I CARE ABOUT YOU. These words appeared on a sign being held aloft by a peaceful demonstrator at Occupy Wallstreet. There is a radical message in this statement. To look someone in the eye and say that you care, creates an immediate sense of commitment and connection; a recognition of a person's humanity, vulnerability and interdependence.
Congress is once again in grid lock. They spend hours talking at each other, when they should be listening to the people their decisions may effect adversely. What continues to disappoint me is the inability of public servants to work from a personal moral compass that acknowledges that the power and influence given to them in a democracy is a privilege that must not be abused.
My spirituality and my political views are inseparable. In seminary, I identified how my relationship with God and Christ informed my progressive politics. The historical Jesus would demonstrate with the sign "I CARE ABOUT YOU"--the man of God who stood up to oppressive Roman rule and religion that was leaning too heavily on law and too weakly on grace. The prophetic messenger from Galilee who said, "Come to me you who are heavy with burdens and I will give you rest", is supposed to be the role model for all the Christians in Congress; over 88% of the membership. Imagine if they asked themselves the proverbial question, "What would Jesus do?" I can tell you with confidence it would not be pepper spraying the peaceful demonstrators and balancing the budget by stealing the hard-earned social security and Medicare benefits of our senior citizens.
What would Jesus say about a system that always has money to bailout banks and engage in wars, but can't seem to help 24 million Americans looking for full-time work, or the 47 million Americans who need government aid to eat, or the 15 million families whose mortgages are upside down, or the 50 million Americans who cannot afford to see a doctor when they are sick?
It is time to use our influence, regardless of our place in this American democracy, to show that we do care about each other. A Seventh-Day Adventist pastor in Budapest, Romania, Adrian Bocaneanu, describes influence as "...a privilege obtained on the basis of real interest in human affairs, systemic observation, serious thought, courageous opinion, and responsible interactions with society." I see the Occupy WallStreet movement as the use of influence to give hope to those who feel powerless by exercising the liberty and freedoms we all too often take for granted, and speaking a clear message to financial powers and government leadership that EVERY person does matter, not just a privileged few.
Transforming hope into a morally-driven domestic policy is something we all must support.
Rev. Dalene Fuller Rogers
(The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of other members of the Organ Mountain Institute for Spiritual Growth)
