I have been reading a book by John Perkins and Shane Claiborne called "Follow Me To Freedom: Leading and Following as an Ordinary Radical". At the end of the 2nd conversation in the book it asks this question: "What are some of the things that make you ache with those who suffer? Things that make you starved for justice? What are some of the things that you think break God's heart and should keep you(and all of us) up at night"? It then gives you a space to list three things, here are my three.
1. Locally, I ache with those who are financially burdened by the downed housing economy. I ache with those who are upside down on their home(s), and for those who are forced into foreclosure. I ache with those who want to payback their loans , but their lender refuses to work with them. I ache with those who this financial stress has put strains on their marriages and family life.
2. Globally, I ache for countries that are devastated by the disease HIV/AIDS. I ache for the children who are born with HIV/AIDS because of the mothers fear of having a social stigma. I also ache for the young girls who contract the disease because of rape, sexual slavery, or because they sell there bodies to earn money to go to school.
3. Personally, I ache for and with the American Christian Church. We are so blind to what really matters in life. To borrow some ideas from my friend Micah(a fighter of injustice), I think we are too busy, too distracted, and have too much stuff. We, as members of the American Church, need to wake up and come to realize that our possessions and our time commitments paralyze us from caring for and being involved with what matters most. I myself as an employee of an American Church struggle with my possessions, and my time, and need to be consistently reminded of the Churches greater purpose.