Get A Goat
Tomorrow is the last day of the 40 Day Fast and I have to say that it clearly seems to have been an astounding success.
The goal of it's organizer, Kat was to raise awareness and educate blog readers about issues of need in various parts of the world. If you've been reading then you know you can find that education by reading any or all of the 40 posts on the 40 blogs that are linked to by just about every website involved.
Personally, I found the experience to be quite eye-opening. It's not that I wasn't aware, I live in an environment that is highly focused on the issues of need around the world. This is especially true when one considers the seemingly unending abundance in our western world.
I wrote that I was stuck. I think I was stuck in a place where every procrastinator truly gets stuck – when the task at hand seems ridiculously impossible.
When you consider the oddity of our world, that 1/6 or so of the people are fat and well-fed, and the other 5/6 live in a world characterized by poverty, hunger, opression, violence, and dispair, it really does seem impossible. It's one of those, "how on Earth can we really let this sort of thing happen?" kind of situations.
Why don't people realize this lopsidedness and make some sort of drastic change?
And then again, why don't I, when I realize this lopsidedness make some sort of drastic change.
Because I'm stuck. I'm stuck because the task seems to great, and the procrastinator perfectionist in me sees the little tasks – such as sponsoring a child – as inconsequential toward the overall goal.
There are many people who are just like me. People like Kat many of the 40 bloggers are exactly the opposite. They are do-ers. Do-ers do. They see an opprotunity and they attack it.
Although I don't know the numbers, I'm willing to guess that if the do-ers kept on doing and the stuck people got unstuck and started participating, maybe we'd begin to see some really radical results. I don't know that this is true, I don't actually even feel like it is true. I have a sense that it is true. Call it a gut feeling. Those don't come often for me but they're typically pretty accurate.
All of this means that the "40 Day Fast" has influenced me to some degree. I think that I've seen change in the last few years. It seems that more people are now aware of the great need in our world. It seems that people are becoming more and more aware of their own ridiculous abundance.
Human nature is all messed up. Inside us is this need to put self first, and make sure that we are cared for to a point of excess. But the tide could change.
It seems impossible, but maybe it's not. Maybe one day we really could live in a world, a pre-redemption world, where at the very least everyone has enough food to eat.
If you think that's true, and you want to participate (if your not already), you can start by helping to buy a goat. It's Kat's way of getting the stuck people going, getting them less stuck.
You can read about the details, but it's pretty simple: donate a dollar, help a family buy a goat. The goat will help them.
Check it out. And I'd encourage you to read the other folks' posts as well. They're pretty good.
This is a good way to “do.” I have a coworker who was asked recently what she wanted for her birthday, and her reply was “A goat!” Oddly, the person who’d asked the question knew exactly what she meant and replied, “That is great!” The Birthday Girl is making it a tradition to purchase a goat on her birthday every year through Heifer International (HI). This year, my agency is going to be collecting donations for HI at our Christmas (er, sorry “holiday”) party this year. HI’s mission to end hunger and sustain the environment is applaudable, but what I love about World Vision’s program is that they add GOD’S LOVE to the mix! So cool.