many-sparrows - Tumblr blog

[many-sparrows]

Free Palestine

[many-sparrows]

[many-sparrows]

i need to stand ankle deep in a creek about this

[many-sparrows]

from As I Walked Out One Evening by W. H. Auden

[many-sparrows]

When I feed the hungry, they call me a saint. When I ask why people are hungry, they call me a Communist.

- Hélder Câmara, Brazilian archbishop and Servant of God, as quoted in Peace Behind Bars: A Peacemaking Priest's Journal from Jail (1995) by John Dear.

[many-sparrows]

Jesus was really right when he said the poor will always be with us. A lot of christians have struggled with Matthew 26:11, and it has caused a lot of people to subconsciously justify a de-prioritizing of the poor; we can bedeck our churches in opulence while people starve. We can make priorities of everything that makes our lives easier, and leave the hard work of caring for the poor for later, for our "thoughts and prayers." The poor will always be with us, so they can wait while we attend to our internal hungers.

I think what Jesus meant is that human greed will corrupt every system, which will always result in poor or disenfranchised people. We've tried a bunch of different socio-economic structures since then, and not one of them has worked to uplift all people. The eternal struggle against evil isn't about fighting off intangible demons, it's about fighting off the evil in our own hearts. We are never going to construct a "perfect system" that eliminates poverty automatically because someone will always try to take advantage of it. Instead, we must work every day, even when things are good and people are taken care of, to make sure that we see each other as deserving of dignity. We are never going to be able to legislate, dictate, or delegate our way into perspective. We have to work towards it, consciously, to make sure those around us are cared for. Vanity of vanities, a generation goes and a generation comes, but the poor remain forever.

The poor will always be with us because someone is always going to try and profit by depriving others. It is our mission and responsibility to improve as much of it as we can.

[many-sparrows]

[many-sparrows]

Disabled people have to live somewhere poor people have to live somewhere you cant just exclude us from everywhere

[many-sparrows]

god says im her favorite lamb in the flock. the cord that ties the bell around my neck keeps getting torn off in the brambles and I have to be wrestled to the ground if you want any of my wool. My bleating is loud and insistent and sometimes I can't ever be quieted. god can't play the coquette shepherdess with me; she has to put on coveralls and boots and use the muscles in her arms. I kick up dust and headbutt her and every time I wander away, she comes to find me, with a smile on her face, and cradles my head in the palm of her hand. someday, when the blade hits my skin, I don't even feel it. My blood splashes like water and I am grateful to be able to give something back to the soil and plants of the earth.

[many-sparrows]

Kindness is love with its work boots on

[many-sparrows]

The thing is, until you get past the mindset of "justice=punishment" you will never be able to create lasting change. We have actual proof that punitive justice creates more crime and makes criminals more violent. We have actual proof that rehabilitation reduces crime and recidivism. But some of y'all are so stuck on this idea that the wrongdoer must be punished for justice to be done that you will choose sating your need for revenge over actually moving toward a better world every time. And that's sad!

[many-sparrows]

Every theological statement must be a political statement as well.

Dorothea Sölle

[many-sparrows]

Christians for a free palestine call tomorrow night! This is the group that blocked off the congressional cafeteria in protest. Let's show up in force!

[many-sparrows]

[many-sparrows]

I think that God wants us to be kind—and that there is a radicalism and militancy to this, a giving of our whole hearts.

[many-sparrows]

god isn’t real but you seem pretty normal otherwise

please tell me exactly what is normal about me and i will rectify the problem immediately.