The Horizon

There are certain things I would like to see happen in the future of our world. I would like to see a world where every woman has the ability to make the choices she wants, without any fear of persecution or humiliation. In this vision, "Jessica" from rural Alabama can see the world beyond her small town and its narrow idealogoy, and she can return to loving arms whenever she wants. "Anna" from Somalia will have regular access to birth control, and will not fear her husband's disapproval, and they will not have to bury children who die of starvation or other preventable illnesses. She herself will not die in childbirth, leaving a husband and several small children. Little Maria, in the remote Andes mountains, will always have crayons and coloring books. Emily from Illinois chooses to stay at home and be a mother without criticism from "feminists." On the same token, Katy graduates suma cum laude from Yale, and will go on to be a surgeon. I want to see every Muslim woman make the conscious choice whether or not she wants to wear the veil, or a burqa. If that is her choice, that is completely acceptable. And if she chooses not to, it is equally acceptable. I want to see every child in the world have a healthy and happy childhood, without ever living in fear of bombs, or a parent drinking too much and hitting. I want a world where 13-15 year olds are not committing suicide in atrocious numbers because of bullying or choices in sexuality.
~~~~ I want to see a world full of healthy and clean fruits and vegetables. Not bio-chemically engineered pieces of cells we call "food." Monsanto is quietly destroying the world, and few people even know it. Thanks to this company, and many others like it, we are ingesting the ingredients for cancer on a daily basis.
~~~~~~~ My wishes are very idealogical and common. It is one thing entirely for me to sit and here and name the problems I see in the world. (sarcasm) "Congratulations me! Way to point out the obvious!" We know the problems that exist, we know that evil is in the world, and there will always be suffering. But it just seems to me maybe we could all try a little harder. One of my favorite writers, Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times, inspires every time I read a blog post or article of his. And his writings make realize that I have done virtually nothing to contribute to the world. We all like to think that the little things we do are helpful, but are they? I do not necessarily aspire to achieve the most profound, human changing establishment around. But there has to be a little something I can do, right? I want to be pretty honest in saying that I feel my measly few dollars that go in the offering plate do not really go that far, and even if I were to go somewhere for a month, or even summer, I do not see that as having a lasting impact on someone's life.
~~~ Personally, I find that many of the charities that exist benefit the giver more than the recipient, and that the giver has this nice, warm fuzzy that we did something. But did we?
My friend told me about a sermon at her church where the minister said, "1,000 children died of starvation last night. And guess what? The majority of you don't give a damn; further, that same majority is more shocked that I said 'damn' in church than that many children died". What is sad, is that this is 100% true.

The question that I must ask myself is what I am going to do? I know that at the end of my life, I want to have done something worthwhile. I am tired of being passive, and saying that I will do such and such when I'm older. I have made a very conscious decision that I want a life of substance that benefits other people. I have been extremely blessed in my life; I have never gone without, and I have so, so much. The simple fact that I am a high school graduate who has had regular meals and health care, is so much more than most women in the world can say they have.
I will not change the world, any reader knows that. But maybe I can change the life of just one child. If I can at least do that, then I can go in peace.

Here is a link that got me thinking about all this: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/08/26/magazine/20090826-a-womens-world-reader-photos.html#/0