Laying the Foundation

Many months ago, I began reading Jeffrey Sachs's latest book, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. In the mix of grad school and work, it has taken me much longer to get through this book than I would have liked, but I've gained some amazing insights from the experiences of Sachs nonetheless. After I read the intro to the book (last year...geez), I wrote a proclamation of sorts that I'll post below. These words are mostly directed at myself as I attempt to stay focused on the issues that truly matter to me, and re-reading this has often times drawn me back to the basics.

The goal is simple: emanate love in action. The task is monumentally complicated: eradicate extreme poverty around the globe by 2025. As we begin this journey, I often feel the strength of the disease in my stomach; the evil that has dragged cultures, countries, and continents by their hair to these wastelands of despair. This evil is manifested in the corrupt developing-world governments, in the child sex-slave owners, in the AIDS pandemic…but perhaps this evil is most horrifically displayed in the developed world, where we look deep in the eyes of a suffering child and, in good conscience, look away with indifference.

I am resolved to not look away anymore. I want to be used for the greater-good. I want to learn how to be commandingly effective for love & justice. It is my prayer that no matter how impossible future situations may feel, that somehow we will be able to lean back on the simple truth that the Creator is more than able to accomplish His design. I understand that His will may not look exactly like our goal, but I am certain that it does not look like the world does today. Soli Deo Gloria.