It is not enough to talk. Our Western societies are sick of marlizing about world poverty. We need a thoughtful, convinced minority that will live in such a way as to challenge the cherished beliefs of the consumer society and defy its compulsions.
p. 65, enough is enough by john v. taylor
...Yet, inasumch as the systems often impose the attitudes, we have to defy them also; and this calls for a counter-culture of families and groups that cannot be conned or manipulated because they simply do not accept the accepted values or pursue the ambiions that are expected of them... We need a rapidly increasing minority that is entirely counter-suggestible, a minority that calls the bluff of the trend-setters, is a dead loss to the advertising agencies and poor material for the careers advisers... Our need is for men and women who are free with the freedom of Christ, free to ask the awkward questions that have occurred to no one else, and free to come up with startling answers that no one else has dared to give.
p. 69
i have been working on this course for work about saying enough and living simply instead of succumbing to the consumerism that is so prevalent in this country, and there are so many passages from this book, written thirty years ago and now out of print, that are still completely relevant and could have been written today. this idea, too, is something i have been thinking about a lot lately... that the way to change the world is simply to live- to live authentically and honestly and to really live up to what we believe... knowing that the greatest impact we have is on people we live with and around... i'm really beginning to long for this life where i can set down roots and commit to a people, a community, to love and live with them, to be there for the long haul and put my own word and body in when things need to change, to be a part of a people who make change by loving people, and loving them holistically... and there is this idea that people are drawn to those who are living in a different way, that this kind of life is contagious and grows like a weed (or a mustard seed). *sigh* i'm slowly learning to give up this savior complex... i can't save the world, but i can live, i can love my neighbor wherever i am... and perhaps that is what i am really called to- as a human being and as a child of God.
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