Whether you believe in God or not; whether you are a Christian or not; can you not agree with this part of Father Erich's message?:

"Our way forward, it seems to me, is to help each other to make a difference. What specifically are we doing to make a difference in this world? Whom have we helped?"

The fact is, it's the little things that count and start to add up to something much bigger. Some suggestions: 1) Take the time to recognize and speak to the "invisible people" who make our comfortable lives possible (clerks, checkers, baggers, cashiers, servers, etc.) 2) Use your "company manners" for everyone. "Please" and "Thank you" require almost no effort on your part, and they're another way you acknowledge that you're dealing with another human being -- an equal. 3) Offer a helping hand. 4) Respect our environment and the people around you.

It's really all about RESPECT! If everyone showed a little more respect for their fellow humans, this world would be a much nicer, gentler place to live. And how do we achieve this utopia? Start right where you are. May I suggest setting a specific goal for yourself. Mine is to make a positive difference in at least one person's life every day.

What dismays me most is the total lack of respect most "religious" people display for their fellow residents of this planet we call home! It is not my place to judge, but, as a believer, I can't help but think that Christ is horrified by the evil being done in His name. I pray that I will never by my words or actions even imply to another human that their "faith tradition" is worthless, wrong-headed, and certain to damn them for all eternity -- that their only salvation is to adopt my "faith tradition." My "faith tradition" works for me, and it's emphasis on humbly treating others with loving kindness resonates in my heart. I fall very far short of Christian servant-hood, but that isn't going to stop my offering my little efforts every day.

Just for a week, try looking at those around you as fellow human beings. Offer a smile, a kind word, a helping hand, a listening ear, a gentle touch. It doesn't take much. You've lightened someone else's load just a tiny bit. And, trust me, it feels WONDERFUL! It can become downright addictive.

Peace!

D - I think I know you your trying to say. And giving the essayist the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he assumed he was writing to a Christian audience only. I see by his bio that he is a Christian writer.

I think it's worth pointing out to him (and to you) that Christians are not the only people to whom his ideas apply and that the readers of this forum are not necessarily looking for Christian inspirational messages.

Thinking back on the many essays I've read on this forum, even though the writers usually make their personal religion beliefs (or lack thereof) clear, the essays themselves are directed to a broad audience.

Come on people! The title of this article is "Faith Leads Us Out of Ourselves". It's about how people of faith are missing the point - that Christianity teaches love for others, what's best for the whole before what seems best for me.

This article was not a political statement, but a look at what the author perceives as Christians getting caught up in a personal God and Saviour, and forgetting that He tells us that we should help others before ourselves. This article was not saying that non-Christians are to blame for the world's problems, but rather that many Christians are out of step with their faith. There are many people out there who call themselves Christian whose lives say otherwise, and THIS Christian is disgusted by their hypocricy.

Steve, you remind me of something that a good friend of mine (a UU minister, in fact), once said during one of the many theosophical conversations she and have had. "God is not a noun. God is a verb. God is what you DO."
My thoughts on the matter are similar. I don't give a hungry man bread because I read a scripture that says I'm supposed to, or because I anticipate a reward for it in the next life, or because I fear punishment in the next life if I don't. I give a hungry man bread because he's hungry, and I have bread - that's the only reason I need.

SteveMD2: I see you turned this blog into a political statement. Bush the Anti-Christ, as dangerous as the terrorists? And you say you let your actions speak for you? Incredible!

I'd like to comment. As a 67 year old, mostly retired, not religious, though I'd probably be Universalist-Unitarian ("the best of Jewish and Christian teaching") if I was religious, I've decided to dedicate the 10 or 15 years I probably have left to social justice causes. Currently it is legal equality for Gay citizens, but there is the whole structure of our society that needs repair, e.g. the super-rich get richer, while more and more of the rest work for minimal wages. Meanwhile a fundamentalist President destroys the glue that holds our struggling society together while he causes the murder of 3200 of our soldiers and who knows how many hundred thousand Iraqi's have died as well, in a war based on lies, ignorance and arrogance. Meanwhile God's answer to Bush's prayers before Bush led us into his catastrophe appears to be that the Bush Cheney administration is the answer to Bin Laden's prayers, for the Iraq disaster has destabilized the whole middle east, and Iran will be the big winner by default. Stated another way, Bush is as dangerous to America as the terrorists, for he would and is enabling a right wing 'Christian Taliban' who would destroy all this nation stands for, with their fear of Hell, and their 'promise' of Heaven, and anyone who doesn't subscribe to these views is effectively an 'Infidel', to use a word from another religion that breeds extremism and nightmare for the world.

I personally believe that we will be judged by what we do, Christians and others, to help alleviate the terrible poverty of so much of mankind, e.g. have you seen the cardbood and tin hovels and dirt floor homes of how so much of South America and Africa live, while American corporate interests pay them a pittance to grow food and steal their natural resources while supporting corrupt governments in a corporate colonialism little different then the national colonialism of past centuries, e.g. the colonies of European nations, who were actually economic slaves. We also have to help rid our government of the right wing Republicans (not all Republicans are bad), but there is a neo-con, even neo-nazi group controlling the White House that is the enemy of God and Man, the Anti-Christ, while all the while they use religion and people blinded by fundamentalist religion to justify their crimes.

Our children are all grown up, the older two married. What better way then helping our neighbor, e.g. the scholarship money we've provided over the years to needy youth, working very successfully to keep and move Maryland toward social justice.

As for religion, I'll let my actions speak for me, and God will judge.

Rev Ehrlich - We've had about 2,000 years of faith to make things better. Why is it that in a nation where roughly 90% of the population considers themselves believers with the majority of those believers identifying themselves as Christians you imagine that the source of people living "the life lived for self" is that people have no religion/faith in their god (you wrote: "Faith is the heart of the other-oriented life. In order not to be obsessed with looking out for oneself, one must have faith that another -- namely, God -- is actively caring. Self-denial puts one out of step with the world but close to God.")?

Here's some news, Rev: FAITH IS OVERRATED.

Maybe what we really need is REASON and enlightenment from sources outside of the obviously not working religious sources. Perhaps faith is the problem, not the solution.

If the "problems" you identify in our society are, indeed, of our society, then let's look at the beliefs of the majority in that society as the source of such problems, rather than scapegoating the barely 10% who haven't yet gotten with the religious program.

Putting one's faith in an "actively caring" god is as effective as putting one's faith in an actively caring Santa Claus. That - and a subway token - will get you downtown.

No, the " other-oriented life" is NOT something that comes from outside of our human experience - it is part and parcel to it. Such a humanistic approach doesn't allow the all-too-easy cover (and cop-out) that is offered by the belief in the supernatural. Let's embrace our responsibilities as HUMAN responsibilities, and embrace those responsibilities as being entirely within our abilities to do well - and rightly.

What need of gods when we simply choose to do the right, human thing?

How oh so very true

Believe it or not, a lot of us Christians need to hear Rev. Ehrich's message most of all!

Rev. Erlich - Please keep in mind that there are many good non-Christians who are leading a “life lived for others” without knowing Jesus, that it’s possible to “not be obsessed with looking out for oneself” without having faith in God, “to leave our cocoons and step off our self-defined pedestals” without trusting God and to engage in self-examination without evoking the “Lenten spirit.”

I know you mean well, but your message seemed aimed exclusively at Christians, as if only they could understand and act on your counsel.