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Dear Friends . . . After five wet and dreary days, the sun came out this morning, accompanied by 60 degree temperatures. I must admit that a little light and a little warmth can do wonders not only for my mood, but my soul as well. As hopelessness lay spitting and sputtering just below the surface, causing me to lose faith in God's willingness to bring forth Spring, let alone the possibility of a peaceful world, economic justice, acts of kindness or again experiencing gut wrenching bursts of laughter, that patch of sun and blue sky set things right again. Hope can be tough to find on dark and rainy days in late winter/early spring. Hope is also difficult to spot in our daily news reports filled with accounts of war, poverty, inequities and natural disasters. You often have to thumb through to page 19C of the local newspaper to find a positive report of someone sharing, reaching out to others or taking a step out on faith. But it's so important that we remember, and that we remind one another, that hope is there too - right below the surface - even if we have to dig a bit for it. A friend recently ended his email with a quote written by performer and writer Henry Rollins which said, "In order to make optimism an active force, you have to look things right in the eye...My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud." I like that. Whether it comes in the silence of the desert or with a loud thud on the stairs, hope is essential to our spiritual life and is one of God's greatest gifts to us. And it is a life-affirming gift we share with one another as well. This edition of the MoM Ezine is again a compilation of articles and online resources from a variety of sources - dealing with the intersection of our faith and our resources. Our most recent event schedule is also listed with links to receive more information. It is in a spirit of hope that we at Ministry of Money offer these thoughts, reflections and insights. May they spur your own. Blessings,  Jan Sullivan Dockter, Editor
- by Bill Wiser from the online Bruderhof Communities web site. Almost every newspaper or magazine I picked up in the last weeks carried commentary similar to this column by the Boston Globe's Ellen Goodman: . . . It was in the personal tragedy we felt our unity. Waves swept away Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Christians with a ferocious indifference. The tsunami took no side in the decades-old enmities over borders and beliefs . . . Once again, unified in the face of catastrophe, we hit the pause button on our own man-made conflicts . . . But I also watch us inch back to "normal." On Page 1, the fury of nature shares space again with the folly of humanity. The victims of nature make room for the victims of man-made conflict. Is this inevitable? What can you and I do about it? Goodman concludes with an intriguing observation and an unsettling question: "Even now, in the wake of the tsunami, we know more about tectonic plates buried under the ocean than we do about our own heart of darkness. Where on earth is the early warning system for man-made disasters?"
"Our virtues have become our greatest sin. They hinder the living God from doing something new." - Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt "The disclosure of God transforms our narrow faiths, challenging our preconceptions of divine unity, power and goodness. Whereas we ordinarily seek the transcendent to ratify our cherished beliefs, the God of Jesus Christ is opposed to the idols we make of self, nation, race or economic production. We seek an omnipotence that is like the powers of the world, raised to an ultimate degree, but in Jesus Christ God's power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore "revelation is the beginning of a revolution in our power thinking and our power politics." We seek a good that will protect our own goods, but find in Christ that the true good empties itself for others." - Douglas F. Ottati, God and Ourselves "The sense of futility is one of the greatest evils of the day...People say, "What can one person do? What is the sense of our small effort?" They cannot see that we can only lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time; we can be responsible only for the one action of the present moment." - Dorothy Day "My call for a spiritual revolution is thus not a call for a religious revolution. Nor is it a reference to a way of life that is somehow other-worldly, still less to something magical or mysterious. Rather, it is a call for a radical re-orientation away from our habitual preoccupation with self towards concern for the wider community of beings with whom we are connected, and for conduct which recognizes others' interests alongside our own." - His Holiness the Dalai Lama
- by Jonathan Rowe, YES! Magazine, Summer 2004 What happens when economic growth produces more "illth" than wealth? What happens when it gobbles up the foundation of the good life- the commons? Since the first steam engine roared into action, people have worried about where the massive new machinery of the market was headed. In the wake of the Second World War, these questions took a new form: what is prosperity for? For the first time in human history, there was enough to go around, and more. So what would come next? Simply more TVs and cars, and their successor items? Or something different? Probably the most eloquent statement of the question came in John Kenneth Galbraith's book The Affluent Society, a best-seller for which Galbraith's colleagues in the economics profession never forgave him. Galbraith observed that the reigning economic orthodoxy was formulated in an age of scarcity. All the gears were arranged to increase output, and this was assumed to promote the greatest good. But after two centuries of output frenzy, the problem no longer was scarcity. Rather it was glut. The challenge no longer was to produce enough stuff for the people; it was to get the people to buy the stuff produced.
- by William Raspberry, Washington Post, January 31, 2005 edition I've lived long enough to understand that the differences among Americans are often greatly exaggerated -- that deep down we are a lot more alike than we are different. This truth extends to politics no less than to matters of race and class and geography. If you think of American politics as a dial, even during our fiercest debates, the needle swings in relatively small arcs -- from a bit right of the midpoint to a bit left of it, and back again. No matter how alarmed we may get over some particular setback, it's usually true that the sky really isn't falling. Well something is coming down. I've been talking to Peter Edelman, a Georgetown University law professor who is thoughtful, liberal, incredibly decent -- and alarmed over the national budget President Bush will shortly propose.
- from everydaynetwork and Redefining Progress Ever wondered how much "nature" your lifestyle requires? You're about to find out. This Ecological Footprint Quiz estimates how much productive land and water you need to support what you use and what you discard. After answering 15 easy questions you'll be able to compare your Ecological Footprint to what other people use and to what is available on this planet. CAUTION: THIS QUIZ MAY SURPRISE YOU, SHOCK YOU, OR MAKE YOU THINK. PLEASE REMAIN CALM...BUT NOT TOO CALM!!
More Than Money - More Than Money helps individuals live more joyful, balanced, and principled lives - through publications and programs that provide a rare opportunity for people to step back and consider how their individual economic activity aligns with their most deeply held values. Center for Action and Contemplation - We envision the CAC as a faith alternative to the dominant consciousness, offering hope, inspiration and challenge to a despairing world. Responsible Wealth - Responsible Wealth is a national network of businesspeople, investors and affluent Americans who are concerned about deepening economic inequality and are working for widespread prosperity. Our three primary areas of work are tax fairness, corporate responsibility and living wages. The Servant Leadership School - The Servant Leadership School was planted 15 years ago in the soil tended by the ecumenical Church of the Saviour. We are still rooted in that tradition of life-seeking Christian discipleship and education.
The next issue of the MoM ezine will arrive electronically in mid-July. And watch for the upcoming issue of the MoM print newsletter that will be out in mid-May with a theme of "Community." If you'd like to subscribe to either 'free' publication click here.
April 8-10, 2005
Benefit Dinner for Ministry of Money October 22, 2005 - Save the Date!!! Festival Center, Washington, DC Speaker: David Hilfiker, M.D., author of Not All of Us Are Saints For information about any of these events, please contact Ministry of Money at (301) 428-9560 or by email at office@ministryofmoney.org
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