Worlds On Fire

Lately I am hearing a new voice calling to me...well, not a new voice, but one that is getting stronger and stronger. It started with an Oprah episode where Bill Clinton talking about his new book "Giving...How Each of Us Can Change the World". President Clinton spoke about how private citizens and corporations - Non-Government Organizations (NGO's) - were making a difference around the world. He highlighted many stories about people who saw a need and did what they could to help, people like Oprah and her leadership school for girls in South Africa, the Bush-Clinton Katrina Fund, Habitat for Humanity and others.

Later that same week, I caught various news program shorts that highlighted projects created by private citizens to help others:
Peace Players International, an organization whose mission is to use the game of basketball to unite and educate young people in divided communities (this short highlighted their program in Northern Ireland, but they have programs in Africa, the Middle East, and soon in New Orleans).

Helping Hand: Book Drive For Thai Children, started by a local boy from Long Island - nineteen year-old Andrew Titley, with the help of his seventeen year-old brother Trevor, collect book donations for underprivileged children, most of whom are being raised by their grandparents while their parents work in Bangkok.

Operation Smile, an organization dear to my heart because of my work with families who adopt cleft-affected children in China...

This morning I spoke to my sister who is a pilot with a corporate jet firm. She told me that today, she was flying U2's Bono from one northeastern US city to another. BONO!! This man has done so much to help the people of Africa on many levels that he was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. A hero for today if there ever was one!

Then this afternoon, while looking for a particular Sarah Mclachlan video on You Tube, I found another video of hers that I haven't seen before, though I love the song. It was a belly punch. It showed how what seems to us as a little bit can go so far to help others around the world.


Here's the lyrics and a link to Sarah's website about the video and how the money saved on production was used to help people around the world:

World On Fire

Hearts are worn in these dark ages
You're not alone in this stories pages
The light has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And I'll try to hold it in
Yeah I'll try to hold it in

Chorus
The worlds on fire, it's more then I can handle
I'll tap into the water, try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more then I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able

I watch the heavens but I find no calling
Something I can do to change what's coming
Stay close to me while the sky is falling
I don't wanna be left alone don't wanna be alone

Chorus
The worlds on fire, it's more then I can handle
I'll tap into the water, try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more then I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able

Hearts break, hearts mend, love still hurts
Visions clash, planes crash, still theres talk of
saving souls' still the cold's closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run
The more we take the less we become
The fortune of one man means less for some

Chorus
The worlds on fire, it's more then I can handle
I'll tap into the water, try and bring my share
Try to bring more, more then I can handle
Bring it to the table
Bring what I am able


One of my favorite quotes comes from Mohandas Gandhi:
"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

How can I change the world? For the last 8 years, my mission has been to help the orphaned children in China, but I feel like there's more to be done...I feel there's more...I am prayerfully trying to find what it is...

Because of technology, the world is getting smaller and smaller. The needs of the poor and empoverished are everywhere, and we can see them easier than ever. The majority of us in the United States are SO blessed. Our family had a challenging year financially but we never had to sleep outdoors...we never missed a meal because there was no food...our children had clean clothes and shoes, and soft beds to sleep in at night...medical care when they needed it...yes, we have been blessed. We're not totally in the clear yet but we can see the light, and that light has given us the opportunity and the responsibility to help others. Luke 12:48 says,"...to whom much is given, much will be required..." I believe those words and am looking for the program or programs where our family can change the world, whether it be in the local or global community in which we live.

How about you?

"To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world."
- Anonymous