Jim Wallis is one of my current day heroes. He is editor-in-chief of a magazine called Sojourners.  Here is their mission statement:

The mission of Sojourners magazine is to inspire hope and action by articulating the biblical call to racial and social justice, life and peace,and environmental stewardship

I have been getting their magazine for some years now and from his writings I feel I almost know him on a personal level. He also sends out  frequent e-mails about brother’s keeper issues.  He inspires me to do what I can to love my neighbor no matter his race, religion, or economic circumstances.  Here are some of his words from the latest e-mail about the politics of the “fiscal cliff”.

Are we willing to stop powerful pharmaceutical companies from preventing more than $100 billion in drugs cost savings to protect their own profits?  Will we choose to protect demonstrably effective nutritional programs (SNAP) for low-income families instead of unjust subsidies to agribusiness? Or defend things like Pell Grants to enable students from low-income families to go to college for the first time over huge subsidies to profitable oil companies? Or help refinance mortgages for struggling single homeowners instead of retaining charitable tax deductions for second and third vacation homes? 

Will we realize in time that low-income tax credits for low-income working families are “pro-family measures” that both fight poverty and support economic growth?  Will we finally have an honest discussion about military spending and national security? Meeting the real needs of our veterans and defending our country means we cannot afford to fund outdated and useless weapons systems. There are many items in the Pentagon’s budgets that reflect the pet projects of lawmakers and not the security needs of the nation. Our leaders must have the courage to end the business of war. The faith community must urge them to beat those swords into plowshares.

Jim is concerned, and rightly so that when all the powerful lobbies in Washington get done with the fiscal cliff negotiations that the brother’s keeper issues will once again take a back burner to all the high powered interests that drive Washington nowadays. I have used Mr. Wallis’ email several times on this blog but have never given you much info about him. Here is what Wikipedia says about him:

Jim Wallis (born June 4, 1948) is a Christian writer and political activist. He is best known as the founder and editor of Sojourners magazine and as the founder of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian community of the same name. Wallis is well known for his advocacy on issues of peace and social justice. Although Wallis actively eschews political labels, he describes himself as an evangelical and is often associated with the evangelical left and the wider Christian left. He works as a spiritual advisor to President Barack Obama. He is married to the Rev. Joy Carroll, who was one of the first female priests in the Church of England.  He is also a leader in the Red-Letter Christian movement.