Free will's best use. . .

"To many people, free will is a license to rebel not against what is unjust or hard in life but against what is best for them and true."

Dean Koontz,

The Darkest Evening of the Year

Those words rose off the page as I read. What a line!

How many times have I seen their awful truth lived out among young and old, friends and strangers, especially the poor.

I can't explain all of the reasons back of this social phenomenon. And, while the principle doesn't apply to everyone, there being numerous notable exceptions to its harsh truth, I can't count the times I've seen the reality at work.

It is as if a strange power works in the inner city among the poor.

Rising out of a conspiracy that intensifies the negative impact of

. . .substandard housing arranged row upon row, street by street;

. . .failing public schools that remain the only option for the children of the poor;

. . .code violations that go ignored;

. . .crimes that go unattended, except in the case of drug abusers who need treatment but get prison;

. . .diets bounded by a lack of access to nutritous food products at reasonable prices;

. . .too few jobs that pay far too little to make life work;

. . .an unrelenting message that nothing can really change and the fact that those who make the decisions about policy and resource allocation always find a reason to vote against those at the bottom and the edges.

After a while, after a generation or more, it is hard to move forward in a positive manner.

Result: It is as if people believe the lies told against them, about their true selves and, in response, set about in all sorts of self-destructive acts of free will, often almost to prove up the negative assessments. Rather than rising up against the forces, circumstances and rules of their oppressors and critics, they freely strike out at themselves and their peers, making life all the more difficult.

I think of a wonderful 15-year-old girl who was about to deliver her first baby. "Now I'll have someone to love me and someone to love, Mr. Larry," she explained to me as if she had hit upon her destiny.

Or, the young man hooked on drugs and trying to live beyond his criminal past, unable to make any progress over more than a decade spotted with the same sort of self-defeating rebellion, as if he was living out some prediction about his life he had grown up expecting to come true.

My list, virtually endless.

People who haven't been "there" don't get it and, frankly, don't really seem to want to understand, often using the negative track records of such personal behavior as evidence of the truth of their stereotypical methods of assessing people. Once in place, this negative feedback loop becomes nearly impossible to interrupt.

The sad, powerful truth behind Koontz's line is the reason why community building and including individuals intimately in the life of a group are so central to any effective effort at urban renewal. People who are "hooked" on a group, who belong to something beyond themselves have a much greater chance when it comes to the productive use of free will. When poor people get organized, the world changes. Leaders emerge. Attitudes change. Sometimes anger rises. Health seems within reach.

Nothing is easy about the task, but communities can organize against the forces that defeat and press them down. Communities call individuals to account, to a higher standard of performance, to something better, and not in some limited, narrow, moralistic manner, but in ways that actually change the world. Communities drive change both in their environments and in the lives of their members.

Free will is an incredible gift whose best and highest use is discovered in that which is both best and true for individuals and for their groups.

It is why we work.

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Sunday Meditation: Consider the poor

Blessed is he who considers the poor;
The LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.

The LORD will preserve him and keep him alive,
And he will be blessed on the earth;
You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.

The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness;
You will sustain him on his sickbed.

Psalm 41:1-3 (New King James Version)New King James Version (NKJV)
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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So, go ahead, change the world!

Not long ago I ran across a provocative essay entitle, "Ten Commandments For Changing the World," written by organizers and community activists Angela Bischoff and Tooker Gomberg.

The intent of their advice was to offer tips on where to begin, how to create and maintain momentum and enjoy the process of working for change in and among communities.

As they put it, "Changing the world is a blast. It's all the more achievable if you have some basic skills, and lots of chutzpah. With apologies to Moses, and God, here are our top ten commandments for changing the world."

Here is their list of "commandments" for community workers and leaders who want to change the world:

1. You Gotta Believe. Have hope, passion and confidence that valuable change can and does happen because individuals take bold initiative.

2. Challenge Authority. Don't be afraid to question authority. Authority should be earned, not appointed. The "experts" are often proven wrong (they used to believe that the earth was flat!). You don't have to be an expert to have a valuable opinion or to speak out on an issue.

3. Know the System. The system perpetuates itself. Use the tools you have. . . . Learn how decisions are made. How is the bureaucracy structured? Who are the key players? What do they look like? Where do they eat lunch? Go there and talk with them. Get to know their executive assistants. Attend public meetings.

4. Take Action. Do something -- anything is better than nothing. Bounce your idea around with friends, and then act. Start small, but think big. Organize public events. Distribute handbills. Involve youth. It's easier to ask for forgiveness after the fact rather than to ask for permission. Just do it! Be flexible. Roll with the punches and allow yourself to change tactics mid-stream. Think laterally. . . . Don't get hung-up on money matters; some of the best actions have no budget.

5. Use the Media. Letters to the editor of your local newspaper are read by thousands. Stage a dramatic event and invite the media -- they love an event that gives them an interesting angle or good photo. Bypass the
mainstream media with email and the Web to get the word out about your issue and to network.

6. Build Alliances. Seek out your common allies such as other community associations, seniors, youth groups, labour, businesses, etc. and work with them to establish support. The system wins through "divide and
conquer," so do the opposite! Network ideas, expertise and issues through email lists. Celebrate your successes with others.

7. Apply Constant Pressure. Persevere -- it drives those in power crazy. Be as creative as possible in getting your perspective heard. . . .

8. Teach Alternatives. Propose and articulate intelligent alternatives to the status quo. Inspire people with well thought out, attractive visions of how things can be better. Use actual examples, what's been tried, where and how it works. Do your homework. Get the word out. Create visual representations. Be positive and hopeful.

9. Learn From your Mistakes. You're gonna make mistakes; we all do. Critique -- in a positive way -- yourself, the movement, and the
opposition. What works, and why? What isn't working? Find out what people really enjoy doing, and do more of that.

10. Take Care of Yourself and Each Other. Maintain balance. Eat well and get regular exercise. Avoid burnout by delegating tasks, sharing
responsibility, and maintaining an open process. Be sensitive to your comrades. Have fun. As much as possible, surround yourself with others (both at work and at play) who share your vision so you can build camaraderie, solidarity and support. Enjoy yourself, and nourish your sense of humour.

Remember: you're not alone!

Embracing poverty. . .

Whenever I am looking for inspiration and grounding to "stay at it," I turn to Gustavo Gutierrez. His classic, first published in 1971 as Teologia de la liberacion, Perspectivas, is where I usually begin. Of course, I read the English version, A Theology of Liberation (Orbis Books, 1973).

Gutierrez has inspired millions and shaped a major theological interpretative movement through his writing and teaching. Not everyone buys his "liberation theology," but for a boy reared to take the Bible seriously and, at the same time, disillusioned by the typical and traditional responses of organized religion to the pain and suffering of the world, Gutierrez provides a haven for escape and reflection.

From my perspective anyone who seeks to provide leadership from a faith perspective to people or organizations seeking both to relieve communities from the burdens and barriers created by poverty and oppression and to revitalize such communities, his words are must reading.

From the paragraph that follows, consider his definition of "poverty" and his insights as to what will be involved in embracing it.

Gutierrez redefines "sin" in such a way that we can no longer ignore poverty, its causes or its consequences and still make a credible claim to be the people of God. Gutierrez forces us to face the fact that we are called to do much, much more than simply "help the poor." We are called in the Gospel to do battle with all the forces that keep people poor and that create poverty and oppression.
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Poverty is an act of love and liberation. It has redemptive value. If the ultimate cause of human exploitation and alienation is selfishness, the deepest reason for voluntary poverty is love of neighbor. Christian poverty has meaning only as a commitment of solidarity with the poor, with those who suffer misery and injustice. The commitment is to witness to the evil which has resulted from sin and is a breach of communion. It is not a question of idealizing poverty, but rather of taking it on as it is--an evil--to protest against it and to struggle to abolish it. As Ricoeur says, you cannot really be with the poor unless you are struggling against poverty. Because of this solidarity--which must manifest itself in specific action, a style of life, a break with one's social class--one can also help the poor and exploited to become aware of their exploitation and seek liberation from it. Christian poverty, an expression of love, is solidarity with the poor and is a protest against poverty. This is the concrete, contemporary meaning of the witness of poverty. It is a poverty lived not for its own sake, but rather as an authentic imitation of Christ; it is a poverty which means taking on the sinful human condition to liberate humankind from sin and all its consequences (Page 172).