I am reminded of the kids that I was privileged enough to get to know in Zimbabwe, Africa this summer. They, like almost every child, love sweets. They let you know it too, every day we would smile as they would run up to us and demand, "gimme my sweeties!" That might sound rude or controlling, but their lack of skills in the english language had limited them to that saying. I'm sure that if they had a better understanding of our complex form of communication, they would have politely asked, "excuse me my good white friend, I was just wondering if, by chance, you had happened upon some treats of a sweet and delightful nature, and if so, if you at all felt compelled to share them with me? I would greatly appreciate it, thank you." Either way, I understood them. So, why is this relevant? Well, whenever I was feeling generous enough to give them one of my Clif bars or Cadbury chocolates, they would rejoice, thank me, and immediately go to their friends and break off even pieces for all. They shared freely, none of them had to ask, their friends were willing to go to them, and give them a piece of their sugary joy. Why? Because they knew they had found something special, something delightful, and they wanted to bring that delight to their brothers and sisters. So together, they sat, smiling, glowing really, enjoying that simple pleasure for all that it was, not needing any excess, just enough to get a taste.
As I was reminiscing on this, my stomach began to twist a bit. I realized just how sick this world has become. Just how selfish it has become. My mother recently went to a convention on slavery in the world today. She came back baffled at all that she had not known. She went specifically to learn about human sex trafficking, to research organizations that help to rescue sex slaves. She soon learned that sex trafficking is only a small portion of all the human trafficking and slavery that is rampant in the world today, and America is not detached from this, not at all, a majority of our consumer goods have been, at least partially, manufactured through slave labor. The one product that really stood out to my mother, was chocolate. Almost every major chocolate brand is connected to slave labor. Slave children who are losing their fingers harvesting cocoa beans in the fields with machetes. Kids who spend all there time working to collect beans to make a candy, they have never even tasted. It makes me sick.
How twisted are we in this world, in this society? We are misers, we are hoarders, we are pirates. We live to consume. We will take all of something, even something sweet like chocolate, and we pervert it, dilute it, and sell it to fullfill our own passions of personal-gain, literally, we have no quarrels with taking lives in order to get things cheaper and make greater profits.
(Now I know there are many readers who at this point are thinking, "okay, here we go again, another philanthropic blog to go along with all those damn puppy commercials to try and make me feel guilty for living and spending." I know, it can get tiring hearing about all the worlds problems, but that doesn't mean we should ignore them, don't feel guilty, at least recognize the issue, and give it the respect it deserves.)
The whole purpose of this blog is not only to bring awareness to this issue, but to also draw a parallel.
Listen: What a portrait this is to the love of Jesus. We often hear in songs, and in poetry, Jesus being called, Sweet Jesus. Like sweets, his love is easy to attain, it is simple, and delightful. Sure, Christianity can get complex, and living a Christ-like life can be hard, but his message of love remains the most simple and sweet part of the entire religion. It is the backbone to our faith. (although that idea seems to have been lost for many, who have made judgement and rules the message they preach to the lost.) Just think, if we treated this sweet love, like the children in Zimbabwe treat their sweets. If only we savored it like the children, for what it is, and shared it with those around us because we want to make them happy. This world we be a different place, (cliche, but so true). People would be generally happier, and joyous, because instead of hoarding and perverting everything, including the love of Jesus, they would savor it, share it with one another.
It would be a world where people valued life. Where people gave a damn about strangers, where people would not be weirded out if you smiled at them on the street, or winked at their young children just to see them smile. Unfortunately, our evil nature causes us to value paper, metal, and sexual gratification more than we value a soul and a beating human heart. What is a man to do?
Make the change in your own life, LOVE those around you. That is all it takes. If you abstain from wrath, pessimism, and selfishness, your entire life will change. I am not perfect, I am just as evil as anyone else, but I am realizing that the only way I can ever be happy, is if I love those around me, and treat friends, family, strangers with respect. Care about their problems, listen. It is not an easy process, and not everyone will be on board, but try to make the little changes in your day to day life, by not getting angry over small things like traffic and long lines. Smile when you feel the urge to grimace. I know this sounds pretty cheesy, but I am finding more and more that the cheesy things hold truth, and more weight than we realize. Jesus Loves people, what is there to dislike about that message, try it on for size.
If you want to learn more about consuming products that are not at all involved in slavery, go to http://www.transfairusa.org/ or http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/
