If you’re a friend of mine on Facebook, you might’ve read this already, but for those who don’t happen to be, I thought to share this as a blog (and feel free to friend me on fb as well). For the past few weeks, I’ve been in Nicaragua, which is the second poorest country after Haiti in the Western Hemisphere. Dwelling amid such poverty, the news of the burning of Notre Dame affected me in an unusual manner. Let me preface the following thoughts by stating that one of my main passions in life is appreciating beauty through literature, music, cinema, art, architecture, etc.. That being said, it’s clear that the initial purpose of constructing Notre Dame was to glorify Jesus which begs me to ask the question: 150 million dollars in renovations before the fire? For that price, one could build 15,000 wells in Africa for people who don’t have any clean, drinking water or provide eyesight for 6 million out of the estimated 39 million blind people in underdeveloped countries who are in need of a $25 cataract surgery. I trust that the billionaires who are contributing hundreds of millions to restoring Notre Dame give generously to other causes, yet it still doesn’t take away from what those millions could provide for those who are utterly destitute in impoverished countries. Notre Dame may have been a beautiful, inspirational structure but it’s valueless compared to the relief of pain and suffering for those we’ve collectively chosen to forget about in the world. We are God’s hands here on Earth. It’s all love, no judgment. We can do this. Let’s end world poverty together.
