“Now I get sick only when I go back to America… My American friends were shoveling platefuls of leftover food into the garbage disposal. I threw up all over the counter. I had forgotten what perfectly good food looked like going down the drain to the sewer. It was like watching a disgustingly drunk billionaire burn hundred-dollar bills in front of beggars.
…My mother’s next-door neighbor, a well-groomed, weight-gifted, vertically challenged accountant named Dave, brought out a leaf blower, a lawn mower, a leaf grinder, a mulcher, an edger, and a weed trimmer. He worked all day, making a terrific racket, chopping, trimming, and spraying toxins on a small patch of ground, which produced absolutely no food, only grass. The rest of the world spent the day standing in swamp water trying to grow a few mouthfuls of rice, while Dave sat on his porch with a cold beer admiring his chemical lawn. Sickening? You bet.” -Sisay from White Man’s Grave, by Richard Dooling

Regardless of who you voted for yesterday, or who gets elected this fall, there are some things about the ‘American’ way of life that probably won’t change all that much. There might be some divisions along party lines related to a whole lot of different issues, and it’s sad we can’t find more unity on those things, but that’s not what’s disturbing to a lot of the world. I don’t think a new president is going to be the answer to all of our problems. And, though a unified country will be good for the country, it also won’t bring true healing to anyone’s soul.

What can be addressed, and should be, by a unified church, is the sickening disease of NOT loving our neighbor. The above quote is from a fictional character who returns to his hometown in the USA after spending a few years as a PeaceCorps volunteer in Sierra Leone. I think there are many people who have spent time overseas who at one point, early in their return, relate to his feelings. It is unfortunate that much of the church in the USA looks like the neighbor spending all day grooming their lawn and tossing good food down the disposal, rather then living a life of sacrifice and love for our neighbors across the globe.