Hmm. I've been thinking again. And I don't know if it's a good thing because when I start thinking, I tend to go basketcase. My English classes always make me think, for sure. Today, my students were complaining about the one day a year they have to do manual labor to landscape around their ancestors graves. Apparently, it's even more difficult than clearing a path in a Nicaraguan rainforest. Originally I was frustrated because they didn't seem to understand that, I, an American, had actually done manual labor before (every Hoelscher knows that they must at some point pick up rocks in the fields- and each can attest to the astounding number of rocks in Central Iowa:). But now, I'm moved on, and am thinking about the broader picture- how much ignorance bothers me. Please please note- I am not directing this just at Korea, definitely not, I think ignorance is a plague that is circulating around the world.
Truth is, to quote Gloria Steinem, "America is an enormous frosted cupcake in the middle of millions of starving people." We know so little about the true condition of the rest of the world. And when we do find out about it, we get scared, and promptly dump this information into the sector of our brains entitled, "Think About This Some Other Time," and immerse ourselves in our daily tasks. I am extremely guilty of this and too often I simply forget about the woes of the world until another reminder of the world situation seeps back into our brains. We see it on the news, hear about it from our friends, maybe we read an article about some war, a starving population, a disease gone rampant and we say, "That's their problem" but truth is, which of us can say we have gotten to where we are, on our own. No, at some point we've probably needed the help of someone else. To those in need of clean food and water we say, "We have enough problems of our own," which in other words means, "Not until we're perfect or our situation is perfect or our country is perfect will we help you." And, we're nowhere. Sure, we can say, "Someone else can do it" but still NOTHING HAPPENS. We can say, "I'm too busy with my work" but if we all say that then NOTHING HAPPPENS. We can say, "That's too dangerous for me" but again, if everyone says it NOTHING HAPPENS. Now, don't get me wrong. I think safety is a good thing. I'll fully admit that pray for the safety of my family. And the possibility of living in dangerous situation scares me a lot. But I have to remind myself of my own words (stink) as the safest place to be is in God's hands and sometimes that may be in a place that is dangerous. Just because something is dangerous, does that mean that the battle shouldn't be fought? I'm grateful for those who've fought that I may have freedom. I'm grateful for those who've gone without so that I might have. But I think, in this, I'm also obligated to go and fight so that others may be able to live, breathe, and love freely.

• Of the 2.2 billion children in the world, 1 million live in poverty.
  
• Half of the world, - nearly 3 billion people- live on less than two dollars a day.
  

• Tens of thousands of women and girls have been subjected to rape and other sexual violence since the crisis erupted in Darfur in 2003
• Nearly 1 billion people cannot read or write
• 854 million people in this world go hungry

• In 2003, the AIDS virus left 12 million children orphaned in southern Africa, a number expected to rise to 18 million in 2010.
  

Will no one fight for them? Will this world really survive with this mantra of indifference? I guess, all I'm asking you is to challenge yourself with the question- what is your life about? Living, breathing, paying the bills? And I know, we all have commitments. No one is without a legitimate excuse as to our reasons why this fight should be fought by someone else. In the words of Marcus Aurelius "Waste no more time talking about great souls and how they should be. Become one yourself!" for truly time is of the essence.
And I look at myself. I've joined a fight but some days, rather than fighting, I give into apathy, busyness, and the day-to-day routine of life. My fight is that others might know life, true life, life abundant, life in Christ. And how lazily do I fight. I'm grateful that my value is not based on how perfectly- or more appropriately- how imperfectly I fight. 1 Co. 15:19- If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
I'm reminded of the old adage that says, "Choose your battles wisely." In order for us to choose, we must KNOW the battle that we're choosing to fight and we must KNOW the battle we're choosing not to fight. And this is when we enter into the dance with ignorance, and in the words of Maya Angelou "We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders." Would we not isolate ourselves in our snug world of hot chocolate, cars, and computers. This is a fight for Christians and non-Christians alike. Go and do something. Read, learn, and act. I'm not saying that you must travel halfway around the world to fight. No, indeed it could be around the block. But just don't think about it. Do something. Maybe you'll have to get dirty, maybe it won't be easy, maybe even not the safest thing you'll do, maybe the neighbors will look at you funny, or your family will be adamantly against it. But if you don't fight who will? And then when you're in need, who'll fight for you? Will anyone? And even if you never find yourself in need of the help of another in choosing not to fight for the needy, impoverished, malnourished, essentially, in the midst of ignorance and apathy, you're fighting against them. And the world turns, people have been born, people have died, another day goes by, what did you do today?