He is ONE of the 1.2 billion children in this world living in poverty. He is ONE of the 184 million of them who are orphans. He is only ONE of the children at Ithemba in Jeffery's Bay South Africa. He is only ONE of the children there who have just finished creating a painting. His signature on the painting is his hand print. He is only ONE of the children that is hoping that...well...just hoping.
He is only ONE. But, he is important.
The kids in our church are going to buy his painting. Purchasing the painting will provide nutrition, medical care, education, and biblical teaching for him for ONE full year. They are going to do it ONE penny at a time. They are committing themselves to looking "Down and Around." Down and around in the parking lots they walk across...down and around the checkout lines...down and around the floorboards of their parents' cars...down and around the sofa cushions. They will pick up the pennies...the discarded, seemingly insignificant spare change...put them with the pennies their friends find...and together will change ONE life for ONE year.
Oscar Romo knew the significance of ONE. I attended a memorial service for him recently. I heard about his dogged determination to making sure that his faith community be not only aware of...but inclusive of...the many ethnic groups that inhabit this country...not to mention the world. His vision was that the worldwide community of faith be a "mosaic." He held high positions and was a leader of men and women. His circle included important and esteemed people. Indeed, I saw pictures of him in meetings with Presidents Reagan and Carter...I saw a picture of him shaking the hand of the Pope. He was lauded and celebrated.
The image that stuck out most to me however, was the image of him returning home from his constant, worldwide travels with an empty suitcase.
As he made his way to some airport to catch some flight to return home from some meeting with some important person...he stopped for the ONE. The ONE person without a home, without means, without provisions...and Oscar emptied his suitcase...giving the contents to the ONE person he encountered who needed his stuff more than himself.
The sheer volume of human need is overwhelming. It is more than we can wrap our minds around...not to mention our arms. ONE penny...ONE child for ONE year...ONE recipient of the contents of ONE man's suitcase doesn't seem like much...doesn't seem significant.
Unless, of course, you are the ONE.
1 comment:
David, great post....got me thinking.
UNICEF defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1 per day and their data shows that roughly 600 million children (~30%) in developing countries are living at this level.
Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute @ Columbia University and head of the UN Millenium Project published a book a few years back titled The End of Poverty. Among other things it outlines a plan to eliminate extreme poverty by 2025. The contribution required from the industrialized world was a relatively modest 0.7% of GDP. His latest book is Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet.
Your repeated references to ONE in the post made me think of one.org, a group dedicated to raising awareness about global hunger, poverty and disease. It was cofounded by Bono.
http://www.unicef.org/mdg/poverty.html
www.one.org
Have a great week!
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