Hope Rising: How Christians Can End Extreme Poverty in This Generation by Scott Todd

Can extreme poverty be ended by 2030? That is only 16 years away, and 1.4 billion people are currently living in extreme poverty. Around 21,000 children die because of poverty every day. Most of the poor are in Africa and Asia. The task of ending poverty may sound impossible to many who were raised with the Bible verse "The poor you will always have with you," but Scott Todd of Compassion International says that these words from Jesus are taken out of context and often used as an excuse for not responding to a Biblical call to service. He explains why effort to end poverty is worthwhile in Hope Rising: How Christians Can End Extreme Poverty in This Generation.

2030 is not just a randomly chosen year. The date has been set as a goal for ending poverty by the World Bank and endorsed by the United Nations and the Brookings Institute. Prime Minister of Great Britain David Cameron and Microsoft founder Bill Gates both think it can be done.

Why such optimism? In 1981, 52 percent of the earth's population lived in extreme poverty. By 2009, only 21 percent lived in extreme poverty. That is still a lot of people, but there has been great progress. The author cites much evidence showing that international aid to fight poverty has already been very effective. The challenge to eradicate poverty will still require great effort, but Scott Todd believes it can and should be done.

While Hope Rising provides some practical ideas and success stories, it is stronger on spiritual and moral justification. Many of the chapters could be sermons, which is appropriate for a book aimed at faith-based readers. Agnostic readers may find much to encourage them also if they can look beyond the Biblical quotes. The author obviously wants everyone's help, as he describes a vision of governmental, business, and non-corporate campaigns working together. 

Who will pay for ending poverty? We will, joyfully, awaking from our media/entertainment stupor, glad to be alive, serious about making a difference in the future of the planet. Working people who can give will be the inspiration for the billionaires to join, some of whom are already impressed.

Only in the last chapter of Hope Rising does Todd mention donating to his own organization Compassion International. Charity Navigator gives it a high rating, especially for accountability and transparency.Not everyone will be interested in becoming a child sponsor, which Todd suggests as a primary way to help end poverty. Luckily, his book as a whole indicates that there are many other ways to fight poverty.

Todd, Scott. Hope Rising: How Christians Can End Extreme Poverty in This Generation. Thomas Nelson, 2014. 224p. ISBN 9780529101129.

You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism by Brad Hirschfield

You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism by Brad Hirschfield is an obvious title choice for a church book group. Hirschfield is a rabbi with a somewhat fanatical past who is now an advocate of open dialogue among adherents of any religion. His book about his own faith journey is filled with ideas and quotes that merit discussion by spiritually minded readers. Some of my favorites follow below.

When faith simplifies things that need to remain complex, instead of giving us strength to live with complexity, when it gives answers where none exists, instead of helping us appreciate the sacredness of living with questions, when it offers certainty when there needs to be doubt, and when it tells us we have arrived when we should still be searching - then there is a problem with that faith. (page 9)

… I always try to accept, deep inside myself, that no matter how passionately I feel about the position I'm taking, I may be completely wrong. (page 56)

In a more just and forgiving world we would realize that the people who hurt us have often been hurt themselves. We would remember that those against whom we struggle are actually "us," not some wholly other "them." It's not that we would never have to fight against certain people and specific things. We would. But how would those fights be different, how much more slowly would they be entered into and how much more quickly resolved if all those involved acknowledged that their intended victims were their own relatives, and they were actually fighting against themselves. (page 67-68)

It is so easy to forget that the system that is right for you, even one that you believe God wants for you, may not be right for everyone. After all, how could the will of an infinite God ever be made so small as to fit into one finite system? Ironically, when it comes to our spiritual lives, we should be making the most room for one another, but it seems that instead we make the least. (page 112)

When the existence of the members becomes more important than their experience of membership, something is wrong. (page 113)

There are more quotable passages throughout. Still, our church discussion group was not totally satisfied with the book. Some members thought it was all rather easily said and predictable. Some thought Hirschfield told too many stories about himself for the book to be taken seriously. Someone else thought his stories were the best part of the book. In any case, it is a fairly short book and quickly read, which is important for many discussion groups. I also believe that imperfect books open up more discussion and think it is worthy of consideration for groups that have not already read it.

Hirschfield, Brad. You Don't Have to Be Wrong for Me to Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism. Harmony Books, 2007. 271p. ISBN 9780307382979.

Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India by William Dalrymple

India is a mysterious land. While economic development has transformed its cities and suburbs into modern centers of commerce that resemble urban areas around the world, its villages and countryside seem fundamentally untouched by the secular electronic age. In rural places, some people live much as their ancestors did 100, 500, or even 1000 years ago. In his travels across the Indian subcontinent, author William Dalrymple has identified nine people living timelessly. In his new book, Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India, Dalrymple profiles each within the context of Indian culture.

I started reading Nine Lives wondering whether it would qualify as a collective biography. While each of the nine chapters contains a story of an individual living a life that reflects the past in the present, the author spends much of his effort setting the stage and philosophizing on the meaning of lives. While immersed in reading about the landscapes and traditions, I sometimes forgot who we were following. This is fitting, as Dalrymple's book is not really about individuals. His subjects have all surrendered themselves to lives in service to their beliefs.

Dalrymple's subjects include a Jain nun, a ritual dancer, a temple prostitute, and a blind minstrel. All align with Hindu, Muslim, or Buddhist faiths in some way, but they are not all particularly pious. Some are seeking purity and peace, while others are just doing the jobs that they born to do. Some still travel by walking, begging for food along the way and sheltering in holy places. All are somewhat revered for serving their societal functions by communities who see no conflict keeping the old ways while living in the 21st century.

The author includes a ten-page glossary in the back to define many unfamiliar concepts and identify many of Hindu's gods and goddesses. Because he defines pretty well throughout the text, I did not need the glossary often, but it was still good to have. Readers who enjoy the unfamiliar will appreciate Nine Lives.

Dalrymple, William. Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India. Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. ISBN 9780307272829.