Fears in Looking Ahead
By Bob Voglewede, Senior Vice President of Mission Services
I know there is something of a social taboo against publicly talking about one’s fears or worries. Out here on the plains we are always “great,” “excellent,” “terrific” and the like, but for some reason, as I begin to write this reflection a few days before Christmas, with the world moving closer to the end of 2006, I find myself looking ahead to the new year and thinking, “What are my apprehensions for the months ahead?” “When I am quiet and alone, what are some of my fears and worries about the future?”
In terms of myself personally, I’m aware that it won’t be too many years before it will be time to retire from Avera and transition to other interests and activities. Like many who must step across that line, my hope is that God will help me find a way to continue contributing to people’s spiri-tual well-being at a tempo that will fit my energies. The worry? I worry that the “fit” won’t be nearly as fulfilling as my present ministry within Avera. These have been very rewarding years!
Another worry is that as my wife and I continue to grow older, our health will remain such that we will be able to stay active and can take care of each other if more serious difficulties arise. Serious health problems should yet be years away, but as we know, things can change in an instant.
In many ways, however, it is larger issues that I find myself thinking more about as time’s mov-ing walkway brings us all to 2007. One larger issue pertains to Avera and its future fidelity to all that we mean by “Mission.” I ask myself, will we continue to go about our work with the under-standing that we are involved in a ministry, not a business, that it is a labor we engage in with Our Lord, that it is His work of healing that we carry on? As Avera continues to grow and health care continues to become more and more complicated, will the spirit of business – admittedly an important element in the mix – dominate our activities and decisions. Will pragmatism take the place of compassion; will smart marketing replace heart-felt hospitality; will the concern to pro-ject a certain image eviscerate stewardship? It’s quite possible that in five years Avera will have only a couple of Sisters who can impact the day-to-day activities of the organization. Will those who have been designated Leaders in Ministry and given an opportunity to reflect on those re-sponsibilities maintain their mission sensitivities in the heat of complex decision-making?
On a national and global level, I find myself worrying about issues such as these: Given where we have gone as a country after 9/11, especially in terms of Iraq, how many decades will it take for us to regain our stature as a model of right reason, regard for human dignity and genuine jus-tice? How much more vulnerable to hatred-driven terrorism will we be in the future because we turned to a military solution rather than one that involved listening and responding to the cries of the poor? [Do you ever think to yourself how crazy or enraged you would be if you were a mother with children, living in Baghdad these past four years?]
On another front I worry about the widening gulf between the rich and the poor, both in our country and world-wide. Repeatedly in recent years apolitical research organizations have pub-lished statistics confirming such developments in the U.S. – and it mirrors what goes on between rich and poor nations globally. Just two descriptions: The debt burden of less-developed coun-tries has increased steadily since the early 1980s. In 1970 the debt was $62 billion. In the late 1970s it was $780 billion. In 1998 the total debt stood at close to $2 trillion, thirty-two times the amount in 1970. Yet, instead of taking off the nooses, we only draw them tighter.
The UN reported that 80 percent of the world’s gross domestic product belongs to 1 billion peo-ple living in the developed world; the remaining 20 percent is shared by 5 billion people living in the “developing” countries. Is this the kind of stewardship our Creator asks of us? How many times have we heard it said of a country that the vast majority of people exist on $1 a day? So unjustly distributed are the resources of our earth!
Finally, I worry about the effects of global-warming. Indeed, the facts seem incontrovertible that we are moving towards a certain tipping point after which experts aren’t sure how devastating the results will be. Like so many others I’m happy to enjoy 40 degree weather in December or January, especially given the price of fuel, but I worry about the implications for my grandchil-dren, 30 and 40 years from now. So, such are some of my fears and concerns as we begin 2007. Do you and I have anything in common?