These two towns entered into an agreement that takes the vote out of the peoples' hands so that they can build a regional airport right near my house, even after the people voted against a few years ago. I'm not going to get into the whole thing because it will take forever. My point for bringing this up is to show how people have different views of what "improving the quality of life" means. A little while ago there was an informational meeting on this whole airport thing. I wasn't there for it, but my wife and in-laws were there, so what I'm about to say comes from them. In this meeting they gave an argument/point on why this airport is a good thing. The point was "it will improve the quality of life for people". What? I'm not following. What peoples' lives? Their point was that it will save about 5 minutes of drive time for the people who use corporate planes, therefore it will improve the quality of their life. They want to build this airport for people who fly to these towns to eat our dutch letters, rent our cars, and stay in our hotels for just a few days and then leave again. We're going to spend $24 -$30 Million dollars, take away farmers land that brings in well over $300,000 annually to pump back into our economy and tax dollars to improve our infrastructure, just to improve the quality of life for these people so they can spend those extra 5 mins. with their family? Oh, okay.
It pains me when I hear that, and then I hear stories from my son about his life in Ethiopia. Stories that would make you realize how good most of us have it here in America. What about these peoples' quality of life? We don't even need to go half way around the world to find hungry kids, or parents out of jobs, or people addicted to something harming them. They are right in our backyards. I don't think we need to spend the money to improve the quality of life for these people that don't NEED it. We need to improve the quality of life for the other people by feeding them, clothing them, and taking care of their needs by showing them the love of Christ through our actions. Who knows? Maybe one of these hungry children or struggling parents will become the next individual to turn our world upside down, to influence the way our world does and thinks.
I leave you with one question.
Would you rather improve the quality of life for people who own and fly one of these.......
OR
I know which one I'm improving on.
Rock On
J
Interesting blog post, Jeremy. I have some thoughts and we'll see if I can put them into words. I completely agree that we want to consider carefully where we invest our money and that so many times we can choose to build God's kingdom or build our own kingdoms. Certainly this is an issue we all face and one we should all STRUGGLE with on a daily basis - on big scales and small. However, I might add a gentle word of caution here. I know many of the people on both sides of this issue - that is to say I know some of the supporters of the airport and call them friends - and I know some of the opposers of the airport and call them friends. Those who want the airport are not necessarily making this decision to benefit a few fat cats, but rather to support the business and industry in our communities. I also know these individuals have given generously to Bethany and to so many wonderful Kingdom causes over the past many many years/decades. It's completely understandable and valid for you to disagree with their position on the airport. I don't fault you one bit for that and I would readily defend your cause to those friends of mine one the other side. I think the implication that people that are in favor of the airport are somehow making choices for selfish gain rather than for Kingdom work is a bit dangerous. That said, I want to reiterate that we are all DAILY responsible to make the right choices to better the lives of others. Perhaps we each have our own way of doing that and we might not always agree. Adoption is a beautiful and wonderful expression of that effort - one that people on both sides of the airport issue have supported and given to. There are people in both camps who are God-fearing, prayerful and Faith-driven and it pains me to see either side diminished or villianized.
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