Generosity and Forgiveness

Hard to predict the future, so many possibilites and so many unknowns. Whether it is choosing the Super Bowl winner (and 50-50 proposition) or choosing the next U.S. President (a far lower percentage chance at this stage of the game) the future remains unknown and unknowable. One of the things that is concerning to me is the fate of healthcare legislation. Will it be declared unconsituttional on the whole or just in parts? Will a Republican President see the need to embrace the "least and the lost" and provide some sort of safety net? If the government does not step in to right the inequity in the provision of healthcare, will the private sector/social service non-profits be able to step in? Maybe it will be some new combination of the above? Where do faith communites and belief in something beyond ourselves enter into the equation? Some groups have begun programs to help those less fortunate. Many of these are faith communities. I read with interest an article in the January 25th issue of the Christian Century. The article is entitled, "Pay Pals" and describes an accountability group setting where money is pooled together and debts are paid off. By working together and pooling resources (and practicing honesty and accountability, generosity and forgiveness) people unlearn their destructive spending habits and get out from under high interest credit card debt. Other groups have formed micro-lending organizations to promote businesses, especially minority and women owned. Ethnic groups have long done this by funding and supporting same ethnicity businesses and political campaigns. This got me wondering about the future of this country. Will we continue in our individualistic and hyper-competitive mindset which leads us to continue to try and take over the world either through inequitable commerce policies and practicies or through the military-industrial complex? What if we could truly get back to the ideals of working together in small communities (possibly faith communities but it wouldn't have to be exclusive) for the betterment of all? What if we worked on knowing our neighbors well enough to know when they were in trouble and then banding together to help them out (think of a barn raising in an earlier time). This will take a major mindset and heart change. We have the resources to not only get each of us out of debt, but with some work and tough decisions, to get the U.S. out of much if not all of its debt position. It will take generosity and forgiveness, however. Two tenets of faith that are underpracticed and underappreciated in today's society. It will take the generosity of those most fortunate (many more than the 1% of the Occupy movements) who can work in accountability groups large and small to help those in debt. It will also take a large portion of forgiveness both personal and communal in order to see the process to its successful completion. These are G-d sized tasks, and it will take a G-d sized committment and faith to see them through. The question is...do we have the individual, commmunal and national dedication and devotion to making this happen? The future is so hard to predict...so many unknowns. Peace for the journey, Dan