I penned a line for a poem that reads: “my heart beats
out of beat, because its beating has everything to do with what I’ve grown
accustomed to…” the beat of my heart has been exCHANGED for a new heart RATE
that has a sort of melodic rhythm to it, the type you hear in symphonies, the
type that requires the participation of many and the orchestration of ONE, the
type that has been retuned, longing to grab by the ears the attention of YOU, as
it may be very possible that you to have grown AcCUSTOMEd!
exCHANGE your RATE!
11 countries in 11 months make for a whole lot of currency,
a whole lot of loose CHANGE! One
learns very quickly that a wallet will not suffice when it comes time to
exchange the American dollar bills for the BILLS of the world…BILLS of the
WORLD? Yeah, you know, light bills, gas bills, water bills…the types of things
we cannot live without in America, the types of things that require a 9-5 or 6
or 7 to work, but in others countries requires the work of a 5-9 year old to
even be a possibility!
I’m not writing in hopes to make you feel guilty; guilt is
for those who look at the world without doing anything. I’m writing in hopes to introduce you to LOVE, LOVE is for those who RESPOND. In one week I return
to America, in one week I will live “normally,” in one week I will once again
enjoy the luxuries of LIFE. Wait, the luxuries of life, why does that statement
sound foreign to me, as if its meaning never had meaning, as if ordering food
for delivery is actually worthwhile, unless it’s delivered to my new friend Karenzi a thousand miles away, as if Fannie Mae loans for a good education are
actually wise, unless you come to realize that giving to their needs is better
than borrowing for your wants, as if $50,000 hybrid SUVs for soccer game show
and tells are worth the gas mileage, unless used to transport little torn feet
that walk miles upon miles in heat infested climates so they could be educated.
Will you LOVE the world I was blessed to
live in for that last 11 months? I will, and that’s why I went and I’ll GO
again and again…LOVE leads you to do the “radical,” what we Christ followers should
call normal! Understand that I’m not asking you to sell your home to build one
for street kids in Nepal who sniff glue all day and sleep in piles to keep warm at night. What I am asking you to do is ask ABBA the questions:
Should I go? Should I provide? Should I build? Should I send? Should I support?
Should I sponsor? When you respond to HIS answers, you free humans from being RHETORICAL,
or just a figure of speech!
By the way…you SHOULD!
