July 7, 2010
Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
"Sow for yourselves justice, reap the fruit of piety; Break up for yourselves a new field, for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain down justice upon you." Hosea 10:12
“Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 10:6-7
Piety
There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Study
Who doesn’t remember that precious little red-haired girl Annie singing on Broadway these famous, hopeful words? Despite her dreadful life in an orphanage, she maintained a positive, hopeful attitude.
The sun'll come out
Tomorrow
So ya gotta hang on
'Til tomorrow
Come what may
Tomorrow! Tomorrow!
I love ya Tomorrow!
You're always
A day
A way!
We, however, can not wait until tomorrow to begin our work for the Lord. As Hosea points out, NOW is the time to seek the Lord. No matter what we are enduring today – illness, disease, unemployment, traffic jams, family squabbles – our hope is in the Lord. He sends us out today to bring his friendship and his words to the lost sheep of Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC and beyond.
What advantage has the worker from his toil? I have considered the task which God has appointed for men to be busied about. He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without men's ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done. Ecclesiastes 3:9-11
Action
“Blood diamonds” have faded away, but we may now be carrying “blood phones.” That may be the dirty little secret you are carrying in your pocket or purse in the shape of that IPhone, Blackberry, or other device.
This warning was shared by columnist Nicholas Kristoff in the New York Times last month. “An ugly paradox of the 21st century is that some of our elegant symbols of modernity — smartphones, laptops and digital cameras — are built from minerals that seem to be fueling mass slaughter and rape in Congo. With throngs waiting in lines in the last few days to buy the latest iPhone, I’m thinking: What if we could harness that desperation for new technologies to the desperate need to curb the killing in central Africa?”
A campaign has begun in which users of these devices can urge the makers to demand that their suppliers use sources other than the Congo for such minerals. To learn more about conflict minerals and how you can help end war in the Congo, visit www.raisehopeforcongo.org.
On behalf of young boys who are conscripted into the army, young girls who are raped and 5.4 million people who have been killed in this war, please don’t wait until tomorrow to write to your political leaders. As Mr. Kristoff wrote last month, “We may be able to undercut some of the world’s most brutal militias simply by making it clear to electronics manufacturers that we don’t want our beloved gadgets to enrich sadistic gunmen. No phone or tablet computer can be considered “cool” if it may be helping perpetuate one of the most brutal wars on the planet.”
No one is blaming Apple, or HP or Nokia for funding this war. However, demanding that they produce products with conflict-free materials will support efforts by a group of companies led by Intel and Motorola to develop a process to audit origins of conflict minerals in their supply chains.
While you are considering this action, check out the video about it on You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ycih_jMObQ
