A reluctant advocate

Social justice: this is going to sound bad but, for a lot of my life, those words have made my mind switch off. Hearing about the problems of the world has not sparked any interest in me.

I'm not really sure I can explain what has happened, but right now, my mind is very much switched on.

Maybe it's after seeing 'Mr Pip' this week (great, if horrific movie about the war in Bougainville in the 1990s), maybe after reading 'Half the Sky' (an engrossing book about changing the world), but whatever it is, it's been a week of thinking, wondering, analysing how it's possible not to care about what is going on in the world and my role in it.

I still have a bit to think about and a lot to talk about, so I'm going to take these next few blogs to look into this. If you can relate to what I said about switching off, please stay with me for just a moment.

I'm coming to see that this is far too important to ignore.

Human trafficking.

Child soldiers.

Slavery.

Violence against women.

Sex-selective abortion.

Honour killing.

...why don't we care?

Here are some of the factors that I think have caused me to push those things to the back of my mind in the past:

RELEVANCE

How does a woman being sold to a brothel in India relate to me and my life? It's so far away and unlikely to ever have any effect on me, so why should I bother? As I write that, it sounds so, incredibly selfish that I hate to admit that I've ever felt like that. But, even if it's a struggle to admit it, is there a chance that it is the most common reason for not caring? It's so much easier to be concerned with your exam results or the fight you had with your friend or your money stresses.

As I walked out of the movies on Tuesday after seeing Mr Pip, after watching a portrayal of the crimes against people, the one thought that I couldn't escape was, "those things happen". Maybe the story wasn't true, but it was based on true events and I guess, was a fairly accurate depiction of what happens in war. THESE THINGS ARE REAL and if that is the case, we need to look beyond ourselves. Your struggles are important, but I would guess that most of you have the support systems to be able to deal with them. That is not the case for most of these people. Who will help if we don't?

POWERLESSNESS

I am one person. I have no special skills. I could have all the passion and drive in the world, but what does it matter if I can't do anything?

This is something I hope to find more answers for over the coming weeks. Because I think that there is some way in which every person can help. I'll be honest, I'm not completely sure what it is yet, for you or for me, but I want to find it.

I am only one, but still I am one.

I cannot do everything, but still I can do something;

and because I cannot do everything,

I will not refuse to do something that I can do.

-Helen Keller

APATHY

Every time you turn on the news these days, you will see a story about starving children in Africa, or the war in Syria, or terrorists in Afghanistan. So, rather than the issue of knowing nothing about these problems, we often are so bombarded with them that it's easy to say, "just another report on mass murder, just like the one last week."

We aren't shocked by the images anymore, we don't even see the faces of these people. All we see is a mass of people who look different from us, scenes that could as easily be from the latest block busting movie, situations that we will never find ourselves in.

Maybe it sounds brutal, morbid, but put yourself there. Imagine yourself in that crowd as the bomb goes off, imagine the sound of gunfire, imagine the feeling of having had no food for days. Can you still ignore it?

INADEQUACY

When I've heard people speak about the great things they've done, the money they've raised, the trips they've been on to third world countries, the people they've influenced, I often haven't been inspired. Instead I've thought, "I am not like them, I couldn't do that." And you know what, maybe that's true!

But just because I can't do what they're doing, doesn't mean I can't do anything. And the fact is that those people, they can't do everything either.

Maybe they are amazingly talented speakers, but when it comes to organisation, they can barely plan what they're having for lunch. Maybe they have the vision and a plan to end human trafficking but don't have the resources or desire to commit the money to it. Maybe they can stir thousands of people to action, but wouldn't know how to cope if a victim of a land mine was at their feet. Each of us has our own gifts and abilities...each of us must use them.

I hope you'll stick with me as I get into this more, as I look at the need and what I can do and what you can do. If you have questions or thoughts, please let me know. Leave them on my Facebook page and I'll see what I can do!