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[[topics_collection_iv|| Topics Collection iv ]]
======Moving Society Forward! - The somewhat different Advent Calender XXII ...======
Saturday, Dec 22, 2012. Recently, I took part in some advent conversation, taking
place in the middle of a Christmas market, in northern Germany. It was a conversation
between two Christians,
both active in the church szene, one a doctor in a psychatric clinic and
the other a director in a government institute.
Both in a situation where you take responsibility
for society, where you think about processes and how to solve real problems.
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**When the health system was established ...**
These two people talked about the social system, about
poverty, about mental illnesses, about hospitals and residential homes for
people with mental problems. What is the situation today? How do you help
those who are poor and who have difficulties to get along?
We are in a situation where we have a well developed health system today
in many parts of Europe. Everyone gets treatment, there are not many who do not have an
insurance which pays the doctors and nurses, which pays the drugs and medicine which is
needed. This has not always been the case. Centuries ago, medical treatment
was limited to quite few people with enough ressources and means.
But there are areas which do not work well.
Today, there is a significant number of people who would need someone to
help taking care of things. This can be finances, but also help with taking
particular drugs in time, taking care of the household, filling out administrative
forms etc etc. It needs to be balanced with the human dignity, with the wish
to be independent and make your own decisions. We need a system which helps
and keeps the freedom of people at the same time.
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**Discipleship in practice ...**
Society has moved forward. Society will be moving forward. Whe can expect good
things to emerge and spread, as it happend in the past. Christianity had a strong
impact in the area of care and treatment, by its desire to provide help and
love and support to the people. Why not move it forward, on a personal scale as
well as on a social scale.
When you are an active person, your days quickly fill with duties and activities.
You will see many needs of people around you, but your time to meet the needs
will be quite limited. You want to help, but you cannot help. At some point you
will realize that the solution cannot be to just help more and more on a personal
level. When it comes to one single person who is ill and needs heavy support,
you will be at the end with your possibilities immediately. Also, the family of that
person will be unable to cope.
So we need support. We need to go to the Lord and ask him for wisdom and help. And
we need to organize things as a society. We need to get politics involved, social
institutions, the media, organizations and the state. We all are the state, we all
need to further shape our systems and our processes - to further develop the
world to take care where care is needed! Social activity and political activity
can be a part of practical discipleship! This is the discipleship we need, in
unity with faith, truth, love and intensive prayer.
(Roland Potthast)
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