Caring Big:Written On The Heart and Minds

"This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds."Hebrews 10:16

Part of the problem with those who take advantage of the woes of those lacking in material resources  to operate their personal lives and businesses successfully is an apparent refusal to think and share big. In a free enterprise system where rugged individualism and profit motives "I got mine,you can get yours" have been accepted as a matter of course and advocated as necessary evils in the scheme of things, those of goodwill can't help but wonder if it is at all as simple as that. With many people currently jobless and homeless many ask why couldn't morsels of those trillions and billions which bailed the banks out have at least trickled down in the thousands or hundreds to those who are still without homes as a result of the foreclosure crisis? Why couldn't money have been thrown into some form of employment pool with the same degree of fervor and urgency as the funds allocated to the banks?

Several praying women, pressed to the point of righteous indignation by the drastic state of homelessness and abandonment of homes which they have witnesses in their communities felt the need to call members of their community together to voice their concerns in a letter writing campaign to government officials. Inspired by the work of Liberian activist Leymah Gbowee, 2011 Nobel Peace Prize recipients who inspired the film Pray the Devil Back to Hell, spiritual leader and minister of Transforming Love Community in Detroit,Michigan recently led a writing seminar for women in the community. The purpose was to come together as concerned,praying and caring women of god inspired, moved and called to make a difference by writing their concerns in letter form about the plight of their city as witnessed by each in their service to the community,on the job, in their churches and in their neighborhoods.

The problem:the housing and foreclosure issue and how it has ravaged Detroit, destabilized the communities of church members and left many unexpectedly homeless i.e., the people you would least expect. Where two or more are gathered in his name, god is in the midst. That goes as much for spoken as written prayers. When a community comes together and cares big enough to wage a letter writing campaign-writing on paper what they hope to ultimately be written on the heart, the message is bound to get through to those who can do something to help.