Reconciliation

Reconciliation. It is an idea that has been troubling me recently. It goes along with my feeling that I need to be doing more to help my community. On NPR last night they were doing a story about the families in China that were affected by the storms and landslides 8 months ago. They interviewed a woman who had a3 month old baby who was living in a tent. her husband was a laborer and there was no money to get housing. There was no running water, no electricity, no sanitation system. How can this happen? How can we let that happen? The interviewer asked the woman how much it would cost to build a house. She said $500 and that it would take 10 years for them to save that much.

Lion and I are frugal people. We don't spend much on material things, but we do have cell phones, and cable TV, and netflix. We spend more than $500 a year at our local brewhouse. How can I pretend that this isn't happening? That there are places where children are not able to sleep in safety, that parents must choose between food and shelter, that individuals must fight so very hard just for survival.

I hear these stories, I think about the problems in my own community, and I boggle. Where to start? Where can I begin? How can I reconcile my very blessed life without contributing to the greater good? I'll never make tons of money. Professors don't go in to academics because it makes you rich. I love what I do, I love my family, but I need to do something to make this world a better place. I need to go to bed at night knowing that I did something today that made a difference for the people beyond my household.

I've started by printing off the PP volunteer application. I'll start there. This can be my one thing today. I'm adding it to my goals. Do 1 thing daily to make the world better. Reconcile my life with my world.

Now I just need to figure what I can do...