In chapter 2 of God's Politics, Jim Wallis writes about the call that we have to change the wind:
Many of us believe that by replacing one wet-fingered politician with another we can change our society. But it never really works, and when it doesn't we get disillusioned. . . . You change a society by changing the wind. Change the wind, transform the debate, recase the discussion, alter the context in which political decisions are being made, and you will change the outcomes.
He goes on to place this idea in historical, spiritual & contemporary contexts:
[There is] a fundamental principle--that history is most changed by social movements with a spiritual foundation.
. . .The lack of vision in public life and the emptying out of values that visionless leadership creates lead to a politics of complaint, . . . and complaint becomes our dominant political discourse.
Ruah is the word for the wind of God in the Old Testament. . . . I am convinced that we can make key "wind changing" or pardigm shifts on a wide range of issues. . . . The truth is that most of the important issues for social change in America have been fueled by religion--progressive religion.
. . . Issues such as the strength of family life, the meaning of work, the health of neighborhoods, the well-being of children and the shame of child poverty, the moral tone of "entertainment", the truth telling of public officials, the quality of moral content of education, the equity of health care, the stewardship of the environment, and the consistency of foreign policy with expressed national values are all deeply held moral concerns at the heart of contemporary political issues.
As i read through this chapter, I can not help but think of some of the wind changers that I have met:
Lyra Harris is on a year-long mission with the Episcopal Young Adult Service Corp. in Neuva Esperanza, living with a local family and working on a variety of community projects. She writes: Half way through the service a young girl appeared next to me, squeezing onto the end of the pew. She held a lollipop and keep smiling at me. As much as I am tempted to narrate the experiences I know I will fall short. It is impossible to describe the amount of beauty and sorrow, the feelings of being alive in the world, letting the world touch you and mold you. Being open to it all. So, I will continue to write hopefully interesting letters, but you too can do this! Just stand in the rain in the middle of a thunderstorm, or learn another language, or watch a sunset from the top of a mountain, or read psalm 16, or talk to someone you normally wouldn't, or swim in the ocean, or get swept up by a crowd and dance in the street.
Rudy Carrasco is the executive director of the Harambee Christian Family Center in Pasadena, California. For 14 years, since graduating from Stanford University with a BA in English, Rudy has focused on indigenous leadership development at Harambee and beyond. Founded by Dr. John Perkins in 1983, Harambee Center offers Afterschool, Summer and Teen programs for African American and Latino children and youth. Harambee Center has received numerous awards including a 2003 Neighborhood Award from the Coalition for Zero Violence, a 2003 Best Practices in Children's Ministry Award from Teaching Like Jesus Ministries, a 2001 John Anson Ford Award from the Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations, a 2000 Digital Steppingstones Award from the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, and a 1999 Peacemaker Award from the Community Nonviolent Resource Center. The entire staff of Harambee Center, as well as many of its volunteers, live in the immediate community surrounding the center, in an effort to be good neighbors as well as incarnational servant leaders.
When you spend time with wind changers like Rudy or Lyra or the millions of others like them, you can literally feel Ruah blowing over you, the winds of hope toppling the castles of fear & cynicism.
As the ol hymn goes "....well the saints of God are just folk like me and I mean to be one, too....."
FYI
http://emergent-us.typepad.com/emergentus/2005/04/on_faith_and_po.html
Posted by: bill | Wednesday, April 13, 2005 at 11:01 PM