Permitted Extravagance and Waste

Last week, in the papers there is a discussion point on "Extravagance". It is due to the timing. With the exposure of the exploits of Wall Street CEOs, the insensitve and irresponsible extravagances. People are shouting crucifications.

A few members of the local high society were interviewed and expressed their points of view -true and untrue, relevant and irrelavant, useful and useless. Most see no wrong in extravagance but they will be more discrete now, given the sensitivity of the time.

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When I worked as a community organizer in the poorer Boston neighbourhoods of Roxbury and Dorchester, we often had meetings with local teachers, parents, clergy and social activitists , trying again and again to listen to the healing that would be possible in the lives of the struggling families who lived there.

One day we were meeting in Old South Church, one of the fine, traditional house of worship in Boston. One social activist was particularly enthusiatic in criticising the great disparities of wealth in the city. In his evangelical fervour, he used the church we were sitting in as an offending example. "Take this church. It is obscene, all this stained glass and gold chalice and fine tapestries. If the church really cared about poor people, they should sell all of this and give it to the poor."

This arguement is not new; it was made by Jesus's disciple themselves, and it clearly has some merit. But a woman from the neighbourhood, who had lived there all her life, said quietly, "This is one of the most beautiful placesin the city. It is one of the only places where poor folks can afford tobe around beauty. All other beauty in this city costs money. Here we can be surroundedby beautiful things and it all belongs to us. Don't even think about taking awaywhat little beauty we have."

We are a nation of hectic healers, refusing to stop. Our drive to do better faster, to develop social programme more rapidly, to create helpful agencies more quickly can create a sea of frantic busyness with negligible, even questionable, results. In our passionate rush to be helpful, we miss things that are sacred, subtle and important.

(Taken from Sabbath,Wayne Muller)
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But I am not too sure if that is what I observe at where I am. We are self-activitist rather social-acitivist.
Also I hope the churches would not take it wrongly in the reasoning for the mega projects. But who am I to judge when I don't even really know their thought process and also I am the one they are ultimately accountable for in the decision.

extravagance, extravagancy -- the quality of exceeding the appropriate limits of decorum or probability or truth;

Matt 26:6-13
While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table.
When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. "Why this waste?" they asked. "This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor."
Aware of this, Jesus said to them, "Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me. When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her."