What would your ideal world look like?
"free from poverty and the effects of climate change".Do you, like me, find yourself thinking that the world has never been free from poverty or that climate change is happening and always has however people try to change it? Or that the problem is so big, how can anything 1 person or even 1 nation do to change things?
The problem with not having a shared vision of an ideal world is that nobody bothers to do anything about gross injustice or the threats to the health of our planet that we can do something about. Many of the poorest people in the world are already suffering from the effects of climate change such as rising sea levels, drought, extremes of weather. Christian Aid is not suggesting giving money today, but to pray for those currently living with the effects of climate change.
It's easy to do nothing and hope someone else will do something.
There’s a story about a man called ‘Someone Else’. When he died these words
were published in his local newspaper.
“We are sad to report the death of Someone Else. His death creates a vacancy difficult to fill. When leadership was needed, we turned to Someone Else for inspiration. Someone Else was always willing to tackle difficult situations. When there was a job to do, we said, ‘Someone Else will do it.’ When things were wrong Someone Else put things right. When time or money was needed, everyone assumed Someone Else would supply it. Someone Else was amazing. But one person can only do so much. The truth is everybody expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone, who will do the things we were too willing to let Someone Else do?”In the face of all that’s wrong in the world we feel helpless, so it’s easy hope Someone Else will do it.
What would your ideal world look like? What steps are you taking towards that? Or are you leaving that to Someone Else?
Image: Planet Earth: morgueFile
I love the 'Someone Else' obituary! Of course, 'love' is the wrong word - I recognise the syndrome only too well, as I'm sure your other readers will as well.
ReplyDeleteIt is particularly the case in churches, of course. Villagers would be horrified if the church ceased to function, but rely on someone else to keep it going. Finding enough 'someone elses' in every generation is not getting any easier.
Thanks for commenting Lay Anglicana - yes the Someone Else syndrome is experienced in many situations, including churches.
ReplyDeleteI've just realized that I made a mistake in following the Count Your Blessings calendar today and managed to repeat a blessing of last week. Today should have been about employment opportunities - oh well, no time to do another post now.