The news from the earthquake in Haiti permeates our media and our hearts.  When we turn on the television there are images of death and destruction, and for some loss and despair.  At times like this hope can seem hard to grasp.  Andrew Brown is a former classmate of mine at California Lutheran University; his numerous trips to Haiti have greatly impacted his life and deepened his faith.  I was able to ask him a few questions about his experiences.  I hope that his answers help to paint for you a living picture of the country and it’s people.  Please read on as Andrew helps us to see into the heart of Haiti.

How many times have you been to Haiti and what did you do while you were there?

Andrew: I have been to Haiti on four different occasions.  My first three trips I took to Haiti were work trips focused on building an orphanage, hospital, and school for children living just outside downtown Port-Au-Prince.  My last trip, however, was to visit friends and film their stories for a documentary.  All of my trips to Haiti have been extremely humbling experiences and root my life again in Christ’s work.

What is your favorite memory from your time there?

Andrew: Where to begin.  I think my favorite memories are the times I get to share with my Haitian friends.  Leonard is a Haitian man who works as a “Taxi driver” in Haiti.  He is usually our driver when we are in Haiti working or visiting.  Leonard is the kindest man I have ever met.  The times I have been able to share with Leonard fill my life with purpose to be a better person.  You often hear him shouting the Lord’s praise in song on our car rides or simply shouting, “No problem!!!”  Each time I have been to Haiti he has kindly opened his home to my friends and I.  It is somewhat dangerous for a Haitian to open his house to white people as it puts a target on them as being rich, or privileged.  Leonard does not care.  We are his friends.  And he opens his home for us because God called us to do so.  The faith Leonard demonstrates is often incomprehensible.

My other memory, although a little more difficult to understand are the times I have spent in hospitals and orphanages.  Holding children who are very ill or massaging lotion onto the dying.  I never realized how my hands, how my presence, could soothe a crying child, or calm a dying man.  I get to be Jesus for a moment and feel the presence of him through my hands.  Those little moments are always in my heart and resonate with me whenever pain and sadness exist.

How has your experience in Haiti impacted your life?

Andrew: The relationships I have built with Haitian friends over the years continues to impact my life everyday.  Many of the men and women I have met have very little by world standards.  But yet I find myself being called to become a better person because of the faith they have in God.  It has caused me to remember their faces and in time of trial praise God for all of the blessings in my life.  The people of Haiti have instilled a sense of urgency to serve.  Since the moment I arrived in Haiti, I have not forgotten their faces or their smiles.  I feel called to give my time, my talent, and my gifts to the Lord who has created me.  The people of Haiti have taught me what it means to love unconditionally, and to have faith in a God who’s plan isn’t always prevalent.

What is one thing we should all know about the people of Haiti?

Andrew: The people of Haiti are some of the most incredible people I have ever met.  They have literally been plagued by corruption, famine, poverty, and injustice for 200 years, and yet continue to love each other and their country so much.  The people of Haiti are good.  They will give you the shirt off their back, even if it is their last.  Haitians are the hardest working people I have ever encountered.  They will prosper and they will succeed.

Have you personally heard any updates from people you know in Haiti? Would you be willing to share?

Andrew: I have a very close friend who has been working in Haiti since Thanksgiving of 2009.  I received word this morning through Facebook that she has been working around the clock at a make shift outdoor clinic.

From her Facebook: “I know very little other than I am ok. We are working through the night at an outdoor clinic. 3 hours of sleep since the incident. I have to be honest it is kind of terrifying to be here. It is a total battelfield. My heart races all the time. Thanks so much for your prayers.”

Other than Joanna, I have heard various reports of other friends in Haiti being safe, but the news is very scarce.  It could be many days before I am able to really understand the gravity of loss to the great people of Haiti.  Their words are piercing.  But God is good and in control.

How does your faith affect your response to the recent earthquake in Haiti?

Andrew: I think in any time of catastrophe, our faith is challenged.  We ask ourselves, “why do bad things happen?”  I don’t know that I have that answer, but I do know that God is good.  Faith is something you cannot see, and the basis of faith is to trust in the Lord in times like these.  That is what faith is built for, times of darkness and hurting.  So although it can become easy to question God and His plan, your faith grows exponentially in times of trails.  God allows us to suffer because it unlocks our ability to love unconditionally.  When we struggle we are able to love without question.  We come together, separate our differences, and remember the common good of humanity.

Is there is anything else that you would like to offer?

Andrew: “‘I may have lost a loved one, but also I may have lost my country.’ You feel so sad, terribly sad. Everyone does. But Haiti’s the kind of place where people develop an incredibly strong will. The motto of Haiti is ‘L’union fait la force’: ‘in unity there is strength.'”  -Haitian-born American novelist Edwidge Danticat

If you are comfortable, would you please write a short prayer that readers could pray for the people of Haiti?

Andrew’s Prayer: Father, the people of Haiti are hurting.  They are crying out in pain asking for your healing.  May your hand come down on them and provide them the strength they will need to rebuild their country.  May you comfort those who have lost everything.  Father, may you sing praise through the streets of rubble that Your will be done and you are present in every corner of their country.  Father, give strength to the rescue teams.  Father, bring compassion to the world and give us the desire to share our resources necessary for healing and rebuilding.  Just be present Lord.  In any way.  Haiti needs you.  The world needs you.  May we remember the unconditional Love you give us in these days of hurt.  Be with us now and forever. Amen.

Andrew currently resides in California; he is still a member at the church where he grew up, Calvary Lutheran Church, Golden Valley, MN

You can help make a difference today. Please consider making a donation to help the ELCA’s efforts in Haiti. We are currently working with the Lutheran World Federation. Our partners in Haiti have survived the quake and are already working on the ground. Please make all donations directly at www.elca.org/haitiearthquake. You can also read more information and download bulletin inserts for Sunday here. Thank you for your gifts and your prayers.

~Lana

When you think of hunger, what images come to mind? A line of people waiting for a meal at a soup kitchen? A bony African child pounding grain near a cook-fire? A man standing in a dry, cracked field? Something else entirely?

When we see such images, we naturally want to help. One important way to do so is to provide desperately needed relief: food, water, shelter, etc. Such immediate assistance is critical. Another important way to help is to ask how we got here and what can we do about it. Why are so many people waiting for a hot meal? How much will the dangerously thin child get to eat after spending precious energy pounding grain? What happened to destroy the man’s field and what are his options now?

There are many contributors to hunger, and they often interact in complex ways. But addressing the root causes is critical to ending hunger. My posts over the next several weeks are adapted from something I wrote a few years ago. They will introduce some of the reasons that hunger is such a tenacious problem. This first post is the longest; thanks in advance for your patience!

~~~

The Millennium Development Goals
In September of 2000, the 189 member states of the United Nations unanimously adopted eight goals that would, if accomplished, dramatically improve the lives of poor and hungry people throughout the world. To get 189 politicians to agree indicates the importance of these goals! Each one addresses an issue that affects hunger in the world. So for the purpose of this series of posts, the Millennium Development Goals provide a useful framework for considering many of the primary causes of world hunger.

 Millennium Development Goal 1:  Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.

It doesn’t really get more direct than this! If someone pressed you against a wall and demanded to know the one cause of hunger, “poverty” would be an excellent answer. Obviously, people have to eat to live. So people with means will gladly buy or grow food. Meanwhile, people lacking means either can’t get food, or find that skipping food is a lesser problem than skipping something else – such as paying rent to retain shelter, paying for fuel to stay warm, or paying for child care to retain a job. In developed countries like the United States, where food is generally plentiful, hunger is frequently experienced as food insecurity. Food insecurity is “the limited or uncertain availability or ability to acquire safe, nutritious food in a socially acceptable way.” For people with inadequate income, food may be the necessity most easily skipped near the end of a pay period. That leaves people unsure how they will eat for a few days each month or periodically between jobs. In other words, they experience hunger. But as bad as it is, it could be worse. Because food is available in developed countries (there are farms, gardens, grocery stores, restaurants, etc.) and social support programs often exist, debilitating hunger and starvation are not widespread.

The same cannot be said everywhere. Poor individuals in many developing countries have it even worse. They suffer from chronic food insecurity, meaning they lack adequate food supplies not just periodically, but most of the time. Imagine this: you live in a developing country, you have very little income, and so you want a job. The thing is, there aren’t any. There’s very little infrastructure and even less industry. With almost no industry, no one is hiring and unemployment rates are very high. Besides, you are illiterate. The nearest school is miles from your village, and you were not able to go as a child. Your labor was needed on your family’s small farm. What’s more, you have periodic bouts of malaria that leave you bedridden and weak. There is no health clinic nearby or medicine to help. So even if there were jobs, you’d have a hard time getting or keeping one. When you’re well and strong enough, you still work on the farm, but the nutrients in the soil have been depleted and it produces less food each year, and you have no money to buy fertilizer. Or crop yields are low or fail altogether. Or stored food has run out and new crops are not yet ready for harvest. Most of your neighbors live under similar circumstances. All of these obstacles contribute to your poverty, and consequently, your hunger.

On an individual level, food may be unavailable or unaffordable. But widespread poverty is usually the result of systemic national problems.  On a national level, such issues as unstable or corrupt governments, insurmountable national debt, trade barriers, war, disease, insufficient infrastructure, and detrimental environmental practices all contribute to poverty and food availability with a country. (Several of these will be topics of later posts in this series.) In countries lacking the resources to address national problems, poverty and hunger persist. At both an individual and national level, hunger cannot be stopped without also addressing poverty.

-Nancy Michaelis

“Young, Asian girls for sale” the sign read—a sign taped to the traffic light post at the corner where I cross the street to go to work for the ELCA Justice for Women program during the week. The sign had an address listed with pull-off tabs like you see on ads for garage sales and mismatched furniture, not for people.

I had heard about human trafficking, I had seen specials on television about it, and I had even taken a job to help work for gender justice and against trafficking, but even in all that I didn’t expect to be confronted by a sign advertising girls, like me (I am a Korean adoptee) for sale in my nice, seemingly safe, middle class Chicago neighborhood.

January 11 is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Human trafficking, or modern day slavery, is the second largest and fastest growing illegal trade in the world where people are in bondage through fraud, force, or coercion. Trafficking can and does affect people of every age, gender, ethnicity, and class from every country, including the United States.

Here are some essential facts about human trafficking:
+ 12.3-27 million: people trafficked worldwide. (U.S. State Department and Free the Slaves)
+ $32 billion: total market value of illegal human trafficking (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
+ 70 – 80%: percentage of human trafficking victims that are women and girls (U.S. Department of Justice)

During the month of January, you can help end human trafficking by:

1. Raising awareness about human trafficking in your congregation and community.

Start by visiting the ELCA Justice for Women program website (www.elca.org/justiceforwomen) for worship resources, a bulletin insert, workshop sessions for youth and young adults, and more.

2. Contacting your legislators today through the ELCA Washington Office “E-Advocacy Network” at http://ga6.org/campaign/humantrafficking/386ggesrv7dwmte8?.

Human trafficking is a pervasive, destructive reality that reduces people to commodities to be bought, sold, and abused. Though it is currently a frequently hidden crime, you can help bring trafficking and its perpetrators out of the shadows and into plain sight.

“Consider it. Take council. Speak out.” (Judges 19: 30b)

Thank you.

Peace,

Mikka

ELCA Justice for Women Program Intern

…my true love gave to me a blog retrospective! Here are 12 posts from last year that are worth seeing again (or reading for the first time!):

Most viewed: October 2, 2009, “My final post about stuff (I hope)” and April 28, 2009, “Amextra responds to swine flu”

Forgettable but Enjoyable (Nancy M’s favorite): “At what age did you get eyeglasses?”

Most whimsy: “A little whimsy”

Post that needed more replies: “Songs that inspire” (Well? What songs inspire?)

Personal favorite: “Thanks for the tarps”

Best poem: “My heart is moved by all I cannot save”

Most Resourceful: “Some hunger ed resources”

Most Embarrassing: “Last Friday’s dinner”

Most “Arrrr” Rated: “It’s a living”

Most Self Referred: “How we eat matters”

Best Fundraising Idea: “Skip a latte. Make some change.”

Merry Christmas and happy reading!

-David Creech

At midnight last night, my brother, father, and I set off sparklers by the light of the blue moon.  Like a few million other people in our time zone, we counted down the minutes and then the seconds until the new year began.

New Year’s Eve used to be the only time of year we really thought in seconds. But as everything in our life speeds up—as work days extend to 24/7, as we tap our fingers impatiently for the few seconds it takes to download an email or a web page, as deadlines shorten to yesterday and demands on our present escalate—the seconds and minutes of our present moment are overwhelming our ability to think about the future. Just when we need to get to work creating one that doesn’t kill ourselves or our planet!

Many times when Christians talk about the future, they think about life after death. About 25 years ago, I was standing behind an ironing board in front of a Walgreen’s in Chicago, gathering signatures for an anti-nuclear petition. After listening to my heartfelt pitch, a young woman responded, “As Christians, shouldn’t we be hoping the world will end, so that the reign of Christ can begin?” In 1984, this left me speechless; now I would quote Bonhoeffer: “It may be that the day of judgment will dawn tomorrow; in that case, we shall gladly stop working for a better future. But not before.”

One way to enrich our ability to engage the future might be to begin the new year by contemplating the long, long, LONG view of the future espoused by the Long Now Foundation, formed to “provide counterpoint to today’s ‘faster/cheaper’ mind set and promote ‘slower/better’ thinking.” Its proposed 10,000 Year Clock “ticks once a year, bongs once a century, and the cuckoo comes out every millennium.” “The point is to explore whatever may be helpful for thinking, understanding, and acting responsibly over long periods of time,” says cofounder Stewart Brand. (Remember the Whole Earth Catalog?)

A prototype of the 10,000 Year Clock in San Francisco (see the photo above) introduced me to the possibilities of seeing time as slow and spacious rather than fast and crowded. It seemed to fit nicely with Amitai Etzioni’s call for a cultural megalogue “about the relationship between consumerism and human flourishing,” which I got all excited about in this post. Changing our imagination of the future might change the way we value it, which in turn might change the way we live in our present, and help our society shift away from consumerism.

For how we see time has a lot to do with how we consume. In the New York Times, Damon Darlin recently noted that frugality—poor, maligned, unfashionable frugality—is actually the practice of an optimist. “If you expect good things in the future, you’re inclined to save money for that event. If you are a pessimist, you might as well spend everything now.”  Change the word money to environment, and these sentences still ring true.

Can you imagine how our day-to-day choices might impact the children of our children’s children’s children? My son is only 22. Being a grandmother is something I can hardly imagine. But if I start taking those distant progeny for granted, I might live differently.

Ten thousand years—are you ready?

Anne Basye, “Sustaining Simplicity”

Over the weekend, I saw the movie Up. In it, the boy, Russell, is telling the old man about times spent sitting on a curb, counting cars with his father. He says, “It might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most.”

It’s not a bad message with which to end a year and start another. Many of us will look back at 2009 and say, “good riddance!” After all, it has not been an easy year. And many will look forward with grand resolutions and hopes for big changes in 2010. But despite the upheavals, surprises, and proclamations that generally attend life, looking back, it may well be the daily routines and simple times that mean the most. So, what boring things marked your life and were memorable to you in 2009? Please leave a comment and share! Here are few of mine:

– walking my daughter to and from school (until it got too cold)
– curling up in our big chair with a hot cup of tea and a good book
– sitting in that same big chair with my daughter, making up stories
– cooking the vegetables from our CSA box each week (and I’m still cooking them, truth be told…)
– watching the local news on TV with my husband at the end of the day

I recently read a book by Forrest Church, who said something like, “If you pray for what you already have, your prayers will be answered.” Indeed, I will pray for these happy, boring routines! Respite, renewal, and meaning are available in small snippets every week if we only remember to notice and embrace them.  They give balance and perspective to the more exciting parts of life, which may be what it takes to get us through.

Wishing you a new year filled with “boring,”
Nancy Michaelis

I started researching what to blog about today by looking at my twitter feed to see if any news stories or aid organization’s post would catch my eye. I was drawn to a slew of articles about Iran’s recent protests. As I read through the articles I began to think about how striking the Middle East is and my passion for learning more about the region…

As an undergraduate I traveled to Turkey with a group of fellow students in search of what we thought would be Saint Paul’s footsteps. As beautiful as the city of Ephesus and the view from Assos were, their echoing of Paul was not the lesson that I brought home. Instead, it was a lesson by another faith. I was mystified by Islam. My two weeks in Turkey took my preconceived notions and turned them upside down. I felt welcome as a Christian to commune with Muslims, maybe this sounds odd, but what I mean is that I discovered the love that runs through our two faiths and connects us. Shortly after my trip, I began to take classes on the Middle East and do research into the similarities and differences between the two faiths. I began to think about all the good that could be done in the world if we were confident enough in our faiths to show love to someone who was “different.”

My thoughts entrenched; I turned back to my twitter feed. I continued to scroll down where I found a new post by The Charter for Compassion. I followed to their feed and clicked on a TED talk link. A man from Pakistan spoke to his audience in India about peace, passion, raising people from poverty – Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Nepalese people – and providing them with healthcare. He made a point of talking inclusively, treating his fellow humans with respect.

I started my research thinking about human rights and protests and ended thinking about compassion and inclusion. When I think about the work of ELCA World Hunger and our partners, like Lutheran World Relief and The Lutheran World Federation, I think about the value of human dignity. I think of the programs that support rehabilitating prisoners into viable members of society, the donations that make it possible to supply relief seed for crop growth, the dedication of three pastors to ride across the country in the name of doing away with hunger, the micro-credit lending that creates opportunity in the face of poverty and the soccer balls given to kids as play helps put a smile on their face. When we talk about development and relief work we are not just helping people who believe in the exact same way that we do. We are walking with God’s children around the world, whether they know Him as we do or not, because we are called to love, and this love moves! We do not educate and advocate simply on behalf of the Lutherans or even the Christians, instead our Christ-filled hearts look wider, seek further and touch deeper than ourselves.

The Charter for Compassion begins…

“The principle of compassion lies at the heart of all religious, ethical and spiritual traditions, calling us always to treat all others as we wish to be treated ourselves. Compassion impels us to work tirelessly to alleviate the suffering of our fellow creatures, to dethrone ourselves from the centre of our world and put another there, and to honour the inviolable sanctity of every single human being, treating everybody, without exception, with absolute justice, equity and respect.”

In this Christmas season we have been given Jesus, let us show His light to the world. Working with and for others does not mean denying who we are or what we believe, it simply means giving the best of what we have.

I was listening to Christmas carols the other day when I reached three conclusions: I would NOT want to be Mary, I don’t particularly like the song “Mary Did You Know,” and it’s probably a good thing most of us don’t know.  In case you’re not familiar with the song, here are a few lines of the lyrics:

“Mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am.”

First, I’m guessing Mary had a clue something was up, what with the virgin pregnancy and all. So she probably did know – or at least suspected. But secondly, what horrible things to say to a new parent! As if you’re not worried enough about your new, helpless baby and the tremendous responsibility of caring for him. You wouldn’t relax for a second if you thought your baby boy was Lord of all creation! What if you made a mistake? What if you *gasp* dropped the sleeping child, the Great I Am?! As he gets older, do you try to teach him right and wrong, mold his values? Or do you assume that, as heaven’s perfect Lamb, he already knows better than you and you should just try to stay out of the way? How would you begin to raise such a critically important person?

I wouldn’t want to be Mary because I don’t think I could handle the stress of the job. There’s an Amy Grant song that includes a line where Mary questions whether God wishes He had picked someone more worthy. I think I would feel that way every day. I find parenting hard enough with just a regular kid. Which is why I don’t really like the song “Mary Did You Know.” Maybe her baby boy “will one day walk on water,” but is it necessary to keep to harping on it to poor Mary, who is probably worried enough already? Why not just tell her she has a beautiful, exceptional child and leave it at that? Let her carry on with the hope that not knowing allows…

~~~

Working to end world hunger can be difficult and disheartening. There is always a need, and most root causes are systemic and interconnected, and therefore slow to change. Even when everyone agrees there’s a problem, opinions about priorities and approaches can vary broadly, making meaningful change difficult to even start, let alone achieve. Health care reform in the U.S. is a current case in point.

And then there’s my own participation in some of those systems, and the weariness I sometimes feel as I try to make the “best” decisions. Is it better for the environment to repair the old, less efficient dishwasher, or buy a new one that’s more efficient, but that required additional raw materials to make? How were the raw materials acquired? How do the various manufacturers treat their employees? Arguably I shouldn’t have a dishwaher at all. But I want one. When is it okay to buy what you want, even if you don’t need it? Weary, I tell you.

But then other times, we see how the work ELCA World Hunger is funding has made a significant difference in a community, or in shaping legislation, or building understanding and fostering a passion for change. And then I feel the satisfaction and hope of knowing that we have changed things for the better. And I have faith that we can continue to change things if we keep working at it.

But the same way I think Mary is better off not knowing exactly what her child will be, I think we’re better off not knowing exactly when or how things will change. In not knowing, there is neither complacency nor helplessness. There are not expectations that scare into paralysis. Instead, there is room for hope. There is room for faith and the motivation to keep trying, because the breakthroughs – small or large – could happen anytime.  There is the understanding that ending hunger for even one person is an improvement worth striving for.

Christmas is a time of hope and anticipation. May we feel these great gifts woven throughout our lives: in our parenting, in our faith, in our work, and in our fight against hunger.

Have a very merry Christmas,
Nancy Michaelis

I read an interesting article in the NYT Magazine this last Sunday about Robert George, a professor of jurisprudence at Princeton University and leading thinker in conservative Christian circles.  One particular paragraph caught my attention.  Professor George was advising Catholic bishops against talking about the various “social justice” policy issues they had been advocating for.  Instead, “They should concentrate their authority on ‘the moral social’ issues like abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and same sex marriage, where, he argued, the natural law and Gospel principles were clear.”

Now, I don’t want to touch any of those divisive topics, but I must say that I was troubled by the suggestion. First, if we as the church were particularly effective and unified in our concern (and our expression of that concern) for those who are poor, maybe we could direct our attention to other “moral social” issues (and I think there is room for debate for just how clear the Gospel teaching is on the issues he identified).  The problem is, as reported in the article, after his speech to the bishops, they abandoned their push for universal health care and focused on making sure the abortion provisions in the bill were to their liking. Second, I find the clearest Gospel teaching (I mean this in the broadest sense, including the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Christian tradition) to be related to issues of justice for those who are poor and vulnerable.

Which brings me to the issue of Christian identity.  For any of you who have been following Hunger Rumblings for the last year or so, you know that I would like to see the church’s identity be located in its concern and care for those who are poorest and most vulnerable (I’ve written about it here and here).  I see this as faithful to God’s activity throughout history, beginning with Israel, continuing through Jesus’ mission and ministry, moving into the early church and on into the present day.   To be sure, the church must find its voice in other relevant “moral social” discussions (for the ELCA’s stance on the issues mentioned by George, see this and this and this).  That said, what will we speak loudest about?

Pulling out and washing shelves and crispers, wiping sticky bottles, checking expiration dates and putting everything back neatly in the refrigerator gives a person time to think. So I pondered lots of things yesterday, as I began to make good on my Christmas promise to give my sister a day of cleaning help.

I thought about my agenda, which is to get people to see things differently—to question why they are driving to a nearby store, or turning on a faucet and turning away to do something else, or buying something they don’t need—so they will imagine and practice alternatives like walking or car sharing, respecting water instead of wasting it, or considering the environmental and social impact of the entire lifecycle of a product instead of just exclaiming over its low, low price.

Those thoughts led me to remember an idea I once read about: the idea that a truly “advanced” society stops being mesmerized with tangible “stuff” and invests its assets in intangibles like education, personal development, the arts—so that instead of having homes full of extraneous gewgaws, we have fully developed and expressive people.

Someone has articulated this concept very concisely—someone whose ideas are in a folder in a banker’s box on a shelf in a shed on a farm in Washington State, along with all the rest of my stuff. Alas, that someone is still a mystery—but my internal musings on this subject triggered me to type “hierarchy of needs and consumerism” into the world’s favorite search engine, and lo and behold, up popped a FANTASTIC article along these lines: “Spent: America after Consumerism” by Amitai Etzioni, published in The New Republic last June. Click here to read the whole thing, or consider this Anne-made summary:

Responding to the current economic crisis, Etzioni says that reforming our economy requires us to get over consumerism (“the obsession with acquisition that has become the organizing principle of American life”) and internalize and act on a new “sense of how one ought to behave.” Etzioni’s two candidates for replacing consumerism are communitarian pursuits and transcendental ones.

To Etzioni, communitarianism means “investing time and energy in relations with the other, including family, friends, and members of one’s community” and includes community service. However, it’s not centered on altruism, but mutuality, “in the sense that deeper and thicker involvement with the other is rewarding to both the recipient and the giver.” (The two-way street of engagement is an important part of the methodology of mission called accompaniment that the ELCA uses in global mission.)

Transcendental pursuits are something Lutherans understand: “spiritual activities broadly understood, including religious, contemplative, and artistic ones.”

In order to urge people to skip the mall and go hiking or cook a meal together, we have to help people see that limiting consumption is not failure, but “liberation from an obsession.” And the way to do so is through “moral megalogues.” Etzioni says that societies are constantly engaged in mass dialogues over what is right and wrong that focus on one or two topics; recent topics include “the legitimacy of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and whether gay couples should be allowed to marry.”  (Since June: health care.)

“Megalogues involve millions of members of a society exchanging views with one another at workplaces, during family gatherings, in the media, and at public events. They are often contentious and passionate, and, while they have no clear beginning or endpoint, they tend to lead to changes in a society’s culture and its members’ behavior,” says Etzioni.

What Etzioni calls “the megalogue about the relationship between consumerism and human flourishing” is just beginning, but could get much bigger if “public intellectuals, pundits, and politicians” started to focus the megalogue on this subject and invite people  “to reconsider what a good life entails.”

Forget the wine, the gift cards, the sweaters—this article is what I wanted for Christmas! Now I see how small individual steps, humble articles, blogs with small audiences, church basement discussion groups on simple living can ramp up a megalogue that can shift our society!

I close with my new hero, Professor Etzioni: “Societies shift direction gradually. All that is needed is for more and more people to turn the current economic crisis into a liberation from the obsession with consumer goods and the uberwork it requires– and, bit by bit, begin to rethink their definition of what it means to live a good life.”

Go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born, and that the good life is about to be redefined!

Anne Basye,

A great communitarian activity: cooking New Year's Eve supper together

“Sustaining Simplicity”