Something to Think About

I have been taking some serious notes on the book I'm reading (Irresistible Revolution) and in looking back I wanted to share one of the more profound things I happened across. I am a big fan of people who push me to think and challenge me in different ways, which makes this book a pretty good fit. Here's something to think about:

Two guys are talking to each other, and one of them says he has a question for God. He wants to know why God allows all of this poverty and war and suffering to exist in the world. And his friend says, "well, why don't you ask Him?" The fellow shakes his head and says he is scared. When his friend asks why, he mutters, "I'm scared God will ask me the same question." Over and over, when I ask God why all of these injustices are allowed to exist in this world, I can feel the spirit whisper to me, "You tell me why we allow this to happen. You are my body, my hands, my feet."

wow.

Later on the author somewhat quotes Gandhi by saying, "I heard that Gandhi, when people asked him if he was a Christian, would often reply, "Ask the poor, they will tell you who the Christians are."

And since I'm on roll, here's a part that broke my heart when I read it, something you would never think about(at least it had never crossed my mind). As a preface I remember the first missions trip I ever went on. I was at an orphanage in Haiti and immediately noticed when I picked up one of the kids, they didn't instinctively wrap their legs around my waist. This happened again and again, until I realized they hadn't been held enough in their life to have that automatic instinct. I still remember that as if it didn't occur nearly 10 years ago, and it still saddens me. The author at this point in the book is in Calcutta spending time in a leper colony:
"It (leprosy) is a disease of the outcasts, the untouchables. One of the lepers explained to me that oftentimes lepers don't even know the words thank you because they have never needed to say them. They had rarely experienced occasions when they used language of gratitude."

ugh.

How do I even end this post? I've read these passages over and over and still my mind races with so many thoughts. This world needs love, compassion, mercy...God. Whether it is your next door neighbor, or an orphan in some far off land. We are His hands and feet and we are called to serve, to put others before ourselves, whatever that looks like and wherever that may be.

1 Corinthians 12:4-7
"There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good."