The world doesn't need any more ministers. We need doers. We need people who fashion their life after Christ. To say less and do more. This is a radical way of life that cannot be measured by the size of a congregation or the splendor of a cathedral. This is working on the street with the poor. There is no need for a robe or a collar. They'll know who you are, not by your words, but by your actions. Then you can proudly call yourself a Christian. Then they can see what it is you're doing, and people can make their own judgments about how righteous or charitable it might be. Until that happens,a minister is wasting everyone's energy and time, hiding behind a pulpit, begging for more money to build a bigger building and pay themselves more money. Each year they slide down on the "significant profession" poll. They become more distant from the model Christ demonstrated for us as people who should give their possessions away and follow him. And He didn't go to the country club or the temple, He went to the street. He declared those people His brothers and sisters, and did what He could to help. That's our calling. Sitting in that pew on a Sunday morning should be a time to rest and plan, not a time to pray and pay.

Why is it those who are fighting for truth and justice are often assassinated? People begin to think that evil is prevailing. Often, those fighting for justice, equal rights, freedom, those representing the poor, are killed for their efforts. Look at Christ, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bobby Kennedy, Benazir Bhutto. Evil shot them down. One gets the notion evil triumphs over good. But that's not so. If the peacemakers of the world retaliated, than evil wins. You have to hold yourself up, stay out of the quicksand of killing, guns, revenge, war. I had a guy e-mail me a while back about my advocating non-violence. He said if I wasn't man enough to defend myself and my family, he would be willing to kill anyone trying to hurt us, as something of a favor. I said no thanks. He just doesn't get it.

Someone asked me the other day if I was ready to meet God? I answered, if I am expected to be dead at the time, the answer is no. If He's going down to the local tavern for some pizza and a beer, and would like to talk a bit, I'm in. I don't think that was the answer she was looking for. So much for evangelism.

When the Democratic leaders in Congress follow along with Bush's plan to eavesdrop on Americans, it's bad. When they give him more money for his private wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's worse. When they refuse to end his shunning of habeas corpus, it's over. They're all looking more and more the same. I've seen the enemy, and they reside in Washington. The best pick Iowa could make is for no one to go to the caucuses. That would send a message that the hour is near. Rather than 2008 being just another year, we could make it a marker in history. The year we chose no one to lead us, and felt good about it.

"Is the system going to flatten you out and deny you your humanity, or are you going to be able to make use of the system to the attainment of human purposes?" Joseph Campbell

Happy New Year's. Remember, if you drink, don't talk.

"Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy." Joseph Campbell