What Chance Does Gotham Have When the Good People Do Nothing?

What chance does Gotham have indeed! Rachel Dawes quip to Bruce Wayne, soon to be Batman, creates a great springboard for a discussion about...(What else?) Giving for a Living.
I love superhero movies. And I especially love it when something is said in a moment of crisis that is truly profound. When that moment comes, I will often look around the theatre to see if anyone else heard what I did. This moment from the movie "Batman begins" was such a moment. For it was the wake up call for Bruce Wayne. A wake up call for him to practice Giving for a Living by turning his privilege of financial blessing and a "live for myself only" mindset and becoming the Caped Crusader willing to give at a moment's notice to provide a safer life for another.
Allow me to turn from fantasy to reality for a moment. The fact is, there are many "good people" in America that have forgotten that the privilege of free market capitalism that allows one to work hard and make a good living begs the question, "What am I to do with my privilege to advance the plight of the poor and suffering?" Fortunately, there is a Voice that is beginning to breathe into the hearts of those with ears to hear. The Voice is that of one to whom all glory and allegiance is due and one who keeps watchful eye over his creation.
Have you heard his Voice yet? You will know it when you hear it. Let it change you; let Him change you. Change you into becoming a giver with a passion to lay down opulence and pick up permanence as you "pay it forward" for the cause of another. After all, we'll all get the opulence someday anyway, right?
But for now, the bat phone is ringing. Can you hear it? Please answer it. For "What chance does Gotham have, when the good people do nothing?"

Being a Faithful Father Requires Giving for a Living

I'll admit it. I'm never really ready for the surprises that raising six children with one wonderful woman brings. I started this journey over 32 years ago and it is never dull. It is never boring. But it is always surprising and always requires giving for a living. It requires squeezing out of an already busy week those extra minutes each day to give of my time to listen to a story about a math test gone wrong; a girlfriend that's special; a fresh perspective on a bible character. Then there's the bigger stuff that requires giving. Crying with a daughter-in-law suffering through a miscarriage; watching and praying while a dear friend suffers from a debilitating disease and on and on it goes.

See what I mean? Who among us is ever ready for the Giving for a Living mindset? But as we consider the steps of The Master, we remember the words of the Apostle Paul. "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2 Corinthians 4:17.

We may never be ready for the surprises and the requirement of the Giving for a Living lifestyle, but in view of a sure and glorious future, we can look forward to that eternal glory that will make it worth all of the sacrifice.

Wilbur Wilberforce - A British Version of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president, is credited in American History as the man who had the most to do with ending slavery in the US. William Wilberforce, or "Wilbur" as he was called by his friends, may have been Britain's version of the same. As a distinguished member of parliament, starting in the late 1700's, Wilberforce practiced Giving for a Living, often standing alone amidst strong opposition in the political arena to demonstrate the inhumane treatment of Africans brought to Great Britain for the sole purpose of their "market value" as slaves to British households. He fought a good fight and eventually won the day.

For 26 years, Wilberforce campaigned against slavery until the Slave Trade Act of 1807 ended slavery in Great Britain. To me, Wilberforce was a hero who found his destiny in bringing to light to one of humanities greatest tragedies. Lincoln, under diress from a Civil War that threatened to destroy America, followed suit in engaging the practice of treating all men equally. But it was William Wilberforce, who may have given him the idea fifty years earlier.

If you are enjoy a good movie, put "Amazing Grace" on your short list of must see movies. This flick that chronicles the life of William "Wilbur" Wilberforce, is a movie worth your time. William Wilberforce lived to give life to the African people and will be remembered as one of Britain's greatest heroes.

POSTED BY: Tim Calcara AT 07:20 am Permalink E-mail this