Everyone Needs to Act

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Whenever and wherever someone
   is denied freedom or civil rights
      we are all diminished.
Whenever and wherever someone
   is left to suffer the pangs of hunger
      we are all diminished.
Whenever and wherever someone
   is tormented, persecuted or murdered
      we are all diminished.

'Someone' should be taken to mean anyone, anywhere
   because, like it or not, the world is inter-connected.
Who believes that perceptions of American behavior
   fail to influence the behavior of the disenfranchised
      in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America?

We have a right to pursue prosperity
   we have a right to celebrate our accomplishments
      but we're kidding ourselves when we credit ourselves
      because we've been extraordinarily blessed by history
         with great leadership when it was most needed
         with abundant resources that are also accessible
         with geographically defensible borders, and with
            a moderate climate and the good fortune
            to narrowly survive a great internal cataclysm.

We're all diminished when we ignore suffering
   because we, with our abundant resources, cannot hope
   to be what we want, and need, to believe we are,
      when we thoughtlessly deplete abundant resources,
         and complain that we're over taxed
      while so many are so invisibly vulnerable,
         malnourished and distanced from opportunity.

Invisibly? Not really, but most of us don't seem to be looking.

How would you feel if your children were dying
   by baking to death in the heat of the sun
      by starving to death while you're all on the run
         and were suffering from diseases that haven't been seen here
         in decades or aren't taken seriously here anymore?

We are all diminished when we don't all budget some little time,
   and some little money and effort,
      to repair the world's ills ...

This is OUR world and we're responsible for it
   just as we are for our homes and our cars and our schools
      and our local communities.

The world, and the news describing it, are not "fair and balanced".

Lets at least admit the obvious.

We have no reason to feel guilty that our lives are so good.

But we have every reason to feel responsible for doing something
   to make the world a little better.

Global inequities are so severe that the average child,
   in the average country, has no access to:
      drinkable water,
      adequate shelter,
      ANY healthcare,
      the minimum amount of food needed to avoid malnutrition,
      and protection from unspeakable forms of physical violence.

Education is important too,
   because children can't hope
   to rise above their circumstances without it.

We spend obscene amounts of money on lawn care, fashion,
   music CDs, sporting events and movies.

Millions of children incubate in environments
   that we all recognize form a chrysalis for terrorism.

I recently heard it said
   that there are two kinds of people in the world ...

... "those who do what needs to be done
   and those who want to take credit for doing those things ...

... the trick is to be in the first group
   where there is so much less competition".

The next time you hear a politician
   or a populist radio or TV personality
   inflating their own image by taking credit for anything ...
      ... I hope you'll remember that bombast isn't substance.

Doing just little things to help isn't very glamorous ...
   but ask the people who need your help if they really care,
   then ask yourself if anyone else's opinion matters more than theirs.

These personal web pages once served as the Rhythm of Hope in Brazil website before many wonderful volunteers became involved and created an official site. All of these pages and the new site grew from a single web page in the mid 1990s. People around the world visited even that original single web page over time and were inspired to act. You can establish a Rhythm of Hope program and my dream is that people like you in countries around the world will do that. No effort to help the less fortunate is too little, so you need not do any more than you feel comfortable with).

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