Helping your neighbor

Economics is the social science dealing with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. In “Economic and Moral Progress” Mohandas K. Gandhi states that Jesus was the greatest economist that ever lived, and then relates the parable of the rich young ruler who comes to Jesus and asks what he must do in order to inherit eternal life. Jesus responds with the basics of the commandments that are summed up in the phrase “do unto others as you would have done unto you.” When the young man replies that he has done these things from his youth, Jesus asks him to give up his riches in order to help the poor, and the young man walks away. The young man was left with looking at the starkness of a life lived by rules rather than the freedom found in love for one’s neighbor.

There is a difference between morality and ethics. Morality is an internal compass that woos us to the beauty of a life lived fully and well – both for ourselves and for those around us. Ethics is an external set of rules established to justify ourselves by – a method of proving we are good, and having something to point at that confirms it. We have a moral obligation to help the poor, because of our interconnection, and because if we sit in the stillness long enough we will hear the truth that we are connected in a grand design where harmony and love are meant to echo from the very atoms we are made of to the vast reaches of the outer galaxies. People alone have the capability and the consciousness to think and reason and grapple with the idea of morality – plants don’t have it, animals don’t have it, the planet doesn’t have it. And that is where our moral obligation lies – in the fact that we are human and are capable of grasping the enormity of our responsibility because of our place in the universe. There is a certain dignity and glory that we have as people that is not found in any other living thing, and when we squander the opportunity to help our fellow human beings, we miss out on the riches of a life well lived, and the relationships that come with that. Quite literally, we help ourselves when we help the poor - not only in food and clothing and shelter – the basic necessities of life – but also in helping them see the inherent dignity creation has bestowed upon them.

I agree with Gandhi that economic progress does not necessarily equal moral progress because of what I experienced at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />..Bayside.. ..Church.. in ....Granite.. ..Bay..... When I first started attending Bayside, they were meeting in the gym at ....Granite.. ..Bay.. ..High School.... – people knew each other and we were connected. We began to grow, and decided to raise funds to construct our own building. When the time came to move into the building church attendance exploded – we were having 3 services on Sundays, and an evening Saturday service. A myriad of ministries were started, among them a homeless shelter for women and children called Acres of Hope in Placer county. I was on the planning committee and was interviewed for the assistant director position. During this time I lost my job, and the job I found afterwards was not enough to pay my rent and I was on the verge of eviction. When I went to the person who eventually became the Director for Acres of Hope and explained my situation, she said they would not be able to help me. Then in the next two weeks I heard the people I had been volunteering with talk about getting hired on as staff and how they were buying new cars and were in the process of looking for new homes. I was devastated. I ended up with my daughter at ..St. John’s.. Shelter for Women and Children, and from their moved to ....Serna.. ..Village..... I found hope and help and encouragement from the people in these organizations, and it’s because of their looking at me as a valuable human being that I was able to pull my life together – yes, they helped me with food and clothing and shelter, but they also gave me the opportunity to grow and understand my value as a person.

It is very humbling to be homeless, and to have people speed up in their cars as you are crossing the street, or call you names because you are on foot in the neighborhood by Loaves and Fishes. Now that I have my basic needs met, I have become the liason between ....Serna.. ..Village.... and the outer community as a part of our resident council, I have written and received a grant from the First Five Foundation for $5,000 to build relationships between families with children ages 0-5 in the North Highlands/McClellan area where I live. If Bayside had helped me, I would have used my abilities to help them, and they missed out on a great opportunity to be a part of what is happening in my life and in the lives of those around me.

I’ve been to Bayside since then, and have listened to how they are they are growing their church and their power base and I weep when I think about the people who are honestly looking for God and getting lost through the cracks that I fell through. I want so much to believe in this Jesus that I read about in the Bible, but my experience with the church has made it difficult for me to do that. From my perspective it seems that it was so easy for people to send money and serve in a ministry than to get involved in the messiness of the lives of those around them. They couldn’t even reach out to help someone who was literally their neighbor because they were so busy with the Acres of Hope project and the status and money they were receiving for doing that project, that they lost touch with that inner moral compass that should have told them they had a human being with worth and value right in their midst that they could help in a real and tangible way. Unfortunately they squandered that opportunity.

So I agree with Gandhi – economic progress does not equal moral progress – if moral progress is loving one’s neighbor as one’s self. The money Bayside generated caused the people I was in contact with to lose touch with a tangible opportunity to live that out. I wonder what this Jesus they talk about will have to say about their moral progress when all is said and done.