Day two.

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Second Inaugural Address, Washington, D.C.

Out of all of the memorials we visited today, this was the inscription that stood out the most for me, spoken by Franklin Roosevelt in 1937. Mainly because it tied in very well with the book I’m currently reading- ‘Jesus wants to save Christians’ by Rob Bell. Chapter one is called ‘The Cry of the Oppressed’ which partially focuses on Solomon and his role in the dividing of the nation of Jerusalem. How I understood it, he let his wealth and honour go to his head, he made it his first priority. He accumulated loads of stuff and then felt he had to buy more stuff to protect the stuff he already had- i.e. he bought horses and chariots and built up a huge defence. On top of that he super-indulged himself and had 700 wives and 300 concubines. This was definately not what God wanted, what God wanted was for us to listen out for the cry of the oppressed and answer it, look after the poor and struggling. Solomon didn’t do this, and so the nation became divided etc etc and then a bit later on Jerusalem landed themselves in Babylon, in exile.

Now that was probably really badly explained, just read the book, it says it better :)

So, going back to the quote. It was encouraging… because an arriving in America I was beginning to get quite distressed at how super indulgent and greedy and selfish the whole ethos was. Adverts in your face all the time, the need to provide surplus for everything, and the huge amount of waste produced. It was stopping me enjoying myself because in the back of my head I was screaming ‘Solomon! Remember Solomon! You’re not helping the struggling by doing this Katharine!’ and it was driving me bonkers. And so it should, but after seeing that quote it gave me some sort of hope that people in power have the right thoughts in their mind. Roosevelt was basically repeating what had been said before right back in the Old Testament about how God wants us to be the body for his work and hear the cry of the oppressed, not build empires.

So there’s no point in being cynical about the corruption of America. And there’s no point in me feeling so guilty about enjoying myself on holiday. I just think when I go home in two weeks, I should try and have a slightly better attitude about how I live my life. Consuming less, and putting my energy into ‘providing those who have too little’ and not adding to my own abundance.