Liberation Theology: Poverty

"A friend linked me" to this simple but fantastic interview with Father Gustavo Gutiérrez, "Remembering the Poor". Fr. Gutiérrez speaks briefly on the teachings of Jesus Christ as a liberation theology through the lens of poverty as an injustice. You should read it :]

Some ideas that it discusses(quotes are the words of Fr. Gutiérrez):

"There was a time when poverty was considered to be an unavoidable fate, but such a view is no longer possible or responsible. Now we know that poverty is not simply a misfortune; it is an injustice." ‎"An active concern for the poor is not only an obligation for those who feel a political vocation; all Christians must take the Gospel message of justice and equality seriously." - Let it be known, that this IS what Jesus taught. esus did not teach to do anything other than love others, and especially those in most need of our, and God's, mercy.
- "Matthew 25:34-45 (NIV)":
' The King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
- Whether you believe in a God, reincarnation, any form of enlightenment, or no god at all, this is real living. I do not claim to live it; even though I try. But those few moments in which I do, I do not wish to live any other life than that of helping those in need.

"In a rich and powerful nation, the challenge is to remember the poor and not succumb to ethnocentrism."


Inspiration:
"Remembering the Poor: An Interview with Gustavo Gutiérrez"
BenHammond.org

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Mark Twain Wisdom

‎"When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not; but my faculties are decaying now, and soon I shall be so [old] I cannot remember any but the things that never happened."

Mark Twain

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Dave Gibbons - Xealot(Trailer)

"God has not made me rich, but God has given me life, and that life is what I can give to people, and if I don't give my life to those people, there
is nothing else that's worthy of being given."

‎"Well, we're dead already, so we might as well give our lives for a just cause."
- That is, everybody will die. When will we stop being selfish? Nothing we take for ourselves lasts beyond our lifetime, no matter what. Everything we give to anybody else, however, can have lasting effects that we cannot comprehend, in our human condition.

Source Blog: davegibbons.tv/



Xealot(Full): http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=xealot&aq=0

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The Dad Life

Show the dads in your life, if you haven't, already!



Good stuff :]

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Prioritize Your Passion

Inspired by "This Is Why All Your Goals Are Bad For You" by Penelope Trunk.
"Start leading a conscious life" is key. I think the most important part of this post is Take action where your passion lives. However, what seems to be necessary to do that is to figure out what your passion(s) is(are). And what seems necessary to do that is to figure out what you enjoy doing as well as what is worth being passionate about. There are many, many things that we enjoy doing, but we unfortunately seem to enjoy entertaining ourselves the most. I think it is safe to say that the vast majority of the American population becomes passionate about goals that aim to allow them to entertain themselves and their family more.

Some good clean fun and relaxation is certainly imperative, and the amount of time needed is different for everybody. However, there has to be a cap on it, and leading one's life with that goal being the biggest is not very healthy. In fact that goal should be one of the smaller ones, if not the smallest.

I have "seem" in italics because in reality, entertaining ourselves has its uses, but it certainly doesn't do the job like maybe loving others or receiving love from others. What would be totally great would be to combine goals you are passionate about WITH goals to lift others up and help them reach their goals as well. In fact, over time I think we would find that the goals would not only merge smoothly, but they would begin to take on characteristics that don't reflect so much of the first set of goals. After all, doesn't helping other help us much more overall?

Related posts: "What the world needs now is love...", How Much Is Enough?

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Give and Then Give

GhostwritingUncovered.com posted her personality type that TypeAlyzer.com(no, that's not a type) derived from her website. I thought that was pretty neat; I wanted to check it out!

Now, I'm not a fan at all of Zodiac horoscopes, silly MySpace bulletins, or chain mail that tell you that you are exactly the same as everybody who has the same color eyes, birth month, favorite color, or car as you do. However, TypeAlyzer.com bases their analysis on what YOU have written on your blog. They have pre-written descriptions. Nevertheless, the description they shot back to me was strangely accurate:

"The gentle and compassionate type. They are especially attuned their inner values and what other people need. They are not friends of many words and tend to take the worries of the world on their shoulders. They tend to follow the path of least resistance and have to look out not to be taken advantage of.

They often prefer working quietly, behind the scene as a part of a team. They tend to value their friends and family above what they do for a living."

The slash-throughs represent what I don't quit e agree with. I am a friend of many words. The problem is that I don't brainstorm before I post on here. I should, but I don't. I get an idea and I get so excited that I just want to write it and post it. The problem is I often forget to write down many, many things, or as I am writing I think of more and more and I can't organize it enough to stick them all in. It's a bad habit, especially for a future English teacher lol. I'll work on it.

I wouldn't say that I carry the world's "worries" on my shoulders, because I don't like the word "worry". Worrying says that you are irrational. If I was "worrying" about something, that would mean that I see a problem and want to fix it, but cannot see what I can do about it. The rational thing to do would be to try and figure out just what I can do. If I find that I indeed cannot do a thing about it, at least at this particular point in time, then I would stop fussing over it. I would not forget about it, but worrying will only waste time and energy and frustrate the worrier. Chances are, though, that if a worrier stops and thinks about what a possible solution is, they will be able to do at least something about it. They, alone, may not be able to solve the problem, but then most important problems are not solved by a single one of us.

Finally, I slashed "above what they do for a living". Now, I DO agree with it, but I felt that it needed further explanation. I plan on leading a very meaningful career. I won't begin influencing and being influenced once I get clock out, and why should I? Now, I know that many people are not so quite as free to be so picky. I only wish that those "in power"(we are really in power) wouldn't create the illusion that we have to find work, any work or we'll die. I wish they would quit exploiting us, but then, I also wish that the masses would quit allowing themselves to be exploited. If it came down to it, though, any one person is more important to me than a job, or food, or clothing, or shelter.

About the image: The phrase at the bottom of it says a great deal: "Live and then give". It would be even better, though, if it was "Give and then give". It is absolutely wonderful if you are an organ donor. I am one, too. It is not, however, enough. It would seem odd to me if a person live in total disregard for those around him, but chose to donate his organs once he or she died. While we are living, we can also give to the living. While we are living we can save lives with our living words and actions. Once we are dead, then we can save lives with our dead-person words and actions(quotes, memories, pictures & organs).

Related posts: Prioritize Your Passion, Best Day of My Life, How Much Is Enough?, "What the world needs now is love..."

Does your online life reflect your real physical and mental self? If no, what are you going to do about it? If yes, does your real physical and mental self reflect truth? Do you save lives?

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