Jim Wallis at Georgetown University

The following is an adaptation of Jim Wallis' commencement speech at Georgetown University on May 20. It is here courtesy of God's Politics, where a full version of the speech and an audio recording are also available. This is really worth taking the time to read, and I am so grateful for Jim Wallis' words. Read and comment away.


Each new generation has a chance to alter two very basic definitions of reality in our world - what is acceptable and what is possible.

First, what is acceptable?

There are always great inhumanities that we inflict upon one another in this world, great injustices that cry out to God for redress, and great gaps in our moral recognition of them. When the really big offenses are finally corrected, finally changed, it is always and only because something has happened to change our perception of the moral issues at stake. The moral contradiction we have long lived with is no longer acceptable to us. What we accepted, or ignored, or denied, finally gets our attention and we decide that we just cannot, and will not, live with it any longer. But until that happens, the injustice and misery continue.

It often takes a new generation to make that decision - that something that people have long tolerated just won't be tolerated any more.

So the question to you as graduates, as ambassadors for a new generation, is this: what are you going to no longer accept in our world, what will you refuse to tolerate now that you will be making the decisions that matter?

Will it be acceptable to you that 3 billion people in our world today - half of God's children - live on less that $2 per day, that more than 1 billion live on less than $1 per day, that the gap between the life expectancy in the rich places and the poor places in the world is now 40 years, and that 30,000 children globally will die today - on the day of your graduation - from needless, senseless, and utterly preventable poverty and disease? It's what Bono calls "stupid poverty."

Many people don't really know that, or sort of do but have never really focused on the reality or given it a second thought. And that's the way it usually is. We don't know, or we have the easy explanations about why poverty or some other calamity exists and why it can't really be changed - all of which makes us feel better about ourselves - or we are just more concerned with lots of other things. We really don't have to care. So we tolerate it and keep looking the other way.

But then something changes. Something gets our attention, something goes deeper than it has before and hooks us in the places we call the heart, the soul, the spirit. And once we've crossed over into really seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting the injustice we can never really look back again. It is now unacceptable to us.

What we see now offends us, offends our understanding of the sanctity and dignity of life, offends our notions of fairness and justice, offends our most basic values; violates our idea of the common good, and starts to tug at our deepest places. We cross the line of unacceptability. We become intolerant of the injustice.

But just changing our notion of what is unacceptable isn't enough, however. We must also change our perception of what is possible.

In that regard, I would encourage each of you to think about your vocation more than just your career. And there is a difference. From the outside, those two tracks may look very much alike, but asking the vocational question rather than just considering the career options will take you much deeper. The key is to ask why you might take one path instead of another - the real reasons you would do something, more than just because you can. The key is to ask who you really are and what you want to become. It is to ask what you believe you are supposed to do.

You do have great potential, but that potential will be most fulfilled if you follow the leanings of conscience and the language of the heart more than just the dictates of the market, whether economic or political. They want smart people like you to just manage the systems of the world. But rather than managing or merely fitting into systems, ask how you can change them. You're both smart enough and talented enough to do that. That's your greatest potential.

Ask where your gifts intersect with the groaning needs of the world - there is your vocation.

The antidote to cynicism is not optimism but action. And action is finally born out of hope. Try to remember that. At college, you often believe you can think your way into a new way of living, but that's actually not the way it works. Out in the world, it's more likely that you will live your way into a new way of thinking.

The key is to believe that the world can be changed, because it is only that belief that ever changes the world. And if not us, who will believe? If not you, who?

Displace Me Promotion at Belmont

T-Shirt Design:





Cardboard Hut in the Quad:



Carboard Hut After Belmont Lawn Patrol:

Posters and Flags Around Campus:

Why You Should Be DISPLACED

1) Above all else, click here and check out the newest media on the front page. The video is shocking and heartbreaking.

"If the U.S. Government desires that this conflict is ended and they desire it at breakfast, by dinner time it wouldn't be there."

2) The solution to the conflict is a REALITY! The ceasefire with the LRA was just reinstated less than two weeks ago. Peace talks began this Wednesday, April 25th. How powerful of a message would it be for the people making decisions in Uganda to wake up on the 29th and read in their newspapers that 100,000 Americans rallied all for the cause of peace in Uganda?

3) A year ago, I witnessed the power of our generation for the first time. People were moved to action upon seeing this video. I saw so many people I never would have thought get so passionate about this movement nearly explode with excitement and energy. I saw the look in people's eyes as they prepared for the Global Night Commute. I stood among the 3,000 in Franklin who marched for 3 miles as one, a single unit in solidarity to bring awareness and peace to this atrocity. I ask you to experience this for yourself. I dare you. It will be life changing. It will give you hope for the future of our world.

4) Because it will be fun. Africa doesn't have to be about triggering emotional responses by showing manipulative pictures and putting somber music behind it. There is an adventure to it.

5) Pete Wence tells you that you should...



6) We need to be reminded that America is not the standard. Not by a long shot. God is with the poor. He hears their cries. Maybe it's time we start as well.

LEAVE YOUR HOME TO BRING THEM HOME
www.invisiblechildren.com/displaceme

GREETINGS OFFICIAL WAR STOPPERS

First of all, if you have not yet done so yet, sign up for DISPLACE ME at www.invisiblechildren.com/displaceme. Invite your mom. Invite your dog. This event will change your life.

Second, it is up to us to PROMOTE (the mom and dog part):

At Belmont, we are all teaming together to wear our WHITE SHIRTS WITH RED X'S on campus WEDNESDAY. Basically, the entire campus should be blanketed with these shirts, and anyone not wearing them will be too overwhelmed that they will have to ask. And then they will come. You need to make the shirt anyway to take a picture with you wearing it for the event, so why not use it as a sign of solidarity on campus?

Also, you might have noticed a nice new decoration on the quad. As long as weather and BePo permits, a cardboard tent will be present as a constant advertisement for DISPLACE ME. It was constructed earlier tonight, and it has already received a lot of attention and caused a lot of attention. Make sure to stop by it and hang out at it when you can this week. We will be there with flyers. Anything we can do to create an enormous buzz is very beneficial.

Get excited, and get involved! The numbers for Nashville have gone up 1,000 in under a week! Let's add another 1,000 by Saturday!!!!

Check out www.invisiblechildren.com/displaceme for all the updated information on the Nashville location.

Remember, no one else is doing anything at all like this to raise attention to the situation in Uganda. NO ONE ELSE IS RALLYING TO END THIS WAR. IF WE DON'T DO IT, NO ONE ELSE WILL!

Thanks

Global Warming a Reality according to UN

Since I just posted about this and got some minor feedback, I thought this would be an interesting post....

Warming 'already changing world'
From the BBC

Climate change is already having major impacts on the natural world, a UN report is set to announce.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) believes there is also a discernible, though less marked, impact on human societies.

The IPCC is to release a summary of its report on Friday but talks on wording have continued late into the night.

Officials said there were differences between various countries on the strength of the language.

China and Russia had also raised concerns over some passages of the 21-page summary, the official said.

The last-minute wrangling is likely to affect the degree of certainty in the final version, the BBC's Richard Black reports, but not the overall direction.

Water shortages

Draft versions seen by BBC News warn it will be hard for societies to adapt to all the likely climate impacts.

The report is set to say that a temperature rise above 1.5C from 1990 levels would put about one-third of species at risk of extinction.

More than one billion people would be at greater risk of water shortages, primarily because of the melting of mountain glaciers and ice fields which act as natural reservoirs.

The scientific work reviewed by IPCC scientists includes more than 29,000 pieces of data on observed changes in physical and biological aspects of the natural world.

Eighty-five percent of these, it believes, are consistent with a warming world.

Read more here...

An Inconvenient Truth

This week is "Belmont Goes Green" week at Belmont, and thus there have been several events to supplement that title. On Tuesday night, I was able to view a screening of Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, his documentary to raise awareness about global warming. I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone that, well...lives on this earth. I think it was very well done (though definately not worthy of it's Oscar bid... just a political statement), though definately overly corny during Gore's back stories that interrupted his lecture. But this is a moral issue, not a political issue. It's a shame and an outrage to me that evangelical Christians are the primary force that are arguing against global warming. Of all groups, we should be the most concerned with this issue. God has given us this planet and made us responsible for it. It's our job and duty to God to take care of this place. I even believe there's a direct connection between the land and our spirituality. The Hebrews believed that everything is spiritual and that somehow there was a connection between the physical and the metaphysical. I happen to believe in our forefathers of our faith as well. Why wouldn't we be concerned about global warming? If it's real, which is pretty much the concensus, then we got some work to do. Even if it's not, isn't it better to be prepared than left with massive death and destructions on our hands? A cleaner earth shouldn't be the cause of debate. It's kind of obvious. But wait, that's gonna cost me something? As I quote directly from a U.S. delegate: "The American lifestyle is not up for negotiation." Wow. I don't understand, even if for some reason you have a logical base against global warming, people (mostly Christians) continually mock and ridicule Al Gore, though. He's attempting to do, what he considers, at least, some good in this world. We have enough people doing terrible things these days, but when someone believes in something so much and is so passionate about an issue that they believe will make the world a better place, as Al Gore is, we should commend them! Or bash them in bible studies. That's the Jesus Way.

One shocking thing I learned: Up until the time Gore was born, all the people on the earth only reached up to 2 billion people. It took from the beginning of the world until recently for the world to see 2 billion people. By the time he dies, the world is estimated to have 9 billion people on it. That's crazy to think about! Where are the resources to cover this increase coming from?

One thing I wished Gore covered more: economics and global warming. He glossed over it with sort of a joke and then later with just blowing it off: "Other countries are doing it." This is a real issue in the global warming debate, and I wasn't really satisfied with how he handled the issue. Give some real life solutions to how U.S. businesses won't have to go bankrupt by having environmentally friendly policies.

THIS IS WHY I'M HOT!

I got my copy of Belmont's student newspaper, The Vision, yesterday, and I instantly looked for the article that my friend, Melanie Bingtson, had written. I have fallen in love with her writing of late, and I thought I should share her article. I don't think she'll mind. She deserves the publicity, anyway :o). So please read on, it is worth it! And I promise you will understand my title.

A World Without Spring

Springtime at Belmont is a beautiful thing. The trees around the quad bloom in vivid green, flowers explode into brilliant colors all across campus, and musicians of every sort crowd the lawns and play their songs until the sun sets.

It’s almost spring here and I can’t help but smile as I step outside my door every morning and feel the warm sunshine. For the last week or so, though, there is a sadness that I can’t seem to get out of my head.

We joke about the “Belmont bubble” but it frightens me how transcendent that idea is. I fall into its trap daily, pretending that this is actually the real world and that the middle-school drama that consumes our lives will have an impact six months from now. I’ve been convicted by this false reality recently.

Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi penned “Mambasa,” a song that asks wrenching questions:

“Tears run dry/We mourn quietly/Death has now lost its meaning/Funerals no longer have the necessary dignity/ Everyone around us is dying/ Who will sympathize with whom/ Since each of us has death in our homesteads daily?/ Who will mourn whom?/Who will bury whom?”

This is the song that plays on the radio in Zimbabwe – not “This is Why I’m Hot” (Mims) or “Beer in Mexico” (Kenny Chesney). Talk about a reality check.

The inflation rate in Zimbabwe is 1,700 percent. The average life expectancy of a woman is 35. Almost 25 percent of the population has AIDS.

Before you think that this is another spoiled American clamoring for help for Africa, finish this column. In all honesty, you can’t do anything to help the people in Zimbabwe. The government – and the country’s destiny – is controlled by Robert Mugabe, a ruthless and selfish dictator who has his opposition brutally beaten and has sworn off the rest of the world. Governments have tried to oust Mugabe through economic sanctions, which have starved the people of Zimbabwe. Economic sanctions are a traditional method to force rogue leaders to change, but they don’t work.

In the last week or so, Zimbabwe has finally broken into the news cycle. Mugabe has cracked down on his opposition, mercilessly beating leaders who have attempted to speak out against him. According to Mugabe, if Westerners dare to interfere with the situation, they will be removed from the country. (He did not specify whether they would leave alive or dead.)

Zimbabwe makes me sad. But there’s nothing I can do about it but tell you what is happening. I’m not asking you to do anything – Zimbabweans don’t need protests or pity or fundraisers or media blitzes. They need dignity. Hope. Prayer. Remembrance.

Robert Mugabe is 83 years old. He can’t last much longer.

Washington Post journalist Neely Tucker wrote a book called Hope in the Driest Season about his time in Zimbabwe covering all of Africa.Let me close with a passage from that book, which I want you to read.

“More than 1,100 people had flocked into the village’s Catholic church for sanctuary … We stepped on bare spots of the floor that were not strewn with debris. The pews had been ripped out, but the slats that had supported them were still there … I shifted my weight and a foot slipped off one plank, but I continued to write notes, racing to keep up with his account. I rocked my foot back and forth. It began bumping against something. At first, I thought it was a chicken’s rotted bones that had somehow not yet collapsed. Then I leaned down and peered closer. I blinked. It was the splintered remains of what appeared to be an infant’s rib cage. My toe was resting just inside, and I had been twitching my foot against the bowed ribs.”

Enjoy this season at Belmont. Walk outside, feel the sunshine and the breeze. But as you laugh and live and enjoy the blessings that God has given you freely, pray for springtime to come to Zimbabwe.

(RED)iculous?

Craig Borlase has written this blog with the purpose of questioning the (RED) campaign and the concept behind it. He quotes a report that says $100 million has been spent advertising for RED products, but it has only generated $18 million to benefit the Global Fund. To his credit, thankfully he also links to the response to the report by the CEO of RED. Unfortunately, he adds his own interpretation to what the response ACTUALLY said, and one might be led astray if they merely read his summary of the response and not the response itself. You wouldn't realize that the money raised by RED thus far is FIVE TIMES (i repeat...FIVE TIMES) the amount given to the Global Fund by the private sector in the last four years. And you say that the RED campaign is failing?!?!?!

I'm sorry, but I have a problem with people tearing down great, innovative ideas that are working to make the world a better place. Maybe the results aren't THAT impressive (i beg to differ), but the fact is that corporate America is finally being used to do some good. I believe that all things can be restored. All things can be renewed. Thank God that people are becoming aware of social issues. Thank God that big shot business people are realizing that people are becoming aware of social issues. Thank God that there is money in marketing social issues. That means that social issues are becoming a prominant force to motivate people. Sure, the solution is probably not, "Buy more and more...you're saving the world that way," but it's a start. Everybody needs an entry point. And this awareness and the fact that social issues are becoming "cool" and "trendy" is a good thing, not a bad thing. Let's ride the "cool" wave and make a difference. So many of my friends (and I myself) have become passionate about social issues first because it was "cool," and then stuck with it because it literally changed their lives. My friend Jean Michael has spent the last 2 months in Uganda after seeing Invisible Children. Tell him that social issues shouldn't be marketed as the new "cool" and "trendy" thing. And let's face it, big business isn't going away. Why not use it to help solve the AIDS crisis? How crazy would it be 10 years ago for a marketing campaign like this? No one would have gone for it. Let's use it for a good thing.

I appreciate the motives of sites like Buy (less) Crap, but let's not be niave. Let's not assume that everyone is just going to magically be immune to the 3,000 advertisements that are daily presented to Americans. It's a great personal goal and something I strive to do, but EVERYONE isn't magically going to sacrifice their iPods, cell phones, cameras, and stylish clothing. Let's then let corporate America market these products with AIDS tagged on it. And in the process use their money to market products that raise money for a good cause. "A house divided cannot stand." Why tear each other down, we are all trying to accomplish the same thing. Can't we all just be friends? (I realize how ironic that statement is due to the nature of this post...)

As a business major, I hope to use business to turn the world around. To bring heaven to earth. That's why I'm so fascinated with things like the RED campaign and the up and coming micro-lending movement. I hope to turn around business.

Also, I have no bad blood towards Craig. He's an incredible writer and I am a big believer in what he stands for. I have been following him ever since RELEVANT covered him and love what he is doing. I just happen to disagree with him on this point.

That's a lot to digest, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. What do you guys think about it? I know many of you are involved with social issues. Chad, any thoughts or suggestions?