Justice At The Table

Photo Copyright 2011 John M. Kingery

On Thursday morning April 28, I went to a breakfast hosted by the Westside Economic Alliance.  The topic was ‘Has the Economy Changed What Oregonians Value?’  Senator Ron Wyden, Jim Piro – PGE VP, Tim Hibbitts – Pollster, and Sandra McDonough – Portland Business Alliance were the featured speakers.    Attendees were a cross section of political leaders, corporate executives (Intel, PGE, Nike, Frontier, etc.), plus numerous small business owners and investors.  What was I doing there?

Well, I was there to listen, learn and be a voice for “Justice at the Table” – a faith perspective.   I brought some business cards listing the challenges we all face –

• Just compensation including salaries, hourly wages and other benefit
•  Health care
• Life/work balance
• Outsourcing
• Community commitment and responsibility. 

Was I turned away or ignored?  No, I was not.  In reality, the perspective was welcomed and so were my questions.    Senator Wyden focused upon taxes as they related to corporations and small businesses.  I asked what about individuals.  Sandra McDonough in her presentation relating to job creations invited a public/private partnership.  I suggested bringing the faith community’s voice to the table.  She was very open and interested in speaking and having the faith community involved in the dialogue.   One broker even asked if I offered services for the items above.  Yes, the concept of justice and faith are welcomed in the economic arena! 

How do you fit in you might ask?  Think of your life as prayer.   As Brazilian Archbishop Dom Helder Camara said “Pray as you can and do not try to pray as you can’t.  Take yourself as you find yourself; start from there”.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers a possible “from there” starting point –

 2432 – Those responsible for business enterprises are responsible to society for the economic and ecological effects of their operations.   They have an obligation to consider the good of persons and not only the increase of profits. Profits are necessary, however. They make possible the investments that ensure the future of a business and they guarantee employment. 

 I am inviting you to be a voice for “Justice at the Table” in a concrete way.  Here are four possible ways

• As an employer or employee, think of ways in which you could provide assistance those unemployed in your area.   It is not easy to be out of work, I was for 13 months.
• Explore the possibility of providing the services the broker asked me about based upon our faith.
• Work with local universities on integrating justice into their business and engineering school core curriculum.  We could be mentors and teachers to the next generation.  There are many resource materials available.

At Easter my parish’s pastor spoke of the eyes of faith and the lens of the Resurrection.  Let’s carry that new vision out into the marketplace!  Transforming our lives and transforming our community.

In Christ and Peace.

John

I wrote and shared the following at the annual  “Walk of the Cross”  on April 22, 2011 in Beaverton, Oregon – John M. Kingery

“Tell the rich in this present age not to be proud and not to rely on so uncertain a thing as wealth, but rather on God, who richly provides us with all things for our use.  Tell them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and will to share, thus accumulating as treasure a good foundation for the future, so as to win the life that is true life.”  1 Timothy 6:17 – 19

From the cross Jesus cried out, “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing.”  Luke 23:34

I was recently unemployed for 13-months, or more accurately, my family was unemployed.   My wife’s social security disability check was really our only income and that went for the mortgage.  Eventually, we did receive food assistance and that helped.  How many others in our congregations and community have or are still experiencing the same strain? 

I became depressed, confused and angry and my body felt the effects of accumulated stress. Going to the Capital Center, I saw the same faces and their anxiety.  The mantra was ‘give us your 30 second elevator speech, tells what you are looking for and network, network’!  That group has nearly doubled its membership to over 1100 individuals. 

I now work for an organization assisting homeless youth and the poor in downtown Portland.  One of my co-workers remarked recently, “I don’t need much, just enough to live.”   To me the ‘enough’ is a just wage, benefits and time to spend with family and friends to be what God intended us to be – human beings. 

At times, I believe our society suffers from CPS.

• C stands for the corporate, commercial and consuming society we have perfected.  We still yearn for community.
• P stands for our idolatry of process and profit.  We forget we are to put people first.
• S stands for the stock market we watch.  It should stand for the solidarity we have with all.

Forgive us for separating ethics, morals and justice from our business dealings.  Forgive us for trying to serve God and mammon. May we live more simply that the rest of the world may simply live.  Give us a vision of the Kingdom of God where every one will sit under one’s own vine and under one’s own fig tree. (Micah 4:4)

We concluded with the following prayers.

We pray that the value and dignity of work is recognized and the rights of all workers are respected everywhere. 

O God, hear our prayer.

We pray for the approximately 19,372 Washington County unemployed residents and their families.  Of which 8,000 will lose their unemployment benefits on or before June 2011 and still be unemployed.  May they soon find adequate employment.

O God, hear our prayer.

We commit ourselves to use our economic resources to reflect your values of justice.

O Lord, we want to walk in your ways.