St Mary's

During the week I was in my car and I found myself turning off the radio after listening to the news. The news had been about the state of the global economy, news about the protests in Greece, the protests on Wall Street and how the movement was gaining momentum around the world. Further news was from Libya, Tunisia and Egypt.

I couldn’t help but sense how all these items were so intimately connected. A global dissatisfaction with the political and economic systems, that dominate in our world. Systems that favour the rich few, and, disenfranchise many. Al Gore, who supports these protests, described them perfectly as a “primal scream of democracy”, and in Arab countries like Egypt and Libya, a primal scream for democracy.

In a country like America where the 400 wealthiest Americans have a greater combined net worth than the bottom 150 million Americans and the top 1% of Americans possess more wealth than the entire bottom 90%. It’s any wonder people are taking to the streets in droves to protest this abomination.

In Australia, the gap between the rich and the poor has widened. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figure on household income released in August show a few own a lot. The wealthiest 20% of households accounted for just 1%. As Alan Attwood, the editor of this month’s Big Issue, described this as one-fifth of society have claimed almost two-thirds of the cake, while another fifth must share only a very thin slice.

I had obtained all this info from the latest edition of the Big Issue. In this Anti-Poverty week dedicated to eradicating poverty, the editors of the Big Issue focused on the Great Divide between rich and poor. Hence the Front Cover of the issue. As I sat in my car in the late afternoon traffic, I was struck by the forlorn figure of the Big Issue vendor trying to sell copies to the busy wealthy mid-class shoppers, nonchalant to his presence. The contrast was striking. His copy read the Great Divide and his lonely shaggy ignored presence contrasted the well-dressed, socially connected, well employed public he tried to engage.

As I sat in my warm comfortable car, I was struck by the realization that I was one of the comfortable passers-by, disconnected and non-engaged with this poor man.

Before the traffic moved, his gaze met mine for a very brief moment where a small moment of connection of feeling with and for occurred. I nodded … and he nodded …. And the car moved. As I drove, I was reminded of the quote I read earlier in the year from the actress Susan Sarandon. It was on the St Mary’s/Micah Calendar which focused on homelessness and is hung on the kitchen wall at home.

“If you walk down the street and see someone in a box (homeless), you have a choice. That person is either the other and you’re fearful of them, or that person is an extension of your own family. And that makes you at home in that world and not fearful. So really, it’s very self-serving” – Susan Sarandon.

In many ways we miss out when we create and allow the Great Divide. Jesus was staunchly opposed to it. His whole message, his whole life was about breaking down these walls of division.

In today’s gospel, Jesus exclaims “that you must love your neighbour’s as yourself”

Your neighbour is you, and when you love neighbour, you love yourself. No great divide here.

For Jesus we all inhabit the one space, breathe the same air and when we take time to be present – to be still, we allow the space to become more aware, more connected.

Many ask, what can I do to address the divide? There are many things that we can do, but I believe a starting point is what Bernie Glassman ( Bernie is an American Zen Buddhist roshi and co-founder of the Zen Peacemakers) describes as bearing witness – simply being fully aware, alert, awake and in the moment. He states, and I will finish with this, “when we bear witness, when we become the situation – homelessness, poverty, illness, death – the right action arises by itself. We don’t have to worry about what to do. We don’t have to figure out solutions ahead of time. Peacemaking is the functioning of bearing witness. Once we listen with our entire body and mind, loving action arises.” Bernie Glassman.