So what can we each do, in our own lives and in our own realms of influence, to practice the rule "Do No Harm"?
The prayer that Finley invites us to pray can open us to the Holy Spirit, helping us to discern:
God of love and grace, when our anger, indignation, indifference, or greed cause us to want to do harm, give us strength and courage to resist. When we think you are asking the impossible of us, give us the mindfulness and strength to do no harm. Amen. (p. 17)
Health care is in a crisis here in the US. It is heartening to know that Vanessa Sylvester is going to a White House forum on Health Care in Burlington VT on Tuesday to support Universal Single Payer Healthcare Reform. Her actions and the actions of others like her, may contribute to "sanctifying" the state of health care in the US.
In his book, God the Economist, M. Douglas Meeks notes that, "whereas most of the (liberal) tradition has assumed health care as a right, health is now widely regarded as a commodity to be bought and sold." (pp. 5-6). This is an "economy" in stark contrast to God's economy where healing is a basic assumption, "And the people, when they knew [where Jesus was going], followed him: and Jesus received them, and spoke to them of the kingdom of God (God's household, God's economy), and healed them that had need of healing." (Luke 9:11).
Although John Wesley did not work on the front lines of the abolition movement, he helped William Wilberforce learn about the kingdom/economy of God, and it was from this basic assumption (not working from the economy of the world around him, that "depended" on slavery) that Wilberforce spearheaded the abolition movement. Read more here in Wesley's letter to Wilberforce, http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/wesley/wilber.stm
Personally, I know that I, on my own, am not capable of doing "no harm." As Paul writes in Romans 7:15 and 1, "I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate." It is only through our complete reliance upon and our surrender to God's will (God's kingdom, God's economy) and the power of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ who reconciled us to God through his crucifixion and resurrection - only through relying on God can I begin to "do no harm."
Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind....and you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 22:37-39). In doing these things, in praying to be empowered to love God and our neighbor, we are open to being ministers (servants) for God: healing, loving, releasing the prisoners, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked... unconditionally and abundantly, even wastefully. The economy of the world, right now, is an economy marked by scarcity, fear, and idolatrous reliance on money. It is an economy that benefits a few and truly oppresses the many. Perhaps one way we can begin to "do no harm" is to pray about the impact we allow the economy of the world to have on our souls, our relationship with God, and our relationship with others. If fear consumes us, it's hard to "do no harm". One way to "do no harm" is to refuse to buy into the fear induced by headlines, and to commit ourselves to believing God's promises. When Jesus gave the sermon on the mount, he urged us not to spend time in anxiety and fear, but to "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." (Matt. 6:28-29) This isn't Pollyanna-ish. Rather, it subverts the dominate paradigm of greed and fear that drive our current economy. (Do you agree, or disagree?)
Psalm 1:1-2 looses a little in translation from Hebrew to English. In Hebrew, Torah translated here as "law" means the whole teachings of God (God's kingdom and economy), and those who delight in the law (teachings) of God are those who meditate (or a better translation of the Hebrew word hagah might be study, or recite, murmer). (How can meditating on God's word give us delight, today? Can it?)
Finley asks us to "Reflect on Psalm 1:1-2 in terms of the admonition to do no harm." What are your insights from this reflection?
We pray this week for "the power and courage to do no harm and to intercede for the victims of harm.
Those who do no harm "are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither." Psalm 1:3a
Books and resources I am finding useful include:
Friedman, Thomas L. Hot, Flat and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution - and How it Can Renew America. 2008. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. NYTimes Review
Jennings, Theodore W. Good News to the Poor: John Wesley's Evangelical Economics. 1990. Abingdon Press. Mixed Reviews at Amazon.com
Meeks, M. Douglas. God The Economist: The Doctrine of God and Political Economy. 1989. Fortress Press. Review from Theology Today
I hope these are useful for you, and please share others with us! To help this blog be more of a conversation, you can respond to the questions I've posted, or post your own, using the "Comments" function.
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In response to the quote/prayer: "God of love and grace, when our anger, indignation, indifference, or greed cause us to want to do harm, give us strength and courage to resist. When we think you are asking the impossible of us, give us the mindfulness and strength to do no harm. Amen."
ReplyDeleteThis is so timely and potentially relationship-saving for me. Never before in my 45 years have I had anger issues, and now that they are leaking out I have no skills to deal with them. When I read this prayer, it was as though it were written just for me (which it was!). The idea is repeated at the end of the article with the addition of "intercede on behalf of those victims of harm".
I think this needs to become a mantra for me, posted on my refrigerator and all about my house!
Unfortunately, with regards to the "Lilies of the Fields" ideas, I do my very very best to practice this in my life and it DOES give me great comfort. However, not to bring up a naive and cliche argument, but I have not been able to resolve it to the millions who die in famine. To a certain extent, like with war, I can see human "free will" behind it, preventing what God (and other countries provide as relief) from reaching those in need. But I wonder is that answer good enough?
Thanks so much, and I am practically devasted that I've been unable to attend the first few meetings!
Dee - Thanks for sharing these insights! And thank you for posting your thoughts. Please be gentle regarding attendance... we can hold that lightly! Your reflections here have been very helpful. Thanks again.
ReplyDeletePeace, Desi