If Christians are not to be at home in an empire characterized by sexual sin, greed, and violence, the authors ask what should the Kingdom look like? They proposed a life lived where the peace of the victim of an empire is spread, where community is lived, gratitude is practiced, and worship proclaims that Christ not Caesar is Lord of our lives. Practical suggestions the authors give include - pledging our allegiance to Christ not to the empire; investing as much each year in the hurtings present needs as we do in our future retirement; paying attention to where our food comes from and what's in it; setting up food co-ops where you can get food produced as locally as possible, in environmentally responsible ways, and that seeks to do justice to the producer of the food; be ecologically responsible by reducing our use of cars and start walking. biking, or using (or lobbying for) public transit; be good stewards of the ecosystem and stop dumping diapers (for babies or women) into the landfills (and hence streams and rivers). How do you react to those suggestions? What else could you add?
Labels: Colossians Remixed, Reflections, Social Justice
At 4/23/2007 09:38:00 PM, gerbmom
had to fix something....sorry.
And shudder that I am coming to the same lifestyle conclusions as the fundamentalists but for completely different reasons
Yes, but you aren't demanding people stop their "obviously" incorrect practice in the name of the Lord or denigrating them for their choices either. There is a distinct difference. You are just following your convictions and raising a healthy, responsible, socially conscious child. I applaud your decisions....
I think in this, as in many other things, you have to pick your battles. None of us can do everything. We just can't. It's impossible to live like that anymore because the infrastructure is so tilted against us. So we have to choose the things that are most important to our families and do those. Pick one or two to focus on until they become habits and ingrained. Then pick one or two more to focus on. But if you try to do them all at one, it's like swallowing an elephant in one gulp.
And (after Easter, of course!) I found a site with directions for dying brown eggs with pictures of the beautiful, but more earthy tones you get. So ... next year ... socially-conscious Easter eggs for us ;-) I found a cool site that had directions for dying eggs using food (such as onion skins)
Make small treats with your daughter; popcorn balls, pull taffy, rice krispie treats, cookies, etc.
There are ways to participate in the general goings-on that allow your conscience to rest, but also give you some connections with what everyone else is doing too.
In any case, no matter what you decide, I agree with gerbmom ... you are following your convictions and raising a healthy, responsible, socially conscious child. I applaud your decisions ...
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