion as a feeling, being moved by someone's sufffering -- shedding tears. True compassion is being with people in their suffering and may include doing something more. It requires more of a sacrifice than just shedding tears and moving onto the next task on my "To Do" list.

Acts of Compassion can be inconvenient but in acting compassionately we uncover a bit of His Kingdom here on earth.

Rethinking Ministry to the Poor

The books I am are reading are stacking up and as usual I am reading three to four at a time. They're all so compelling and if I can not find one in my home somewhere I can pick up the one that is closest at hand. Here's an excerpt from "Compassion, Justice and the Christian Life — Rethinking Ministry to the Poor " Author John Lupton is an innercity warrior and veteran servant to the poor.

"The effectiveness of our efforts to empower the poor could be significantly enhanced if, prior to launch, would-be helpers would take the following pledge:
I will never do for others what they have (or could have) the capacity to do for themselves.

I will limit my one-way giving to emergency situations and seek always to find ways and means for legitimate exchange.
I will seek ways empower the poor through hiring, lending and investing and use grants sparingly as incentives that reinforce achievements.
I will put the interests of the poor above my own (or organizational) self-interest even when it may be costly.
I will take time to listen and carefully assess both expressed and unspoken needs so that my actions will ultimately strengthen rather than weaken the hand of those I would serve.
Above all, to the best of my ability, I will do no harm.

For more info on John Lupton's ministry click on http://www.fcsministries.org/up/

Rich in Good Deeds

How rich are you?

As I was wondering through fellow sojourner Tony Gapastione's blog I clicked on a website I had never seen before http://www.ministryofmoney.org/ . As I continued clicking through I came upon an interesting survey that beconed me to enter -- it asked: How rich are you? I entered in our annual income and it showed me how rich our family is compared to others in the world. To some it may build their ego to see themselves on the top of the heap. For me it was embarrassing and disheartening as I see how much I have compared to others in the world and as I am reminded that "to whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48). Check it out for yourself. http://www.globalrichlist.com/

What is more important in God's upside down kingdom is that I am RICH in GOOD DEEDS. Hmmm lets see how did I spend my morning .... shopping I must confess... for things I don't really need.

1 Tim 6: 17-18 "Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Dear Lord -- help me to put aside those things that do not last, those things that carry me away from your will for daily living -- help me to consider the poor and to expend my life on their behalf rather than chasing idols that do not satisfy.

Raising up an Army of LOVERS of God and Suffering People

Just finished this book today "The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical" by Shane Claiborne. WOW! Food for thought -- and I'm not talking baby food. Claiborne's life is revolutionary and challenging. He's provocative and sure to cause many Christians to be angry at some of his comments on the church and how it's lost it's calling to serve the least of these. Don't throw this baby out with the bath water. Read and pray about how you would live in light of how he presents ordinary albeit radical Christian living.

The following quote summed up what I hope will happen in PCC's Compassion and Justice Community:

"We are trying to raise up an army not simply of street activists
but of lovers -- a community of people who have fallen des-
perately in love with God and with suffering people and allow
those relationships to disturb and transform them." p. 296

AMAZON REVIEW From dressing the wounds of lepers in Calcutta to living among the homeless in Philadelphia to visiting families in Iraq, social activist Claiborne strives to live an authentic Christian life. In his view, he is a radical in the truest sense of the word, returning to the roots of Christianity by living as Jesus did and doing "small things with great love." A partner-founder of the Philadelphia-based faith community Simple Way, he presents an evangelical Christianity gentler and more inclusive than is usually seen, especially in the mass media. He describes Simple Way as a new culture that relies on radical interdependence and consists of grassroots organizations, intentional communities, and hospitality houses. Although the book isn't an autobiography, in it Claiborne reports much about his life: growing up in the Bible Belt, becoming a Jesus freak, moving to Philadelphia despite his family's misgivings, and helping the homeless there. Then he boldly requested an internship with Mother Teresa in Calcutta. She simply responded, "Come." Besides illuminating his own faith journey, Claiborne is insightful on the huge U.S. cultural and economic divide: the problem isn't that wealthy Christians don't care about the poor, he says, it's that they simply don't know the poor. A moving, often humorous account of a life of faith lived to the fullest. June SawyersCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Rich Chrisitans in an Age of Hunger

Here is one book the Compassion and Justice community will be reading that will challenge our faith, our time and our pocketbook. The review is from Amazon.com.

Midwest Book Review Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger is written for our times, when every day more than 34,000 children die of starvation and preventable diseases, and 1. 3 billion human beings live in relentless, unrelieved poverty worldwide. Why is there still so much poverty in the world? Conservatives blame sinful individual choices and laziness. Liberals condemn economic and social structures. Who is right? Who is wrong? Both, according to Ronald Sider in this newly revised, expanded and updated edition of Rich Christians In An Age Of Hunger. Sider explains that poverty is the result of complex causes, and then he presents practical, workable proposes for change, proposals that should be taken up by every man and every woman who seeks to deserve the title "Christian" and to apply and to follow the teaches of Jesus of Nazareth in the modern world. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Book Description Do you want to make a true difference in the world? Dr. Ron Sider does. He has, since before he first published Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger in 1978. Despite a dramatic reduction in world hunger since then, 34,000 children still die daily of starvation and preventable disease, and 1.3 billion people, worldwide, remain in abject poverty. So, the professor of theology went back to re-examine the issues by twenty-first century standards. Finding that Conservatives blame morally reprehensible individual choices, and Liberals blame constrictive social and economic policy, Dr. Sider finds himself agreeing with both sides. In this new look at an age-old problem, he offers not only a detailed explanation of the causes, but also a comprehensive series of practical solutions, in the hopes that Christians like him will choose to make a difference.

Our Scripture Reading Guide

This book will be used for our daily scripture reading and meditation.

Amazon Book Description This book brings together in one place passages from the Scriptures pertaining to hunger, justice, and the poor, along with the concerns of prominent Christian leaders, to challenge us to become proactive in the battle against hunger and poverty.