Advent - Changing our way to measure ...

Thursday, Dec 16, 2010. I have a colleague who just quit his job as a University teacher in the UK. He said: it is just not what I want and what would make sense any more today. I want to do research - not to market all the time. I want to have time for new things, not just administer 1000 things every day. He had clear ideas about what he wants - and as the system changed over the past 10-15 years, he quit his job.

God loves the poor …

With faith things can be a little bit like this. God's ideas about the world do not coincide with the criteria which we use day by day to judge things and people.

God loves the poor people. We love the rich people. He loves everyone. We love the gifted. He loves even people with some grumpy character. We love people who are nice or friendly or have a smooth character. We love those who entertain … God loves every single person.

The Christmas story tells us that God comes to the poor people, to simple people. He comes to the shepherds. He comes to Josef and Mary - not to the elite of that time. He does not come to the government, but to simple people living around the corner. This does not exclude the gifted or talented. They are also invited to come and join the team. But God first comes to the poor. Blessed are the poor …!

Changing our way to measure …

God's stories and God's actions can change our way to judge and to measure. We are not bound to put money first. We are not bound to put fame first. We are not bound to live in a weird way. We might choose the light, the path Jesus went.

We need to change the way we measure. Our whole society is on the wrong track. We try to sell as much as possible, to earn as much as possible, to gain as much esteem as possible. And our business world follows this law: only the best will win. Clearly, why should we buy the second best product, if we can get better things for less money. But getting things is not everything. We also need to think about the overall framework of what we do. We need to think about how people can live in a human way. We need to know that we cannot create value out of nothing. All those who want to make quick money follow a dangerous track. The bible warns us clearly. It wants to change the way we measure.

It should be enough for us, to earn a reasonable way of living by our work. We then focus on being fair, on having an open ear for other people, giving appreciation to everyone. Living in the love of Jesus is a sincere challenge, a deep one. It will lead us to heaven. It puts us into his family - Christmas is the celebration of this process, which started with the little child. ... more texts