The Common Good

I need to rant a moment, go with me on it!

I’ve been thinking a lot about what the world would be like, and how we’d all be different, if everyone truly pursued the common good of one another.  I’m frustrated that that notion seems so idealistic and impossible. I’m disappointed that something so easy to be understood and applied, has become so fuzzy and unpracticed in our daily relationships and living–to everyone’s detriment.

I wonder if our current condition as human beings–of falling so short, so often, from actually living for the common good of one another–disappoints God. I wonder if the cross isn’t God’s cosmic way of saying, “if you didn’t get the ‘common good thing’ yet, do you get it now?” For God, no sacrifice seems too great to ignore the common good of all.

Is it possible, we’ve unintentionally overlooked a gigantic piece of what is so central to being human, because we see it as being overly simplistic for a much too complex world?

Work and Leisure Time

In a study on how we use time, Dr. Matthew Sleeth has discovered that in the last twenty years, the amount of time we spend working has increased by 15% and our leisure time has gone down by 33%. 

With all of the timesaving devices we use today, shouldn’t we be better off to goof off more? To put it in perspective, during the middle ages, people–in addition to Sundays–had 115 days off a year. and you???

Singers of the Human Spirit

It’s no secret that U2 is my favorite band. Their music has always had a way of inspiring me at a deeper place; it’s more then just great music or entertainment. Bono, U2′s lead singer, translates lyrically for me how I want to see the world. With U2 there is always hope, transcendence, depth, and redemption.

Sometimes Christianity has been often more inclined to see the darkness in humanity rather then seek out the good. The belief that humanity has fallen so far from God’s original intent, often causes us to forget that humanity is made in the image of God.

Bono inspires me because he doesn’t seem to be distracted in this. He carefully and passionately looks for the good; I love that! Bono, had these words to say about Billy Graham [another on my list of most inspiring people], Bono says…

“At a time when religion seems so often to get in the way of God’s work–with its shopping mall sales pitch and its bumpersticker reductionism–I give thanks just for the sanity of Billy Graham, for that clear, empathetic voice…part poet, part preacher–a singer of the human spirit.”

Bono & Billy G, Singers of the Human Spirit. Make anyone else wanna’ sing? Me too!