"There are many false prophets (and false profits) out there, and all kinds of embarrassing things being done in the name of God. Religious extremists of all faiths have perverted the best of our traditions. But there is another movement stirring, a little revolution of sorts. Many of us are refusing to allow distorted images of our faith to define us. There are those of us who, rather than simply reject pop evangelism, want to spread another kind of Christianity, a faith that has as much to say about this world as it does about the next.
We are not a voice for the voiceless. The truth is that there is a lot of noise out there drowning out quiet voices, and many people have stopped listening to the cries of their neighbors. Lots of folks have put their hands over their ears to drown out the suffering. Institutions have distanced themselves from the disturbing cries. When Paul writes in Romans 8 that the entire creation is groaning for its liberation, he goes on to say that "we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly." This is the chorus on generations of seemingly voiceless people that we have joined. And God has a special ear for their groaning, regardless of who else is listening.
Back at college, I had asked one of my Bible teachers if he still believed in miracles, like when Jesus fed thousands of people with a couple of fishes and a handful of loaves. And I wandered if God was still into that stuff. I wanted miracles to be normal again. He told me that we have insulted ourselves from miracles. We no longer live with such reckless faith that we need them. There is rarely room for the transcendent in our lives. If we get sick, we go to a doctor. If we need food, we go to a store and buy it. We have eliminated the need for miracles. If we had enough faith to depend on God like the lilies and sparrows do, we would see miracles. For is it not a miracle that the birds find enough worms each day? He was right. On the streets of Philly, we experienced miracles. We would wake up sometimes with a blanket on us or a meal beside us that wasn't there when we went to sleep."
-Shane Claiborne
