The "Imagine" Reality Check: Orphan Care

After having taken a short break, I am resuming this series.  Singer-songwriter John Lennon wrote a song decades ago asking people to imagine a world with no religion as though it would automatically lead to peace and harmony among people.  Through this series I have been exploring the contributions of Christianity to Western culture, some of which have become such "givens" that many do not realize that they came to us thanks to people properly living out their religion.

Freerange stock photo

   It may be surprising to most people that the word “religion” is hardly ever used in the Christian Bible.  One place it is used is in the highly practical letter of James.  Here we find these words:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. (James 1:27)

In this post, I will focus on the way Christians from the beginning were people who looked after orphans in their distress.

   Jesus Christ and his first followers lived in the context of the Roman Empire.  However, they lived within a Jewish enclave of that empire, where many laws, traditions and ways of living continued to be practiced even if they were not universally shared.  When the first followers were dispersed throughout various pockets of the Roman Empire, they may have found a Jewish synagogue or a small worshipping community of Jews by a river side (see Acts 16:13), but Greco-Roman patterns and ethics dominated all of society.

   Greco-Roman attitudes regarding the value and status of women, children and slaves affected their everyday interactions with each other and colored their sense of justice as well.  Because infants and children were not valued, it was common for them to be abandoned at birth if the parents did not want to raise them.  Such children either died of cold or hunger or were seized by slave traders who would exploit them. Christians began to rescue and embrace these infants, raising them with “the aid of the community fund.” [1] 

   Apostolic Constitutions (eight treatises dated from 375 to 380 (Book IV) Section 1. On Helping the Poor refer to the practice within the church for members to adopt and raise any Christian child whose parents had lost their lives whether by martyrdom or natural causes.  Orphanages as an institution began to be opened in the East at the same time as St. Basil was founding hospitals in the early fourth century. 

   A prominent Christian who cared for children in orphanages was George Muller, a German-born missionary who came to London to evangelize Jews.  Eventually he settled in Bristol at a time when a cholera epidemic was decimating the population.  So many children were left without parents that Muller took action and started Orphan Homes.  Eventually there were five of them, without any fundraising or asking for money.  Muller strongly believed that the Lord would provide financially without his approaching any individuals or groups. In all over 10,000 children were cared for in Muller’s homes. [2]

   Christian missions overseas have also often focused on the need to provide care for vulnerable orphans.  This has taken various forms, including adoption (for example, the cases of missionaries Amy Carmichael and Gladys Aylward in India and China, respectively), establishing orphanages, and more recently by organizing and supporting foster care within the child’s own community (such as is done by Visionledd in African nations ravaged by AIDS). 

   As I was researching orphan care, one of the things that popped up in my browser search was a news story about “the first atheist orphanage.”  A group of humanists announced in the February 2015 article that they would open the first atheist orphanage and would rely on crowd funding.  I suppose this really is newsworthy because it admits that faith has motivated the vast majority of homes for orphans.  Furthermore, it shows that through all the years of human history it has taken thousands of years before someone of no religion felt inclined to launch such an initiative.

[1] Will Durant, Caesar and Christ (1944), p. 598; also E. Gibbon, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire (1900), p. 480.

[2] See www.Muller.org

[3] See the full article at http://motherboard.vice.com/read/the-worlds-first-atheist-orphanage-just-launched-a-crowdfunding-campaign

Coptic Object Lesson

   On the weekend (Saturday, September 12th) the Coptic Orthodox community celebrated its new year.  This festival coincides with a remembrance of martyrs, people who have died for their faith in the present and especially in generations past under the persecution of Emperor Diocletian.  The name Nayrouz refers to martyrs.
   On Saturday afternoon while attending a birthday party I met a Coptic family: a father, mother and two teenage daughters.  The father and younger daughter had been in Toronto that morning at a celebratory conference in honour the festival of Nayrouz.  The younger daughter held out her hand and showed us she had saved a pit from a date she had eaten there.  The older daughter immediately knew why she would do this, and the father quickly explained it to me.  For Coptic people, the fruit of the date palm has a special significance.  It reminds them of the martyrs in the following ways:

• The outside of the date is reddish-brown, which signifies the blood and suffering of the martyrs
• The inside of the date is white (as you can see on the image).  This represents the purity of the hearts of those who remained true to their faith even to death.
• The seed of the date is hard, and it reminds Coptic Christians of the firm and resolute faith that enabled the believers to face a martyr's death.

   I later learned that the importance of martyrs carries over to the Coptic calendar in one other way: instead of beginning the counting of years at the birth of Jesus Christ, they begin at AD 284 and designate each year A.M. (Anno Martyrum), in the year of martyrs.  Thus, in the traditional Coptic calendar the year is 1732.  I realize that the math does not work exactly, but there must be a good reason for that. 

Spreading Papers before the LORD

   This is a devotion I shared with my staff colleagues on the morning of the first day of school, but I think it can be applied to many contexts.


   There is an interesting story in the book of 1 Kings about what a king does when he receives a threatening letter. After reading the message from his enemy King Sennacherib, King Hezekiah of Judah goes to the temple and spreads the letter out before the LORD.  He begins his prayer like this:

“Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim,you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God." (2 Kings 19:15-16)

   I love this image of the king physically spreading out this parchment before the LORD.  Of course, God knows what the message is and does not need to read it.  It was a way for the king to surrender the situation to God and to ask Him to deal with it.
   Spreading out papers before the LORD does not have to be limited to those which are sent to us and cause us distress.  Certainly, an unexpected bill or a note sharing bad news would also be appropriate to spread before the LORD and ask him for help. 
   This summer, I literally did the same thing with the class lists as I was preparing them.  I spread these pages out on my desk and asked God to bless the arrangements and the students in each class.  
    Other papers we might spread out before God are our daily and yearly plans, our communications with parents or our marking rubrics.  It's a good practice we can do as a way of surrendering our work and efforts to God's service.

Prayer based on Psalms 5 & 90
Give ear to our words, O Lord.
You have been God before creation; you have guided the formation of our school a generation ago. We are well aware of our smallness in the grand order of things.
This morning you hear my voice; this morning we lay our requests before you and wait in expectation.
Lead us O Lord in your righteousness; make straight your way before us.  Surround us with your favor as with with shield.
As we have prepared many days for this one, please bless your start to a new school year.  Please calm the anxious hearts of students and parents and staff.  We humbly ask you to establish the work of our hands for us, for without You we can do nothing.
In the name of Jesus, Amen

The "Imagine" Reality Check: Volunteerism

 

Volunteer work is defined as valuable work done by a person who is not paid.  He or she chooses to give time to help a particular, often charitable, cause.   The concept of voluntary labour is not a world-wide phenomenon.  Even though not everyone in the West participates in volunteer work, there is a sense that such labour is important to society as a whole.  How long as volunteer work been part of Western culture?  I would venture to say that it parallels the spread of Christianity.
   The ministry of Jesus Christ and his first followers was marked by giving of themselves for the benefit of others.  In his parable of the sheep and the goats [1], Jesus implies that the natural outworking of true faith in God would include giving food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome to the stranger, clothing to the naked, care to the sick, and solace to the prisoner.  All of these actions would be done without expecting anything in return, not even the notice of God as they respond with, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you , or thirsty and give you something to drink?”
   That volunteer work is a legacy of Christian faith in the West can be seen even in the 2014 World Giving Index produced by the British-based Charities Aid Foundation.  Surveys were taken asking people around the world if they had given their time to an organization in the past month.  Among the 24 countries where one-third or more people had done volunteer work, the following was also true:

7 countries are considered part of the West (Australia, Canada, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa,* USA)

7 non-Western nations have 54% or more of the population affiliating with Christianity (Guatemala, Jamaica, Kenya, Liberia, Philippines, Trinidad and Tobago)

4 are former Soviet bloc countries where subbotniks, [sometimes forced] free labour on Saturdays has been part of the culture since it was introduced by the Communists in 1919 (Belarus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan)

4 are Southeast Asian countries that had recently been hit by natural disasters, so the numbers may have been higher than a typical year (Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka)

1 has a population 50 % Muslim, 40% Christian (Nigeria)

1 is a largely Buddhist country (Mongolia)

   The most striking information about volunteerism comes from a country that has officially endorsed atheism for 66 years.  The People’s Republic of China has one of the lowest rates of volunteerism, at 6% of respondents [2].
   About fifteen years ago, we hosted a pair of young adults who were part of a Canada-World Youth Exchange.  These two girls (one Canadian, one Russian) had strikingly different attitudes towards the volunteer work that was part of their program.  The Canadian girl who was second generation East Indian considered the volunteer work at a daycare as valuable for its own sake and because she wanted to pursue child care as a career.  In contrast, the Russian girl complained about having to work without pay as she sorted clothing and played with children at a women’s shelter.  Her country may have had social service organizations, but with exclusively paid staff.  To her, volunteering felt like exploitation.  I realize that today in my province a significant portion of high school students may likewise feel exploited that they must volunteer for 40 hours in order to graduate, but I suspect that most of the adults in their lives will help them to see the benefits.
   One last remark about volunteering’s connection to Christian faith comes from a Canadian report entitled “Religion, Participation and Charitable Giving,” published in 1999.  Statistics were gathered comparing the level of participation (weekly, monthly, never) in religious services and the amount of time spent volunteering.  The author found a staggering connection between faithful attenders and volunteer work:

“These weekly attenders who volunteer amount to only 9 per cent of all Canadians, but they account for 39 per cent of all hours volunteered. They are in a class by themselves.” [3]

   When people imagine there’s no religion, do they realize that voluntary labour to help the vulnerable would take a serious hit?

[1] This parable can be found in Matthew 25: 31-46, Holy Bible
[2] The entire report can be found at https://www.cafonline.org/docs/default-source/about-us-publications/caf_wgi2014_report_1555awebfinal.pdf
[3] The full report can be found at http://www.imaginecanada.ca/sites/default/files/www/en/giving/rp_1997_religion_participation_and_charitable_giving_en.pdf

Prosperity Defined

   I'm taking a brief recess from my series "The 'Imagine' Reality Check" to deal with another topic: prosperity.

   My husband and I recently transferred all our banking to a credit union.  This cooperative financial institution has a "Prosperity Project."  In order to engage its members, each branch has been inviting people to write on a round piece of card stock what prosperity means to them.  Some of the definitions I can remember were:

Being rich                                                        Being mortgage-free sooner; retire before age 65

        Being healthy                                Enjoying children and grandchildren

   This week I picked up the Sharpie and wrote a definition of my own:

Prosperity is being able to pay my bills and having enough to share with those in need.

   Please allow me to unpack why, for me, prosperity involves these twin aspects.

1)  Being able to pay my bills

When I can pay my bills, I am living within my means.  I make purchases not according to what I want or according to what my neighbors have.  Instead, I buy things I need at the rate I can afford them.  If that means choosing second-hand items rather than brand new ones, that is part of prosperity.  Prosperity does not go into consumer debt.  Living within my means reduces my stress level because I'm not afraid of bills arriving that I cannot pay.  Unless I will be able to pay the full balance of my credit card on the due date, I do not use it.

   When my income increases, I have the option of continuing with that original standard of living. Living beneath my means can lead to even greater prosperity as I see it in the second half of my definition.

2) Having enough to share with those in need

How can a person feel prosperous if he or she is only grasping for material things for him or herself? I feel prosperous when I can give some of my income off the top for God's work in the world--that feeds the hungry, shelters the homeless, brings good news to the oppressed, and prevents abuses of many kinds.  I feel even more prosperous when, at the end of the month, there is more good that can be accomplished with what has come into my possession.  Prosperity is entrusted to us so that it can be shared.

I'd love to hear your comments about this definition of prosperity.  Does any of it resonate with you?

The "Imagine" Reality Check: Health Care Infrastructure, Part 4: Hospice

   The hospice, a specialized home for those with a terminal illness and their families, is a relatively new part of Western health care infrastructure.  The first hospice was established in 1967 in London, England, but it built itself upon the foundations outlined in my last three posts. 

   Without hospitals, the idea of a hospice as a specialized institution would not have arisen.  The founder of the first hospice and the hospice movement itself, Dame Cicely Saunders, began her medical training during World War II.  She trained to become a Red Cross war nurse at, notably, the Nightingale Training School!  She subsequently added to her education, becoming a medical doctor in 1957.

   Ms. Saunders, according to the Encyclopedia of world biography, was “[a] devout Christian.” When planning the concept of a hospice, she “incorporated opportunities for spiritual reflection into her plan, including a chapel, staff theologians, and prayer time. Yet she remained adamant that religion not be forced on anyone” [1].  She believed that the atmosphere of well-lit and home-like rooms would bring comfort to patients and their families.  More consistent pain control and other palliative treatments would not try to artificially extend life but make the end more bearable.  Due in part to Saunders’ research, palliative care has become a specialized area of medicine.

   Hospice care, according to Saunders’ model is diametrically opposed to physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia since her beliefs were based on the sanctity of human life and the sovereignty of God over one’s lifespan.  It is worth noting that despite its faith-filled beginnings, not all hospice care today continues in that life-affirming tradition [2]. 

[1] Encyclopedia of World Biography | 2005  : Saunders, Cicely.

[2] American hospice pioneer Florence Wald was open to euthanasia, and that has trickled down to some US hospices, according to Kelleigh Nelson’s March 6, 2013 article “Killing us Softly” found at freedomoutpost.com 

The Imagine Reality Check: Health Care Infrastructure, Part 3: The International Red Cross

   When a disaster happens around the world, one of the first humanitarian groups to respond is the Red Cross (or Red Crescent).  We expect that this not-for-profit group of nurses, doctors and behind-the-scenes logistics workers will reach out to those caught in war, flooding, famine and other calamities.  As of 2015, there are 189 Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, meaning that 189 countries not only value but actively engage with this movement [1]

   Where did the vision come from to start such an organization?  It was born out of the strong Christian faith and concern for humanity of Swiss merchant Jean Henri Dunant.  As he travelled on an official errand, he happened to witness the cruel and needless deaths on a battlefield in Solferino, Italy in 1859.  At the time, he took action to beg with the army leaders to release any captured medical personnel to help save the wounded and tried to mobilize volunteers in neighboring towns to assist as well.  The experience led him to write a memoir and to work with others in establishing an organization that would be neutral and non-discriminatory in meeting human needs.  Although it began in Switzerland, the merit of the idea caught on in many countries of Europe and North America, and beyond.

   The Red Cross organization was founded in 1863, but Dunant did not remain at the helm for various reasons; his business interests went bankrupt, and thus he lost social standing among the other philanthropists who took up his mantle.  It was not until nearly forty years later when Dunant was honored and recognized with the very first Nobel Peace Prize. These words of congratulation were issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva:

“There is no man who more deserves this honour, for it was you, forty years ago, who set on foot the international organization for the relief of the wounded on the battlefield. Without you, the Red Cross, the supreme humanitarian achievement of the nineteenth century, would probably never have been undertaken.” [2]

[1]  According to the website of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

[2] Quoted in the article found at http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Jean_Henri_Dunant.aspx