Somalia

 

I’m sure you, like me, have been distressed by the recent news from Somalia, where drought is causing the worst humanitarian disaster for twenty years. Television portrays thousands of refugees streaming into Kenya and Ethiopia after days of walking without food or water to find shelter and relief.

The size of the problem overwhelms us, as potentially millions face starvation. We can send $50 or so to a trusted organization, but it seems pitiful in the face of so much suffering.

Even the idea of prayer seems pointless in the face of such great calamity. God can, but will he respond to my piteous prayer? It might accomplish $50 worth! But what if we all prayed fervently for the need? And publicly on facebook?

Any of you hackers out there able to open a “Pray for Somalia” Facebook page? I would do it, but deficient knowledge would take this.................long. Even then I might not get it right. Just a simple page where we could deposit our prayers, even update information about the tragedy.

That child could have been mine. Apart from an accident of birth, that could be me in that line-up. Ruling Islamist gangs make aid dangerous and ineffective. But a hundred or a thousand prayers publicly displayed on facebook may alert the world of the alternative to the world’s inability to “fix it.”

Let me know when the page is up. My prayer would be one of the first. Let’s be sure both God and the world hear us.

Redeeming the Time

It is difficult for Ann and I not feel the tide rising as we wade into our mid seventies. If there is any time that we feel more jealous of the days we have left, it is contemplating our mortality and how little of it we may have left. Mind you, our concern is less about our death that how we use our time before full tide.

I recall, as an architectural student, an outdoor freehand sketching class. I never enjoyed freehand drawing—never felt adequate enough for it. So I tackled it with a high level of disregard. However, the instructor advised, ”You are putting two hours of your life on this paper—two hours you will never have again.”

His words remain with me to this day, becoming evermore meaningful as I age. I’ve found increasing age brings a reversal of attitudes and goals fostered in youth. For instance, I have more confidence and less doubt about my faith—just as well when facing eternity!

But specifically, I am more concerned with using my time profitably for God’s kingdom, and less on the many frivolities retirement can bring. I feel saddened as I visit our local seniors’ centre. Good healthy people just filling in time, seeking some form of enjoyment, before they die.

So we write. The main purpose is to leave a legacy of our faith and guidance for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren God has blessed us with. That legacy of faith may well last for many generations; much of our story will not be told before eternity.

If there is a spin off for the encouragement of others, we are grateful. Now, so little time, so much to do. But our greatest comfort is that God will not call us home until our work is done.