"...where thoughts has its birth in conflict and concern..."

"By the Balcony, I do not mean the gallery of a church or theater. I mean that little platform in wood or stone that protrudes from the upper window of a Spanish home. There the family may gather of an evening to gaze spectator-wise upon the street beneath, or at the sunset or the stars beyond. The Balcony thus conceived is a classical standpoint, and so the symbol of the perfect spectator, for whom life and the universe are permanent objects of study and contemplation.... By the Road I mean the place where life is intensely lived, where thoughts has its birth in conflict and concern, where choices are made and decisions are carried out. It is a the place of action, of pilgrimage.... where concern is never absent from the wayfarer's heart."

John Mackay, Footprints of God

"God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may -- may well be with us in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we can all agree -- all faiths, all ideologies -- is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them."

Bono, Prayer Breakfast

"...whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

The King, Matthew 25:40

_____________________________________________

It's amazing how easy it is to let the study of problems and solutions distant us from actively engaging in problems and implementing solutions. It has been my ongoing pursuit to never let my my mind drift too far from my body. It is extremely tempting to remain in a theoretical state where we dwell in concepts and analogies. In fact, many including myself, often assume that gaining ground theoretically can justify our physical paralysis. So we carry on in assessing cases and constructing models only to find ourselves living a life that requires no courage or faith. We sit around in our study groups, interpreting scripture, analyzing intriguing facts about biblical history, watching documentaries on genocide and poverty abroad only to sit back down to dig deeper, with no end in sight, into the issues once again. While some believe that we must be informed before taking action, I've come to think that information is grasped and embarassed most in the midst of an act.