Good fresh news for the poor

Under the heading "World Wide Welfare", Graham Redwood, UTS Network coordinator is taking part in Rotary's donations in kind program.  More that 200 superseded computers have gone to poor communities in the Philippines who would otherwise have nothing.  "It's a good feeling to know they can be used to make a difference to people in an area of great need." says Graham.  He estimated that it would take three times as much work to sell the computers as it would to donate them.

Now I reckon Graham has done a great thing and we would be better off if there were more people thinking as creatively and compassionately as he is.  But the story belies this awful truth - There is something much more sinister happening.  It is that the opulence of the West and the structures that support (which we have allowed and fostered) that mean that our Philippino brothers and sisters see our throwaways as the latest technology.

Jesus calls us to join him in bringing Good (fresh) News to the poor.  It is about news about a fresh way of looking at the world, where there is freedom instead of captivity, sight instead of blindness, where God's Spirit is poured out for everyone.  It is where we stop seeing insiders and outsiders.  The widow and the Samaritan are all included despite the social and religious prohibitions of the time.  Luke 4:16-27.

God calls us to see the other as worthy of all we see ourselves worthy of.  While we might bung on some false humility at this point, as he pointed out, we all care for our own bodies pretty well.  He call for the same care for others.  Not charity which feels good for having done a good thing, but solidarity which lives by doing good that works for all.