Ignorance is Bliss

I wanted to re-share some of my thoughts from June 2009 when my passion for justice (the state of things being how they should be) really started stirring.  The following blog was from June 20, 2009 — this was written about 5 months before I was on the ground in Rwanda and broadening my awareness, anger, and passion.   So, here is the entry from 6/20/09:

This was quite the interesting week for me; as some of you know from the last posting, I was in a position of working directly with the issue of homelessness. The next day I was face-to-face with the issue of suicide as I helped walk someone through their options for life. Earlier in the week I was counseling someone on marital issues. Today, I was once again involved in conversation about homelessness & unemployment. There is so much struggle and pain and stress in our world today and, frankly, I enjoyed my life more when I wasn’t aware of these things. For many years I had no idea how many people in Isanti County struggled with homelessness, unemployment, poverty, disease, addiction, depression, and strife. This made me much more comfortable in my life; and allowed me to more easily enjoy all of the comforts and relationships and security I have.

When I would hear about an isolated case of struggle, it was easier to think about it in terms of one persons “fault” or “issue” or whatever. But when you peel back the covers to see that these issues are impacting hundreds of people in our small community, it’s shocking…. and then when you have conversations with the real people who are going through this life stuff, you begin to internalize it and it begins to impact your overall worldview.

There is a beauty in not knowing stuff. I don’t know if “bliss” is the right word, but there is a comfort in ignorance. But there are some things that must be known no matter how uncomfortable they might make us. As an individual, it is better to know that you have a disease (as tough as it is to hear) so you can treat it. As a community, it is better to know that there are many people suffering (as tough as it is to hear the stories) so we can do something about it. As a society, it is better to know that the gap between the rich & the poor is increasing at an exponential rate (currently over 75 to 1) so we can consider our response and move toward improving the standard of living for all of humanity.

My outlook on life was much simpler when I was unaware of the magnitude of homelessness & depression in Isanti County; my life was more enjoyable when I couldn’t tell you the names and stories of dozens of people unemployed or un-housed; my ability to do what was in my best interest was much easier before I investigated the magnitude of global poverty; it was much easier to prioritize the consumption of my income around my desires when I wasn’t hampered by the needs of others. We need to be aware that there are many people in our communities and world that are in desperate situations.

WARNING! This awareness, if allowed to be internalized, may begin to haunt you; it will stir in you; and it will change you. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to look at these situations and not ignore or avoid them. I desire to be part of a revolution in this community and beyond that is symbolized by courage to understand the situations; that is marked by the sacrifice of self for the sake of others; and is littered by story after story of people who have had their life positively impacted.

Statistics

There are so many statistics that try to quantify global poverty, disease & suffering… but sometimes too many quotes clutter the message as we seem to strive for the stat that is worse than all the others.  So through all the data, we at Our Response have reduced all this data into the following statistics that everyone should be aware of… feeling that nearly all others are merely subsets of these.  These statistics are associated with our framework of 2 truths which sets up our ultimate question: What is Our Response?

 Truth #1: Much of the world lives in a constant state of emergency

• One child under age 5 dies every 3.5 seconds from preventable causes.  According to the World Vision – UNICEF report called the “Child Health Now Report” from October 2009, 9 million children under the age of 5 die each year from preventable causes which include malaria, HIV & AIDS, pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, birth-related complications, hunger, and lack of clean water.

 
Truth #2: Most of us have the capacity to help

• People with an annual income of $25,000 are wealthier than 95% of all people. Further, people with an annual income of $50,000 are wealthier than 99% of people in the world

Please join us at any of the upcoming meetings to hear more about Our Response and the coming together of East Central Minnesota to respond to global poverty, disease, and suffering.  Check out the last blog post for details on the info & pizze meetings which will be the evenings (6:30-8:30) of Monday 4/19 (Pine City), Tuesday 4/20 (Braham), Thursday 4/22 (Princeton) and Friday (North Branch).  All of these are leading to the Spring Info & Update Session on Saturday 4/24 from 9-11am at the Cambridge Intermediate School.