Conflicting Interests

There's an old saw that goes, "Conflict of interest? It doesn't conflict with my interests!" We are in an age where this is painfully brought home almost every day. Whether it is in conversation with my teenagers, in the news cycle, at church (or any other institution), in our government, or with our poitical candidates, the supremacy of the individual over the group is rampant. This week (possibly today) we will hear the results of the deliberations of the SCOTUS on the Affordable Care Act. Now, this is not by any stretch of the imagination a good piece of legislation overall, it can serve as a template for moving forward. Conflicting interests and viewpoints on the high court might well "throw the baby out with the bath water". How do we manage the needs of the many instead of the few? How do we get to a point where the least, the last and the lost are cared for in a way that distributes our resources justly? How long will it be until there is true collaboration and compromise on the monumental tasks that are in front of us as a people? As long as we're focused on raising money for the next campaign, on doing nothing that alienates us from a Lobby, on what is easy and expedient rather than what is difficult and long-term and right, nothing will change. My conversation with my 18 year old just now about the need to change his worldview from one of procrastination and passive-aggressiveness to one of positivity and taking control is illustrative of the larger malaise in our culture today. There will always be conflicting interests and ideals - differing worldviews and ideas about a way forward. No one has a clear picture of the future or of the way forward. This is why we need to work together - this is how the U.S. has moved forward in the past. All of us seeing the big picture and using our individual wisdom to inform a collective wisdom is how we can solve the issues our individuality has created. Once again, faith communities show us the way to form and maintain right relationships. It is counter cultural and thus effective. Peace for the journey, Dan