to be Alive

There is so much wrong with the world.  Here is my day so far:

I wake up at 7:30am and go for a shower, the lights in the washroom have been left on all night and I feel bad because I’m wasting electricity.  I put the water on and let it warm up, I’m wasting water if only ever so little.  I see a bug in the shower, that’s gross, I kill it.. so much for it’s life.  I ran out of cereal so I’ve decided to hit McDs on the way to work… McDs which most likely supports some kind of malpractice or exploitation along the process in order to get it’s prices so cheap.  As I walk to work I pass at least three homeless people on average, the same ones usually, and do nothing to stop and talk or pay much attention to them.. I don’t even share one of my mcmuffins..  I feel bad again.  Not only that but I feel like crap after eating 2 sausage McMuffins which just fill me with fat anyways.  Then it’s onto work, human trafficking.  Over the last week I’ve researched so much my brain hurts.  I’m not even done finding all the sites and stats that are out there… is there an end?  It is determined that the booklet I’m working on is not indepth enough and perhaps useless in it’s current form.  That’s fine.. we’ll make it better right? Well, that means coming up with some practical ways Canadian youth can make a difference in their sphere’s of influence… tough call.  Do they know that you can’t just rally for people to be released? And that there are innumerable factors that contribute to their vulnerability and demand?  So if want to go holistic we’ll need to solve world hunger, extreme poverty, environmental problems, overcome social taboos and prejudices and somehow decrease demand for these revolting “services.” Talking sex and labour… or both.  I move on from my booklet and research to a website I’m developing.  It deals with extreme poverty, yay.  So Canadian’s can get involved in petitioning the government and getting Canada to do their part in the Millennium Development Goals, which are so far behind that the goal of 2015 will not be reached.. and probably overshot by another 5 years at least.  Why? Because Governments don’t really care about people, they care about financial gain and staying in power.. that doesn’t happen when you help people to freedom.  Well that’s no good.. off to lunch.

I head home and it’s raining but I don’t have an umbrella, awesome.  I get near home and see protests and demonstrations going on outside the Iranian Embassy, which is across the street from where I am staying.  They want a recount, they want justice, they want to be taken seriously.  Do protests ever change anything? Sometimes I wonder.. sometimes I hope.  I eat lunch quickly, it’s gross, and get a jacket and a Pepsi to go back to work with.  It’s still raining and I pass those same homeless people that are out there all the time.  I feel like I should give one guy my Pepsi but I don’t want to, I want it.  So I don’t.. and I feel guilty after.  I get back to my desk and wipe off my new Sketchers shoes.  These were probably made by child labourers, great.  Back to Human Trafficking..  I continue to build my list of organizations trying to do their part to change this world, and can’t help but wonder how many of them are actually affecting anything.  It could just be that everyone is saying “someone do something” with very few actually acting on those “cries for justice.” I wonder how my efforts here will really change anything outside of myself and better this world.  I want desperately to see these millions of slaves worldwide be free, but not quite sure what to do about it… in any tangible sense anyways.  I think I am changing, but who can be sure? And now I’m left to ponder how I can instruct the youth of Canada to get involved in fighting a war against trafficking that I am not even sure how I fit in.  Today is not the best day I’ve had here.  Prayers are welcome.

I really like this idea: Buy a sweet water thermos and support water projects in Africa! All proceeds go right to the water projects, not admin costs for Charity:Water.

That’s all for now

Technically I’ve only worked here for 4 days so far, but this is my first weekend so I’ll recap the week and call it done.  This week was most of all eye-opening.  I learned so much about so many initiatives worldwide that are happening to stop Human Trafficking, or at least slow it down.  It is such a big issue, with pretty much every nation involved to some degree, that it is difficult for one nation to fix it all on their own.  I am thankful for all that UN.GIFT (United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking) has done to get the UN members involved and working towards a common goal.  There are several initiatives within Canada that are going on including the RCMPs HTNCC (Human Trafficking National Coordination Centre) and The Future Group based in the west.  So much more can always be done but I am thankful for the many people that have taken a serious role in combating this inhumanity.  I’m developing some awareness materials at work right now so hopefully you guys will eventually come across it at some point or another (it will be published by the EFC and will be geared towards youth and young adults).  I’m starting to think of developing a website geared towards all that I’ve found out so that people can be informed about all that is going on and how they can become involved… we’ll see if that materializes after my time here.

I’ve also had the pleasure of going to Parliament Hill a few times this week to meet with an MP, sit in on Question Period in the House of Commons and be part of a Committee meeting.  There is certainly a lot of security checkpoints to get through for these events, which is good but just a hassle.  It is quite overwhelming when you see all the issues that the government has to deal with on a daily basis… I just never thought of it before.  There are people coming at it with all kinds of different requests, bills, petitions, motions, blah blah.. it’s crazy!  there are also so many social justice causes that can be worked on when dealing with Parliament, so it’s nice to see the EFC taking action against those many fronts.. The more I’m here, the more I like what the EFC is doing.  Anyways, thats all for now.  It has been a good week, a busy one, a tiring one, but I am looking forward to the weeks ahead!

Today I finally arrived in Ottawa for a two month experience with the EFC working on social justice.  It’s been an interesting process getting here and I am still not quite sure what is all involved.  I have been exhausted the past 6 days working on my car with my dad and uncle and photographing a wedding for my friends.  Now that I’m here I have to switch modes and enter the business world that is Ottawa downtown.  It’s a little intimidating but exciting at the same time.  The place I’m staying is pretty amazing.  The Laurentian Leadership Centre is quite the building in the heart of Ottawa and there is so much for me to explore in the surrounding blocks.  I have already met several people who are working on other social causes like poverty in Cambodia and homelessness throughout Canada.  It seems like everyone here is in some way connected to a social cause, very interesting.  I look forward to tomorrow and will update some more when I have some concrete information as to what exactly I will be doing Peace.

I’ve been thinking alot lately about the kingdom of God and just exactly what it looks like here on earth. As I enjoy the beauty that surrounds me here in Nanaimo and wonder at what life could be like if Kristin and I were to live here, I think of the contrast. Here there are beautiful parks and lakes that could be explored endlessly and a similar endless supply of toys that could be used in that experience (i.e. Boats, campers, bikes, etc.). Really, one could be caught up forever in such a pursuit of pleasure and enjoying God’s beautiful creation. Would that be wrong? Not necessarily, but if it all becomes so distracting that you forget the call of God as a kingdom citizen then I would be concerned. The contrast I see is found in the book I’m reading called Mountains Beyond Mountains where there is seen so much poor and hurting in the world that lifetimes could be filled in pursuit of healing and restoration. In this healing and restoration I believe that the kingdom is expanded, where in the former scenario the kingdom is more enjoyed. So where do we live? In expansion or enjoyment? There is more to consider on the topic but that is all for now.

Sometimes I feel as if we’re on this journey towards a greater knowledge, just so we can use it against others. It seems that the greater amount of knowledge we have, the greater ‘tools of destruction’ we hold for lording over others the insignificance of their thoughts and views. ‘We know better’ right? Than ‘them’ I mean… Or could it be that knowledge was meant for an entirely different purpose?

Knowledge cannot just be ammo against others in our war of words with them. Knowledge should first pierce our own armour – known as belief, arrogance or ignorance. Then, once we ourselves have become changed we will no longer see knowledge as ammo to be used against others but enlightenment shared with all. There is a greater use for knowledge, and in our own understanding we must not misuse it against others.

In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. ~ Hebrews 5:12-14 (NIV).

What exactly is this verse saying? It’s come to my mind lately as well as what my friend Phil said a few years back about Hebrews 6:1.  The way I remember it, he was frustrated how so often Christians will stay at a certain level of knowledge and understanding about the faith but go no further, and as a result they never mature past infants in the faith.  

Is there such a thing as being an infant in the faith? Even after being a Christian for your whole life? I think there is support for it.  That could be what this verse in Hebrews 5 is all about.  Believers who still can’t stomach solid spiritual food.  

And what is the reason for it? The writer of Hebrews says its because we’ve become “dull of hearing” or “too lazy to understand.”  There could be some truth to this couldn’t there?  I know for me, growing up in a Christian home I heard a million and one sermons by the time I was 15, and did I care a whole lot about God? Not really, other than he could save me from hell and make my life better… somehow.  

Could this same expression, “dull of hearing,” apply to our current state of Christianity?  In my opinion it certainly does.  We are too over saturated with sermons and messages that we don’t care to listen anymore.  The reason for our saturation is because we haven’t done anything with the messages we’ve heard.  That sucks.  What ever happened to action? Boy am I guilty of this.  Life gets too busy right? We have other things we need to do, there is no time for acting upon the Word.  As for me, I’m sick of it.. and God is slowly allowing a holy discontentment with my current state to well up within me.  It’s a good thing, I’m glad.  I want to change.  I can’t say I’m there yet, but the process has started.  I encourage you to seek this out for yourself and really examine what God has called us to in His word.  Are we obeying Him?

I was listening to a (this) podcast today on the way down to Calgary and in it Rick McKinley was speaking about the Kingdom of God and its character.  He was speaking about the injustices in the world and how seeing through the lens of the kingdom helps to find appropriate ways of responding to it.  For instance, in responding to homelessness the major issue is not that someone doesn’t have an address to call their own but that they most often are alone.  In the kingdom there will be no loneliness or aloneness, and so bringing the kingdom to earth is to build relationships with those who have no one.  This quote really struck me (modified slightly):

God’s response to injustice in the world is the church, the people of God.

God has commissioned us to be the light of the world, to be His representatives on earth.  We need to first understand God’s heart for all forgotten by the world and then seek to understand how He would have us repond to them for Him.  We can’t just keep praying that God would “right the wrongs” and “restore justice” to this broken society, and then do nothing.  Praying is action, and this includes doing something tangible to bring the kingdom of God that much closer to earth.

For more read This Beautiful Mess: Practicing the Presence of the Kingdom of God (which admittedly I haven’t read but want to after hearing more about it). You can also look at the links I’ve got posted on the side under “Social Causes.”  These are sites and organizations that I support through giving so check them out if you get a chance!