Day 28: Monsters in the Land

"Long sleeves or short sleeves?"

This has not been a question of fashion; this has been a threat intermingled with a terrible choice. Do you want your hand cut off at the wrist or at the elbow?

There are, indeed, monsters in the land. Man's cruelty to his brother has proven boundless over the millennia. The Assyrians were feared and hated for their atrocities, just as surely as Nazi Germany still is today. A man or group of men seek to control their country, funded by control of diamonds or oil or whatever, and those innocent villagers in their way are given the above choice of "fashion". A peasantry is afeared of bathing, simple sanitary bathing, because they might be mistaken as affluent Jews and seized by the Inquisition. Nearly a million countrymen die in a hundred days, slaughtered by friends and neighbors for being of the Tutsi tribe and not the Hutu. A man compels a thousand men, women, and children to drink poisoned koolade because he would rather see them dead than out of his control.

Oh, yes, monsters abound though our history. Terrible monsters, with devil faces and black hearts.

We have no shortage of atrocities to respond to, as the people of God. We cry for those who are hurt, by man and by nature. We rush to help, more often than not - and this is to our credit as the image of Christ. There is no shortage of groups that spearhead efforts to "rescue the perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grave". International Justice Mission, Compassion International, World Vision; the list goes on. Some are more efficient than others, but they still seek to live as Jesus example and Jesus description or righteousness ("I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me"). Do not turn from the truth of their need.

But there are other monsters in the land. Monsters whose faces are less like the devil and more like your's and mine. Oh, they don't see themselves as monsters (they rarely do) and so don't paint there faces with evil. Their faces, more often, are painted with indifference. Painted with stony, cynical expressions:

You realize that it's all fake, don't you? I mean, yes, your money goes to help poor people, but the idea that YOUR money is going to this SPECIFIC kid is bogus. Do you really think they refuse to help some kid just because nobody has "chosen" them yet? The letters are written by volunteers and your money goes into a general fund. The photos are just random shots they take in the community, and they make up the names.(A deleted comment from Kat's post on Day 1.)

Eyes are covered with gauze, blinded to all but the brightest, the most terrible, or the greatest disasters. The great monsters, they stand out but are more rare; it is much more common that we are the monsters.

We see the genocides, we see the disasters, and we respond. Living in Houston, it was amazing to see the response when thousands flooded into our city fleeing the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. Homes opened, hotels paid for, food and other necessities given. To our credit, that will long stand as our finest hour. But we are not alone when we fail at the more mundane needs. The man on the street corner. The child alone in this world. The grieving widow, the abandoned spouse. The lonely, the depressed, those broken down by this life. Too often, our mask of indifference blinds us to these people and their needs. We turn inward, concerned with our needs, our problems, our solutions: I am a rock; I am an island! How wrong this is; how foolish and selfish. "A rock feels no pain; an island never cries." But we are the children, the living image, of a loving God.

This is grace, an invitation to be beautiful. For too long, I saw the monster in my own mirror. The monster of apathy, of a careless heart, of a self-focused life and religion. This song (from Sara Groves) was not a turning point in my life, but it was a coalescence of the thoughts and ideas, the stirring of the Spirit, that had been growing inside me. I want to see the imprint of Jehovah, not a monster, when I look in the mirror - or, for that matter, when the world looks at me. I want to add to the beauty of God's creation, as He has intended for me since before the dawn of time.

I am fasting today, as a result of a collaboration that more or less began with a plea: Please don't look away. Do not dwell in inaction, break the inertia and step into action when God calls you. Both in global and local needs, simple actions or grand, organized or spontaneous, find the place where God has prepared for you to act. Open your hearts in love to the whole of humanity. In this vein, I present two organizations that I fast and pray over today.

Blood:Water Mission

Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM)

"The human body is 70% water. A 3% loss of water can reduce a person’s ability work by 20%. For your average 60lb school-age child, that amounts to a standard nalgene-bottle full of water. Under exertion, the human body can sweat twice that in an hour. Now imagine sub-Saharan Africa, 90 to 110 degree heat depending on the season and a 2 mile hike to get water... one way. The average size jerry can used to carry water is 5 gallons, which weights a whopping 40lbs. Now imagine that you are a 7-year old girl. And you make this trek 3 times every day." (source) Did you know that $1 provides one year of clean water for an African? Seriously. $1. Did you know that people living with HIV/AIDS are dependent on clean water to survive? Water-borne pathogens greatly complicate any chance they might have for survival. Blood:Water Mission is committed to building wells in a way that empowers communities to take control of their own development. Sustainability is key. It does no good if a well is dug but not maintained over time because the people in the community have no connection to its building. It also does no good if sanitation is not maintained. That is why Blood:Water Mission partners with community based organizations, which provide appropriate training that is specific to their communities' needs for clean water and overall health. They also provide sanitation solutions such as latrines where they are needed. They work with the communities to create committees overseeing the use, maintenance and repair of their wells. Tell you what, instead of strolling up to the coke machine and buying that bottle of cold, fizzy goodness why not walk on by. Take that dollar and give someone else a chance to have a drink of something that won't kill them as surely, if not as quickly, as not drinking at all.

NAM is a local community service organization, and I am sure you have something like it in your area. It is a collaborative effort between some thirty churches in this part of Houston, along with various businesses supporters, which provides just about anything you can name to people who need it. Their programs include monetary assistance (to meet rent, etc.), a food pantry, a resale shop for low-cost clothing, meals on wheels, a children's health clinic that charges on a sliding scale, shelter for the homeless, education and help in finding jobs, counseling, and a shelter for victims of family violence. They, quite literally, do it all. NAM helped more than 100,000 area residents in need during its last fiscal year, with approximately $.87 of every dollar donated going toward helping people in need. Of the people NAM assisted, 51 percent were children and senior citizens. NAM is a great organization, that helps so many people in our own back yard. They accept donations in just about any form, and need volunteers about as much as they need money. Look for someone like this in your neck of the woods, and help them help the people around you in need. But don't stop with indirect help; reach out your own hand to the man on the corner and lift him up.

Tags: Blood:Water Mission, Northwest Assistance Ministries, Giving, Caring, Loving, Action, Apathy, Monsters, Community