In Eight Miles Without...
Illustration
In Eight Miles Without A Pothole: As Close To Heaven As I'm Going To Get, Jim Klobuchar shared a sketch of the good people of the Twin Cities attending worship on Easter Sunday. He then compared them to Father John Garvey, at that time a Catholic priest serving in the poorest place in the United States, the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
Father Garvey had infuriated folks throughout South Dakota because he was quite public with his message that it was time to do right by the Sioux, not only by reimbursing them with land and money for some of the injustice done to them, but actually to come and get to know them as human beings and friends.
Father Garvey was also in trouble with the IRS because he refused to pay the part of his tax he calculated contributed to the development and deployment of nuclear weapons. They seized his automobile, about the only possession he had, but Father Garvey did not quit. Instead of paying the small sum it would have taken to get his automobile back, he took up hitchhiking. He wanted to continue his witness for his principles.
Many ministries like Father Garvey's challenge Christians to remember that God's call can put us at odds with "respectable" people sitting next to us in the pews.
-- Olson
Father Garvey had infuriated folks throughout South Dakota because he was quite public with his message that it was time to do right by the Sioux, not only by reimbursing them with land and money for some of the injustice done to them, but actually to come and get to know them as human beings and friends.
Father Garvey was also in trouble with the IRS because he refused to pay the part of his tax he calculated contributed to the development and deployment of nuclear weapons. They seized his automobile, about the only possession he had, but Father Garvey did not quit. Instead of paying the small sum it would have taken to get his automobile back, he took up hitchhiking. He wanted to continue his witness for his principles.
Many ministries like Father Garvey's challenge Christians to remember that God's call can put us at odds with "respectable" people sitting next to us in the pews.
-- Olson
