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CORPORATE FOCUS FOR 2009-2010         CONTACT US

Corporate Focus 2009~2010

Our challenge is to witness to compassion in this time of economic struggle
and lack of resources.

Prophetic people look for the message in the signs of the times...and then announce it and live into it. Jesus' life, death and resurrection were and continue to be the invitation to us as people of faith to share in the prophetic role.

Our choice for our corporate focus/question this year is an attempt at this. The economic upheaval in the last couple of years has been impossible to miss, and most of us probably can cite chapter and verse of how it plays out in our lives from soaring energy prices to job loss, and beyond that to the mental, physical, and spiritual costs of living in this time.

The national response to this seems to follow loosely Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' five stages of grieving: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance, and my guess is that most of us can, from time to time recognize each of the stages in ourselves. The prophetic challange is to not get stuck in any one of them.

The prophet would look at it differently and might add a 6th stage: transformation. The prophetic stance goes beyond what might need tweaking ( fewer trips, shorter vacations closer to home, etc) to the broader, more fundamental lifestyle choices, a new look at how we define our needs and wants in light of the gospel, and then honestly ask what we are being invited to in light of Jesus as prophetic model.

The questions that follow are a way to think about the new economic realities.

What are my basic survival needs?
Are they met adequately?
How do I define "success"?
How has my definition of "success" directed my living, working and leisure choices?
To what extent do I find myself trading off relational time with those I love for "work time"?
What price do I pay for the trade-off?
Is it worth it?
What do I want my family, friends, co-workers, etc. to say about me at my wake?
What choices do I need to re-think for that?

We invite your reflection and feedback. Drop a note to dcsc@divinecompassion.org.