Priorities
There are so many things that I could say about the trip to Tanzania. Too many experiences, lessons, people and realisations are involved in this journey and so I have decided to write about something that spans across everything.
While I was in Tanzania I could look around and see people that needed help, all the time, and it really affected me. We all see the World Vision ads, and we all know that these problems are out there. So why did it take a trip to Tanzania to evoke a passion in me?
When I got home after three weeks of a completely different reality, I could see why. There is this filter that has blinded so many of us. I don’t know whether to describe it as an individual filter, that everyone seems to have; or as a filter over our society in general that we all get caught up in. But basically we see and hear about all these terrible things that are happening in other places from a detached point of view.
I know that before, having never experienced anything like Tanzania, I could not comprehend this other way of life. I cared about social issues, I gave to charities and, in my head, I considered myself to have a reasonably privileged life. But there wasn’t the deep understanding or comprehension that I now know is crucial to leading a life that will make a difference.
Sometimes I find myself slipping back into how I used to think, and the attitudes that I used to carry, and it can be hard to wrench yourself from a comfortable existence, but so many people don’t even have that comfortable life to fall back on. The only complaint I want on my heart and on my lips is of the inequality I can see in this world, and that the suffering of God’s people could be taken away.
One of my favourite bible verses of recent times is James 1:27, which says, “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.” This expresses the need for us to both love the unloved and care for people in their need, but also for us to not conform to our immediate environment and the people around us. Inevitably, these two concepts overlap but we need to be conscious of both.
Quotes from Martin Luther King Jr:
- Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
- Ten thousand fools proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality.
- The hope of a secure and liveable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.
- Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
- We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.
Emily, Tanzania 2007.
