I am skeptical that God was the cause of the airline delay. Blaming God or weather encourages passivity, as if decisions by human beings didn’t contribute to the problem. Airline staff shortages have been well publicized and likely played a role. Leaders could have planned for contingencies such as weather in Buffalo. They have supercomputers that change the price of tickets each day to maximize their profits. They also can program computers to crunch how many planes and staff they will need to insure on-time flights. But I suspect that will cut into profits. So, human beings made a choice: airline leaders sacrificed customers’ well-being for shareholder value (until customers refuse to fly, that is!). It wasn’t an act of God.
I wonder how many problems we face as a country and as humanity that we accept passively: “that’s just the way it is.” Take the housing crisis. Is the lack of affordable housing just something we have to accept? Or is there something that can be done about it?
Human leaders made decisions to get us to this point: landlords, legislators, and neighbors. Arizona has no limit on how much a landlord can raise the rent. So, I have met with people coming to church for help with rent who have had raises of $400 to $800 per month., which represent 30 to 50% increases (Glendale had the biggest rent increases in the Valley in 2021). Legislators have not acted on various proposals to help build new affordable housing or incentivize existing landlords to accept low income renters. And neighbors are rejecting new apartment complexes, saying “Not in my backyard”. While affordable housing and some problems we face are very complex, they are not the result of acts of God. Human beings have made decisions, sometimes cumulative over decades, that have brought us to these situations.
As Christians, we do know the true acts of God: God gives the Holy Spirit so that we believe and follow Jesus. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection changes the heart of every believer so that we are free from Sin that turns us inward. Facing outward, we love God and love our neighbors as ourselves. These are acts of God!
Supporting affordable housing is a way we can love our neighbors. Leaders from Vida Nueva, Emmanuel, and St. John’s met with Valley Interfaith Project’s Jason Lowry on June 12 and housing emerged as one of the big concerns of our three congregations. We aren’t helpless in the face of this crisis, Mr. Lowry encouraged, but can organize to support solutions. For example, Threshold is a program to bring landlords together to incentivize a few units in every apartment complex. St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church is inviting developers to build apartments on some of their unused land. Legislators do listen to organized groups of citizens. We have choices, and when we organize, our voices are amplified.
What other problems in society do you feel helpless to influence? Look for opportunities to gather with other’s and share the pressures you feel and opportunities to help solve the big problems we face.
When we’re loving our neighbors, there’s an act of God!
A fellow servant of Christ,
Pastor Peter
