another mans war.

Recently while I was at the gym, the evening news was playing on the television in the ladies locker room. The report was about how the crime and murder rate in Chicago is affecting the children in the community. Young boys are scared to ride their bikes. Little girls are scared to play outside. Children living in constant worry; yet this is all they know of life.

The young woman getting dressed next to me shook her head and said, “This is why I don’t watch the news. It’s always bad. I know bad things like this happen but I don’t need to watch it and be reminded.”

I politely nodded my head and gave her a sympathetic smile while something stirred in my heart.

It IS important. We DO need to know what is going on in our communities, see the hopelessness and see how the consistent cycle of violence is plaguing innocent children. We DO need to know and be reminded, daily, that there are children who are simply surviving their childhood and who have made friends with fear and hunger. We DO need to know that human trafficking still exists. We DO need to see how the homeless spend Christmas day and compare their thanksgiving meal with ours. We DO need to hear the statistics, see the numbers then listen to the solution and give an explanation why we can’t spare $35 a month for lasting change in a community stricken with poverty.

It IS important.

I am not saying we should overwhelm ourselves with the depression and unfairness of life. It can and does do something deep in your spirit over time to constantly meditate on the injustices of society. There is a point where you begin to lose faith and hope in humanity and questions begin to creep in. “How can a God that allows things like this to happen be good? Why them and not me?” I know the enormity of the needs of this world can feel overwhelming. However, ignorance is not bliss. It’s selfish and un-Christ like. And maybe if we stop acting aloof and DO SOMETHING, we can channel those feelings of despair into action and hope.

During a sermon recently at Jacobs Well, Isaac Anderson encouraged us to find our “to do.” Understand that God knows you care about multiple social injustices plaguing this world but focus on the problem God has placed on your heart and know that he has someone else taking care of separate issues.

We are not all called to start orphanages in Sudan but we are called to treat other humans like…humans. Maybe it’s as simple as having more gratitude and thankfulness in your heart. Hugging your child a little tighter. Giving. Support organizations who are working to end violence, hunger, sex slavery. Look the homeless in the eye next time you walk past them instead of judging them and wondering why they just don’t get a job. My “to do” at this time is poverty on a global scale and child sponsorship through World Vision. (More on this in a future post.)  Ask God for your “to do” and know that it is going to look different for each one of us.  Mother Teresa once said, “I can do things you cannot; you can do things I cannot. Together we can do great things.”

Remember, Christ does not call us to tell the recipient of our giving what to do with their gift, but only that we GIVE.

Teach your children these things. Become contagious in your generosity and sensitive spirit.

We need to stop pretending the problems in this world are another mans war. They are mine. And they are yours. 

We can’t do everything. But we must do something.

In the next couple of weeks, I will be posting tangible ways you can make a difference in the life of a child and those affected by poverty and sex trafficking.