As a Buddhist, I believe that the world is perfect. The perfection of the world-of God's creation, if you're a Christian-is an essential belief if one is to achieve the ecstasy of the mystical transcendence that the great saints achieved.

However, and it's a big however, as a Buddhist I also believe that if any given statement is true, then its opposite is also true. So…If it is true that the world is perfect, then it is also true that we want to work to make the world perfect. Both of those statements are true, and neither one is less true because the other is true.

If you can do it, there's a great advantage to getting your head around the logic of “both/and” rather than the logic of “either/or.” The advantage is that you can promote social justice without giving in to the temptation to demonize the people who create social injustice. If history teaches us anything, it's that no cause ever justifies demonizing other people. The shining example of Nelson Mandela unforgettably shows us the truth of this principle.

These thoughts can inform our thoughts as we talk to our wonderful visiting stewards who are making the success of this stewardship campaign possible. We know that parts of our pledges will support the work of the church's social justice programs, and we want to support those programs out of a sense of the perfection of the world, which we are helping to create. So we give with joy as we know that in giving we celebrate the perfection of the world.

Jim Curtis