The truth is hard to hear
Wow! Thanks, Cody Maynus, for challenging us to think about what our faith in God means to us.
Throughout history the prophetic voice has not been well received. In fact, many prophets of old have been stoned or even crucified for their challenge to the status quo.
Does God favor one nation over another? Perhaps. God is the one who favors the underdog, who delivers her people from oppression. God heard the cries of the Israelites who were being oppressed by their Egyptian slave masters. God sent Moses to the pharaoh to let his people go.
Was Moses patriotic? Moses listened to God, who sent him to the pharaoh, the one who raised him, to urge him to free the Israelites from slavery. Moses’ patriotism lead him to the government leader to demand that the slaves be freed. Doesn’t God call us to be the voice of God’s compassion and justice for the poor, the underpaid, the oppressed, the victims of war and oppression, even the enemy?
Jesus ate with sinners, healed the sick, fed the hungry, reached out to the outcasts of society and asks us to do likewise. He tells the nations that when they welcome the stranger (the immigrants) and feed the hungry they are doing it to him. Yet our nation spends less than one percent of its budget on foreign development aid to alleviate hunger. One in four children in the U.S. live in poverty. There is enough food produced today for all to be fed, yet more than 27 million people worldwide have died of starvation this year alone. Is this okay with a loving and just God?
God says “choose life” and yet we continue to engage in war that destroys life, both of the soldiers who are sent into harm’s way, and to our economy. Veterans for Peace states that a million and a half civilians have died since 2001 as a direct result of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Over 5,000 U.S. soldiers have died and many more suffer from horrible psychological and war-related injuries. The growing cost to our economy thus far is over 1 trillion dollars with no end in sight. In contrast, leaders in the battle against world hunger say that the goal to end world hunger by 2015 is achievable with the will and with targeted programs costing about $8 billion dollars.
Violence has become an addiction in this nation that now threatens all of creation. Our coins say, “In God We Trust.” Really? Wouldn’t most find it foolishness to trust God? Who would put confidence in the power of nonviolence, forgiveness, love for enemies, and returning good for evil? The U.S. is number one in military expenditures, spending almost as much as the rest of the world combined. Does our freedom come through power and might, or does freedom come from God?
God created the whole world without borders and divisions. Didn’t Jesus come to serve and to save all of creation? A little humility would help us to learn from the diversity of experience and knowledge in our midst and around the globe.
The Fourth of July is a good time to question our nationalism and examine our faithfulness.
—Vicki Poier
Montevideo
‘An institution of the highest order’
That a small group of pioneers established the University of Minnesota before the state itself was formed may come as a surprise to some. According to historian James Gray, our state’s founders insisted on an “institution of the highest order” when the Minnesota territory was only two years old, a time when the tallest structures on the Mississippi weren’t buildings but trees!
From that prescient decision over 150 years ago has grown a university of which every Minnesotan can be proud. Globally recognized for excellence in research and teaching, while staying true to its commitment to improving the lives of all through statewide outreach, the U is every Minnesotan’s university.
Given the historic and close relationship of the university to the people of Minnesota, the most important task of the board of regents, the university’s 12-member legislatively elected governing body, is to select the university’s president. As well known as the university is, the process by which the board of regents selects a president is decidedly unfamiliar. Consider: this fall while we will be selecting the 40th governor of Minnesota, the board of regents will be selecting just the 16th president of the University of Minnesota!
This state has been well served by the presidents of the University of Minnesota since its ambitious founding in 1851. Indeed, the board of regents expects each new president to build upon the university’s strong foundation of achievement while articulating a clear and compelling vision for its future.
Now, as we begin celebrating the leadership of Robert H. Bruininks as the university’s 15th president, and turn to selecting his successor, we also reach out to the people of Minnesota. We invite you to participate. We welcome your thoughts and observations. Updates on the selection process will be posted on our Web site: www.presidentsearch.umn.edu
Finally, thank you for your support of the University of Minnesota.
Clyde Allen, chair; Linda Cohen, vice chair; Anthony Baraga; Richard Beeson; Dallas Bohnsack; John Frobenius; Venora Hung; Steven Hunter; Dean Johnson; David Larson; Maureen Ramirez; Patricia Simmons
The University of Minnesota Board of Regents
