Perception?

Did you know that the average American teenager will spend around 150.00 a week? Or did you know that 1/3 or Americans have a total of three vehicles? Or did you know that 3.5 Billion people live on less then 2 American dollars a day? I am just wondering if you wonder about this. Because I think in America it is easy to become separated from the real world to begin thinking that America is really all there is, or that everybody else is probably like us, or that its weird that people live on less then two dollars a day. In truth however there is only 300 million Americans where as there is 3.5 Billion people living on less then 2 dollars a day, it looks like we are the weird ones doesn’t it?

Now don’t take me wrong here I am not saying its wrong that Americans are wealthy because I am not. My only worry is that in our wealth and prosperity we will forget about the realities that are just beyond our border, and historically that seems like a dangerous thing to do.

It’s hard though; I mean it’s hard to think about other people around the world when you have so much to deal with right here. The more stuff we accumulate the more time we have to put into taking care of the stuff we have accumulated and the more stuff we have to take of the more stuff we need in order to care for that other stuff. It’s the cycle of accumulation and with all that stuff on our minds there really isn’t room for thinking about things that don’t directly impact us.

Isn’t that kind of egocentric though? I know that’s a harsh word but isn’t that what is happening here in America? If it is what’s happening in America we truly are in a dangerous place think of Egypt, Israel, Rome all fell shortly after they forgot others in order to take care of all their stuff. When stuff consumes your mind there isn’t much room left for other people, so we begin to forget that in amassing wealth and protecting that wealth we might be negatively impacting some other group of people. For example American consumes 20 million gallons of oil a day and imports the majority that. The Persian Gulf is a region with the largest oil reserves in the world Saudi Arabia being number one and Iraq a close competitor. The Persian Gulf houses some the most holy and important places in Islamic faith, how does it look to Muslims and Persians when America has invaded their holy places and is exporting their oil? I am not saying America is in the Persian Gulf for oil; but I am saying that perception is reality.

What I am trying to get at here is that if you have lost 1 million country men to an invasion a term like “Iraqi Freedom” looks different then if you are 3,000 miles away talking about freeing Iraqi people.

This is just my train of thought; I am not saying that it is right or wrong just that it’s on my mind. What’s on your mind? What do you think about all of this? Am I totally off base here or am I not following the leads to the inevitable? I want to know your mind on these issues because I am truly working it all out right now.

P.S Micah 6:7-8

Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,

with ten thousand rivers of oil?

Shall I offer up my firstborn for my transgression,

the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

He has showed you, O man, what is good.

and what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.