Grand Scheme

Yeah, you've got that somethin'
I think you'll understand,
When I say that somethin'
I want to hold your hand!
I want to hold your hand,
I want to hold your hand.





On so many levels.
Heh.

Going Insane

I'm going a little crazy right now, having jumped into a full load of teaching. I have to say though that there is a deeply satisfying sense of wholeness and being at home while teaching. I love it.
The prep time can make you a little bit buggy though.
There's something about teenagers that is fresh and real, and can drive you insane.
There, I'm insane now.

Steady Breathing

A good friend of mine, whom I adore, sent me these two pictures...
Breathe holds special significance for her and I. We've come to realize that it's what God gives us to do to hold on to Him, to sanity, to life. Breathing is natural, God-given, simple...visceral.



It's what we do when life crashes in, or when people turn their backs on you. Keep going, keep breathing, one breath at a time. You're the best M.

Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man came alive -- a living soul!
Genesis 2:7

Do my eyes deceive me?

Here's a little fun. Take a look at the shapes below, they might appear to be moving....but they're not. Would I kid you? See if you can find the one that's moving...

Canadian Broadcasting Crap

The Good 'ol Hockey Game

Good times at the game last night!! Unfortunately the final score sucked! Oh well it went to overtime (sweet), then a shoot-out (sweet). As you can see, my bud Jeremy cheers for the wrong team. We have fun gettin' in each others' face, as well as everyone else around us!

If God had no grace...

Dad

"If your child asks for bread, do you trick him with sawdust? If he asks for fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing. You're at least decent to your own children. So don't you think the God who conceived you in love will be even better?"

Every day we experience real life object lessons of truth. It was several years ago that my dad suggested something to me, which at the time seemed trite, silly or innocuous at best. "Always keep a spare car key in your wallet", he directed. And thinking little of it, I complied. It never had any impact or influence on me...ever! until last week. I was running a bit early from some errands prior to picking up my daughter at school so I decided to stop in to Starbucks for a jolt. I had to stop in at the bank to make a deposit prior to enjoying some dark elixir of life and as I came out of the bank, I realized I had locked my keys in the car. I NEVER do that! I think in nearly 30 years of driving I've exiled my keys twice. There I stood realizing that instead of being early to pick up my daughter, I was likely going to be very late. I decided I would at least go get my coffee anyway, call for an Automobile Association truck and wait it out. But then it hit me. "Always keep a spare car key in your wallet" Frantically I grabbed my wallet, rifled through the pouches and pockets finally to discover THE SPARE KEY!! Coffee in hand I strode back to the car with a smile on my face, giving thanks for the myriad of lessons large and small that my dad, and mom, have taught me. You can't be too careful what you tell a child because you never know what he'll take hold of and spend the rest of his life remembering you by. My parents have the aroma of practical grace.

Watch it here

Dignity

The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.

Emergent Family Plan

Uh....

Fresh Air

Our intention is that Sunday morning gatherings be a time when people contribute to the creation of a setting in which we are transformed, not a setting in which people come to be serviced by professionals or qualified volunteers. I like to think of it as having dinner at a friend's house where it is expected that you will help pass the serving dishes and clear the tables at the end of the meal.
Our gatherings reflect our belief that we are in this together and that we all have something to offer here. Our worship gatherings are not meant to be shows or concerts. They are designed as interactive experiences. We invite participants to join in, share what they have, and take a piece of what those around have to give. We are a gathering of people who are on a pilgrimage through life with we each other and with God.
Our gatherings for worship are designed to help us on that journey. Because our gatherings are designed to be interactive and participatory, our furniture is set so we can see each other...over time, we have gotten used to seeing faces rather than the backs of heads.
We are a group of friends and acquaintances. We are people who help each other move. We paint each other’s bathrooms. We make birthday cakes. We are people who want to recognize that time is not a renewable resource, it matters how you spend it. We want to know the new lady with the little girl who moved in next door. The guy in the next cubical. The dreadlock barista at the coffee shop. The yoga teacher with the cool chimes. The plumber at our worksite. The outrageous waiter with the t-shirt that says, “I’ve got candy.” We are people who like life. We are artists. We are computer programmers. We are parents. We are beer lovers. We are people who fight, who laugh, get bored, get inspired. We make music; we make soup. We laze around in the sun; we play scrabble in the rain. We listen to loud music; we go with each other to get tattoos. We read good novels; we learn about wine and cheese. We are explorers. We are people who want to worship God, and talk to God, and listen to God, because we believe that he is very fond of us. We are people who readily admit we are not entirely sure what that means, but we can’t let go of the assurance that Jesus was dead and came back to life. We are people who learn not from a leader, but from one another. We blow dust off of old books, we reform old beliefs. We uncover ancient practices and make them our own. We say, “I was wrong,” We look twice at something that catches our eye.

We seek.

Come and explore, BREATHE, be at home.

Let the Madness Begin!!

Sept

Dear France:

Are there any other sporting events you hold dear that we could have a go at?

Regards,

Texas

I walk the line

Finally got around to seeing "Walk the Line" today. Not a flashy movie, but solid, and Joaquin Phoenix was appreciably better than anticipated. More than anything, it reminded me how much John Cash is missed.

Why do we value the uncompromising and original only in passing? JC remained popular throughout his career for those very reasons, but such attributes are considered politically incorrect, unsafe or dated nowadays.

Remember when familiarity bred contempt, not comfort?

HEY!

Say what?

Smoking marijuana may gradually fade verbal memory and other mental skills, according to a study in Neurology."The finding of this study is that heavy, frequent, long-term marijuana use (more than 15 years of use on average) may subtly affect certain cognitive abilities, especially the ability to verbally learn and remember new information and information-processing speed," researcher Lambros Messinis, PhD, tells WebMD

Amazing!!

This guy had me in tears!!

MMMMMMMeat!!!!

Allow a brief moment of generalization for me to say, vegetarians annoy me. More particularily the elitist variety. You've all met one at least once in your life. The kind that consider themselves ethically superior to you just because they think animals are cute. Heh, I think animals are cute....right next to my baked potato. All you want to do is order a steak and you gotta deal with the Bambi lecture....which incidentally is making you really hungry. Yeah, we're all going to hell for eating animal flesh, now can you tell the waiter that I want it medium well??

Even if you don't have to deal with the moral crusader variety you still gotta deal with the extra hour of searching for a restaurant that caters to their morally superior palate. Nevermind that most of those items are designed to look and taste like meat. If eating meat is so gross, then why do you want to eat a veggie burger?? Just order a salad and be done with it!

So yeah, vegetarians annoy me. Vegans REALLY annoy me. I heard today was officially "Eat a Tasty Animal for PETA Day", thanks PETA...I think I will! Here's an idea...

Eat double the meat you normally would, to make up for what vegetarians aren't eating. They aren't pulling their weight. It's up to you. Cut back on the greens if you have to. After all, they are covering that part for you. And what did that plant ever do to you? Nobody's ancestor was ever killed by a tomato plant.

If you really want to be efficient, eat two different types of meat just to ensure you aren't just eating more of the same animal. If you are only offered one type, be creative. I suggest visiting your local zoo and making your own buffet. I would venture to say that an endangered species counts as double, but let your taste buds be your guide.

Now I know some of you may be worried about the health effects of all this meat. Exercise is one way to deal with that. I'd like to point out that chopping down a tree provides a great work out and, the bigger the tree, the bigger the workout!

So now go out and change the world for the better, armed only with a knife in one hand and barbecue sauce in the other.

true that...

Hold onto good friends, they are few and far between.

freedom!!!

Wheelbarrow Religion

Let me try to simplify theology for you. In the final analysis, there are really only two kinds of religion in the world-- one is the kind of religion that you have to carry, and the other is the kind of religion that carries you. The difference in those two kinds of religions is the difference between hell and heaven. It's the difference between going from Vancouver to Whistler by car or by wheelbarrow.
If you go by wheelbarrow, you sit in the base of the wheelbarrow, and reach back and grab hold of the handles, and you push and pull and tug and sweat and wear yourself out. And when you're all through, you haven't even left the parking lot.
To go by car, you slide in behind the wheel, turn on the ignition and allow the power of the engine carry you to Whistler.
Just two kinds of religion. The kind of religion you have to carry, or the kind of religion that carries you.

"Listen to me...you whom I have upheld since you were conceived, and have carried since your birth. Even to your old age and gray hairs I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Isaiah 46:3-4

SWEEEEET!

M4044 AGE GROUP:

Place Div Bib# Name         Rank Swim  Rank Bike Rank Run   Time
==================================================================

11   M4044 940 P. Harbridge 13  24:01  13  51:28  3 23:36 1:39:03



SWIM:

BIKE:


RUN:



PARTY:

Currently in Progress, (no pics)

Tri and Du it!!

Tomorrow's the BIG day!

Bring it!

Start: In the UBC Aquatic Centre.

Swim: 15 lengths of the 50m pool in single wide lanes using a continuous start format. Exit via south side doors (a change tent is available), Run around outdoor pool to cycle transition (in front of UBC Bookstore). 750m

Cycle: South on East Mall, Right/West on 16 th Ave, Right/North on SW Marine Drive, 180 turnaround at West Mall, South on SW Marine Drive, 180 turnaround at Kullahun Dr., North on SW Marine Drive, Right/East on 16 th Ave, 180 turnaround at East Mall. Repeat cycle loop for total of 2 laps . Return to transition area via North on East Mall following 2 nd lap. 22km

Run: N orth along East Mall to NW Marine Dr/Chancellor Blvd, Left/West on NW Marine Drive, 180 turnaround at University Blvd, East on NW Marine Drive/Chancellor Blvd, Right/South onto Wesbrook Crescent (through gap in hedge to East of Wesbrook Mall intersection), Right/West at Iona Drive (through gap in hedge), Across cross-walk, Right/North on Wesbrook Mall, Left/West on Chancellor Blvd, Left/South on East Mall, Left/East on SUB North Plaza to Finish line. 5km

Finish: East on SUB North Plaza, Right/South on the fire lane between the Student Recreation Centre and the Student Union Building, Right/West onto SUB Main Plaza, Follow chute to Finish Line.

Start Partying!!!!!!

Starting New Job

I've been offered a job at a local Christian High School to teach Bible and English...and I'm psyched! The staff are incredibly nice, welcoming and helpful. I already know some of the students from previous help with sports teams, speaking opportunities, and retreats. This is a total answer to prayer, I'm humbled. Thanks to those of you who have prayed and encouraged, what would I do without you!

Good Dog

A Dinner to Remember!!

Speaker's Wine: Vueve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut NV ("Babette's Feast")

First Course: SMOKED SALMON AND TROUT WITH GRAPEFRUIT with arugula and a touch of cream

First Flight: Lake Sonoma Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley 2002 Sobon Estate Zinfandel Old Vines Amador County 2003

Second Course: ARTICHOKE AND OLIVE RAVIOLI in a wine, butter sauce

Second Flight: Ravenswood Teldeschi Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley 2003 Rosenblum Harris Kratka Vineyard Zinfandel Alexander Valley 2002

Third Course: GRILLED FLAT IRON STEAK WITH GREEN BEANS in olive oil

Third Flight: Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley 1999 Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel Dry Creek Valley 2003

Fourth Course: ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH HAND CUT PASTA and marinara sauce

Fourth Flight: Bonny Doon Vineyards Cardinal Zinfandel California 2003 Storybrook Mountain Zinfandel (Eastern Exposure) Napa Valley 2002

Fifth Course: CASSOULET lamb, confit of duck, sausage and pork baked with white beans in an enriched lamb stock

Fifth Flight: Martinelli "Guiseppe & Luisa" Zinfandel Russian River Valley 2001 Spelletich Cellars "Alviso" Zinfandel Amador County 2002

Haven't we met?

Kinda reminds me of a few people I know, or,...have known.

OR IN SOME CASES

There's no place like home

Where would you rather be the church?

Or

Faith communities, gathering as small groups in homes or similar intimate settings have had a long and significant history. Biblically we see this form of devoted community as early as the first Passover, when exiled Jewish families worshiped God together for sustaining their lives. “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. . .and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. . . And the people bowed low and worshiped.” (Ex.12:22,27) In many places in the New Testament, the first ‘church’ gatherings were clearly home centered. For example: “. . . and to Archippus our fellow-soldier, and to the church in your house:” (Philemon 1:2) “. . . also greet the church that is in their house.” (Ro. 16:5) “Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.” (1 Cor.16:19) Among the listed spiritual practices which these house churches engaged in are: prayer, devotion to the apostles teaching, baptism, fellowship, breaking of bread, sharing of property and possessions, eating meals together, praising God. Robert Webber writes:

The younger evangelical is interested in building organic communities, not huge Wal-Mart churches that deliver a full range of Christian consumer goods. The Constantinian church is characterized by professional clergy who have been trained in acceptable seminaries and passed through examinations conducted by their peers. Their job is to deliver the goods and services. . .Lay people, for whom the clergy work, are the consumers of the [religious] goods and services.

In the Constantinian church the local church SENT missionaries. In the pre-Constantinian and now post-modern paradigms, the church does not SEND missionaries, nor does it have a missionary "program." Instead, it IS a mission. The postmodern church invites people in its neighborhood into the new alternative community of people who embody the kingdom.

Communities of faith are far from being a fad but have consistently functioned as important spiritual formation contexts of the past, present (and likely future) generations. Emerging faith communities are focused more on finding common mission than doctrinal common ground. BREATHE is an emerging faith community that is standing in a stream of historical precedent.

LLLLLLets get ready to rumble!!

Shark vs Octopus

place your bets

Blog Cloud

This is amazing! A creative word cloud of Paradox Porch, sorta a 'slice' of life. I wonder what we could deduce...keep in mind the words are RANDOM!

Slice your own blog...

thanks Erin!

Score!

Moving at the speed of life we are bound to collide with each other...



Hate is as all-absorbing as love, as irrational, and in its own way as satisfying. As lovers thrive on the presence of the beloved, haters revel in encounters with the one they hate. They confirm him in all his darkest suspicions. They add fuel to all his most burning animosities. The anticipation of them makes the hating heart pound. The memory of them can be as sweet as young love.
The major difference between hating and loving is perhaps that whereas to love somebody is to be fulfilled and enriched by the experience, to hate somebody is to be diminished and drained by it. Lovers, by losing themselves in their loving, find themselves, become themselves. Haters simply lose themselves. Theirs is the ultimately consuming passion.

watch the trailer here

A glimmer of reason

Reason is amoral. The ancient Greek view that we can be moral by following our reason is skewed. Rational morality reduces to a matter of opinion, and so we need to ground our notions of morality in God instead. If there is no master of the universe, then who's to say that Hitler did anything wrong? Just because God is powerful, that doesn't necessarily mean that he is good --or at least good in the way that humans understand goodness.

Flourishing Wholeness

The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy.


JFK

Bono's speech at the 54th National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.

(If you want to watch, click here.)

If you're wondering what I'm doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It's certainly not because I'm a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I'm here because I've got a messianic complex.

Yes, it's true. And for anyone who knows me, it's hardly a revelation.

Well, I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural...something unseemly...about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the south of France. Talk about a fish out of water. It was weird enough when Jesse Helms showed up at a U2 concert...but this is really weird, isn't it?

You know, one of the things I love about this country is its separation of church and state. Although I have to say: in inviting me here, both church and state have been separated from something else completely: their mind.

Mr. President, are you sure about this?

It's very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned - I'm Irish.

I'd like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I'd like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws...but of course, they don't always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you're here.

I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here - Muslims, Jews, Christians - all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God.

I know I am. Searching, I mean. And that, I suppose, is what led me here, too.

Yes, it's odd, having a rock star here - but maybe it's odder for me than for you. You see, I avoided religious people most of my life. Maybe it had something to do with having a father who was Protestant and a mother who was Catholic in a country where the line between the two was, quite literally, a battle line. Where the line between church and state was...well, a little blurry, and hard to see.

I remember how my mother would bring us to chapel on Sundays... and my father used to wait outside. One of the things that I picked up from my father and my mother was the sense that religion often gets in the way of God.

For me, at least, it got in the way. Seeing what religious people, in the name of God, did to my native land...and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash...in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment...

I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV.

Even though I was a believer.

Perhaps because I was a believer.

I was cynical...not about God, but about God's politics. (There you are, Jim.)

Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick - my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity to cancel the chronic debts of the world's poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord's call - and were joined by Pope John Paul II, who, from an Irish half-Catholic's point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty.

'Jubilee' - why 'Jubilee'?

What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lord's favor?

I'd always read the scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was in Leviticus (25:35)...

'If your brother becomes poor,' the scriptures say, 'and cannot maintain himself...you shall maintain him.... You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit.'

It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he's met with the rabbis, impressed everyone, people are talking. The elders say, he's a clever guy, this Jesus, but he hasn't done much...yet. He hasn't spoken in public before...

When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,' he says, 'because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.' And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favour, the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18).

What he was really talking about was an era of grace - and we're still in it.

So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate - in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn't a bless-me club... it wasn't a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions...making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people.

But then my cynicism got another helping hand.

It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D. of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community, in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children...even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women.

Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself judgmentalism is back!

But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.

Love was on the move.

Mercy was on the move.

God was on the move.

Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet...conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS...soccer moms and quarterbacks...hip-hop stars and country stars. This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!

Popes were seen wearing sunglasses!

Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster!

Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit.

It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.

When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened - and acted. When churches starting organising, petitioning, and even - that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying...on AIDS and global health, governments listened - and acted.

I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world.

Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists, most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives.

Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.

I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybe not. But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.

God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. God is in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus that will end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble of war. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is with us if we are with them. "If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places."

It's not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned more than 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100 mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.) 'As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor.

Here's some good news for the president. After 9/11 we were told America would have no time for the world's poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it's true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors.

In fact, you have doubled aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund - you and Congress - have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria.

Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud.

But here's the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There is much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.

And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice.

Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice.

And that's too bad.

Because you're good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it. We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it.

But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea of justice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties, it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment.

Sixty-five hundred Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about justice and equality.

Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, if we're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans are equal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the tsunami. 150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature." In Africa, 150,000 lives are lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it's a completely avoidable catastrophe.

It's annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren't they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain.

You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, "Equal?" A preposterous idea: rich and poor are equal? And they say, "Yeah, 'equal,' that's what it says here in this book. We're all made in the image of God."

And eventually the Pharaoh says, "OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews - but not the blacks."

"Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man."

So on we go with our journey of equality.

On we go in the pursuit of justice.

We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than 2 million Americans...Left and Right together... united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.

We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King - mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started. These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas.

Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market...that's a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents...that's a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents...that's a justice issue.

And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.

That's why I say there's the law of the land? And then there is a higher standard. There's the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it's OK to protect our agriculture but it's not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn a living?

As the laws of man are written, that's what they say.

God will not accept that.

Mine won't, at least. Will yours?

[ pause]

I close this morning on...very...thin...ice.

This is a dangerous idea I've put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God...vs. no God. It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity.

And this is a town - Washington - that knows something of division.

But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalf of what the scriptures call the least of these.

This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea. Nor it is unique to any one faith.

'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Luke 6:30). Jesus says that.

'Righteousness is this: that one should...give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.' The Koran says that (2.177).

Thus sayeth the Lord: 'Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.' The Jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again.

That is a powerful incentive: 'The Lord will watch your back.' Sounds like a good deal to me, right now.

A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it. I have a family, please look after them. I have this crazy idea...

And this wise man said: stop.

He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.

Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed.

Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing.

And that is what he's calling us to do.

I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to 10% of the family budget. Well, how does that compare with the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family? How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world? Less than 1%.

Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America:

I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing.... Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional 1% of the federal budget tithed to the poor.

What is 1%?

1% is not merely a number on a balance sheet.

1% is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you. 1% is the AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you. 1% is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business thanks to you. 1% is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole. This 1% is digging waterholes to provide clean water.

1% is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism toward Africa, where increased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives with proven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants of every description.

America gives less than 1% now. We're asking for an extra 1% to change the world. to transform millions of lives - but not just that and I say this to the military men now - to transform the way that they see us.

1% is national security, enlightened economic self-interest, and a better, safer world rolled into one. Sounds to me that in this town of deals and compromises, 1% is the best bargain around.

These goals - clean water for all; school for every child; medicine for the afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty - these are not just any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which this country supports. And they are more than that. They are the Beatitudes for a globalised world.

Now, I'm very lucky. I don't have to sit on any budget committees. And I certainly don't have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don't have to make the tough choices.

But I can tell you this:

To give 1% more is right. It's smart. And it's blessed.

There is a continent - Africa - being consumed by flames.

I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will be remembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution, and what we did - or did not to - to put the fire out in Africa.

History, like God, is watching what we do.

Thank you. Thank you, America, and God bless you all.