An Easter Conversation
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Judy: “The Easter Bunny came to Kinder on Thursday.”
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Me: “Oh, great. In a bunny suit too?”
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Judy: “No. No-one saw him. But he left his big footprints for everyone to see. And he brought chocolate eggs.”
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Me: “I don’t suppose there was any mention of Calvary at kindergarten.”
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Judy: “Ah, no, actually.”
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Me: “How absolutely pathetic. Wouldn’t you think the education of our children might include a little information about why a society like Australia has public holidays at Easter?”
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Judy: “You’d hope so, wouldn’t you? It’s not like you’d be ramming religion down their throats. Just give them the facts.”
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Me: “Exactly. Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Monday are holidays because they are Christian religious festivals.”
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Judy: “People may not celebrate them like that any more, but that’s the excuse for the holiday. It’s hypocritical, isn’t it?”
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Me: “Maybe we should just add up the public holidays, cancel them, and add them to annual leave. It’d help the traffic congestion.”
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Judy: “And we could only let people take holidays if they knew the reasons for them.”
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Me: “Must put that idea to Jeff Kennett.”
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Aid Has Been Found Wanting.
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We must continually challenge the notion that aid to the developing world has been tried and found wanting.
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It has not been tried.
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Over Easter I saw the news about a plane the Americans have developed that nobody can see.
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It cost us$44,000,000,000 - forty-four billion dollars.
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If I spent that much on a plane, I would want everyone to see it.
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The same day I read an article in The Economist about US overseas aid.
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The total amount of development aid given by the United States to the whole of the rest of the world over the last ten years is only a little more than a hundred billion dollars.
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What’s more, half of that has gone to just two countries. Can you guess which countries?
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No, not Ethiopia, Bangladesh or Mozambique.
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Israel. And Egypt.
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Here’s a table of American foreign aid 1982-91:
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Country
|
US$billion
|
Israel
|
29.9
|
Egypt
|
23.2
|
Turkey
|
6.9
|
Pakistan
|
5.4
|
El Salvador
|
4.0
|
Greece
|
3.7
|
Philippines
|
3.5
|
Honduras
|
1.9
|
Spain
|
1.9
|
India
|
1.7
|
Bangladesh
|
1.7
|
Sudan
|
1.5
|
Portugal
|
1.5
|
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The list does not, of course, include military aid.
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Is it any wonder we have so much under-development in the world? And so much trouble with insecurity?
St Francis was wrong!
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On the way back from Israel I had a rare privilege. A day off! Courtesy of Alitalia’s flight schedules.
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I took advantage of this to visit Assisi, about two hours drive north of Rome (Italian drivers might take half the time to get there).
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It was a beautiful and refreshing experience to wander and ponder in the place of this great Christian saint who turned his back on a life of money and privilege and became wedded to poverty.
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I am impressed by this kind of sacrifice. I see it a lot in our own people in project communities. Such selfless sacrifice is worthy and commendable.
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Yet, my reflections in Assisi lead me to think that such a response is not appropriate for all Christians.
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Doubtless God does call some special saints to sell all they have and give to the poor, as Jesus expected of a rich young ruler.
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But more commonly, Jesus calls us to be stewards of the resources he gives us, rather than to reject them.
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The challenge to be a good steward, is different, but no less difficult, than the challenge to be permanently poor.
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For me (perhaps not for everyone) the key Scripture on this matter is Matthew 25:14-30, the parable of the talents.
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Most Christians are called, neither to poverty, nor prosperity, but to stewardship.
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So it is for World Vision. We are stewards.