Thursday
Mar262009
A Little Perspective
Thursday, March 26, 2009 at 2:42PM
Back in January, I traveled to Dallas with Rachel (as moral support) so she could take her final exam for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. This was a grueling 3 hr. oral exam in which Rachel had to demonstrate that she was a physician deserving of certification.
On the night before she had to take the exam, Rachel just wanted to go out to dinner and a movie in order to keep her mind off the test. I wanted to find a “feel-good” movie that would serve as a nice distraction. We went to see Slumdog Millionaire.
Let’s just say it wasn’t exactly the light-hearted Bollywood romp I thought it would be. But it was an amazing film, entirely worthy of its “Best Picture” Oscar. (Not as worthy as Dark Knight, but I’ll spare you that rant.)
As we were leaving the theater and deciding what trendy Dallas restaurant we were going to eat at for dinner, Rachel talked about how well Slumdog provided some perspective. As nervous as she was about the exam, even if she failed it, we would be fine. Our family would be fine. It would be a big nuisance to have to fork out the cash and spend the time taking the exam again, but that’s all that would happen. It kind of pales in comparison to growing up in the slums of Mumbai.
With that in mind, I hope you’ll click here and read this “Letter to an Affluent Church,” featured in the latest issue of Relevant Magazine. It also puts things into perspective. H/t to Brandi for reminding me about it.
As skittish as we might be, we are not the ones who stand to suffer the most in this global economic meltdown. I hope we can all dwell on this and then redouble our efforts to support At My Gate, our local church’s chance to alleviate some suffering.
BTW, Rach passed her exam. She is now a Fellow of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. I dare say I’m the only male preacher in the Churches of Christ who’s married to a “fellow.” (Rimshot! “Thanks folks, I’ll be here all week. Try the veal and don’t forget to tip your server.”)
On the night before she had to take the exam, Rachel just wanted to go out to dinner and a movie in order to keep her mind off the test. I wanted to find a “feel-good” movie that would serve as a nice distraction. We went to see Slumdog Millionaire.
Let’s just say it wasn’t exactly the light-hearted Bollywood romp I thought it would be. But it was an amazing film, entirely worthy of its “Best Picture” Oscar. (Not as worthy as Dark Knight, but I’ll spare you that rant.)
As we were leaving the theater and deciding what trendy Dallas restaurant we were going to eat at for dinner, Rachel talked about how well Slumdog provided some perspective. As nervous as she was about the exam, even if she failed it, we would be fine. Our family would be fine. It would be a big nuisance to have to fork out the cash and spend the time taking the exam again, but that’s all that would happen. It kind of pales in comparison to growing up in the slums of Mumbai.
With that in mind, I hope you’ll click here and read this “Letter to an Affluent Church,” featured in the latest issue of Relevant Magazine. It also puts things into perspective. H/t to Brandi for reminding me about it.
As skittish as we might be, we are not the ones who stand to suffer the most in this global economic meltdown. I hope we can all dwell on this and then redouble our efforts to support At My Gate, our local church’s chance to alleviate some suffering.
BTW, Rach passed her exam. She is now a Fellow of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. I dare say I’m the only male preacher in the Churches of Christ who’s married to a “fellow.” (Rimshot! “Thanks folks, I’ll be here all week. Try the veal and don’t forget to tip your server.”)
tagged Movies, Poverty, Relevant in Amen Corner, Blog
Movies, Poverty, Relevant in Amen Corner, Blog
Reader Comments (9)
Thanks for the shout out Robert. And...finally I can comment. (Kings is still taunting us from the DVR.) I know you were waiting with baited breath to hear my opinion. tee hee.
I don't know if it's the uptick in the number of people coming in for food each week or the enormous increase in the number of calls the church receives asking for assistance paying rent and utilities, but poverty has been hitting my heart lately.
Did you know that 71% of people live on less than $1 a day in Nigeria. 92% if Nigerians live on less than $2 a day. I've often thought about this when I want my nonfat chai latte from Starbucks. How wasteful it seems that little indulgence is when considering other parts of the world. The life expectancy in Nigeria is 44. The older I get, the scarier that number seems to be.
I for one am very grateful that we have a ministry like AtMyGate to support. It's hard to know how to help from way over here. It's nice to have the pictures and the very tangible evidence of the work this ministry is doing. Let me take this second to thank everyone on the AtMyCommittee. I'll end with, don't forget the Give It Up For The Kids campaign.
Oh, Yeah Rachel. For she's a very fine fellow!...
Having had the opportunity to visit so-called "third world countries" like Egypt and Ghana, I have an appreciation for my American comforts that I don't think I'd otherwise have. Even in the hardest of times (and there's no questions these times are hard for many), we are SO blessed! We should thank God often for the good He has showered upon us.
On an unrelated note, Christian-related articles, video, audio, and more can be enjoyed at this new site: www.onetruechurch.net
The NCOC is doing a great job in reaching out to orphans in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially the work currently being done with the funds raised and sent for the support of these least among us. Its a fact that the impact this has had in the lives of the beneficiaries and the community has been tremendous.
There is poverty in Nigeria as is the case in most developing and even some developed countries where we have the working poor. However, those figures stated by Brandi are disputable. I know these figures may be from International Organisations but the fact is no studies has been done by some of these groups in recent years.
I hope we'll continue to do our best in reaching out to the least aong us within and without.
Inemesit, thanks for pointing out the flaw in the statistics. You've given me more to think about. I was recently reading about orphan care in Ethiopia and Uganda and decided that maybe I should focus on Nigeria since that's the area that is helped by our church. Part of my information came from this site http://earthtrends.wri.org/povlinks/country/nigeria.php Those statistics were composed in 2003. I'm sure many things have changed in 6 years.
My crazy book reading and blog surfing started here with a young girl named Katie. You can read her story here http://www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/ I won't try to tell her story. You can go back and read what she's doing for orphans there. There is also the amazing work being done the good people at www.charitywater.org and the people at http://ahopeforchildren.blogspot.com/ In fact, I've become somewhat addicted to some of these blogs reading about the work being done. I must say, other than our own website, I have a hard time finding anything about Nigeria that isn't more than a couple of years old. I've read about the people and what we are doing and I'm hungry for more information. Are there other sites or books that you could point me to for more information?
You are right Inemesit, those figures came from a study done in 2003. I'm sure things have changed for the better in the last 6 years. I'm been reading about poverty in Africa, but most studies focus on Ethiopia and Darfur. I would love it if you could point me in the right direction to information on Nigeria.
Thanks for the perspective reminder! We all need that EVERY day! No matter what comes our way in life, we are richly blessed thanks to God and his amazing grace.
BTW, love the "rimshot" at the end!
Amen! Read the article "Letter to the Affluent church". Yep. How about we move the sins of grumbling and complaining up the list.
For everyone interested in At My Gate, we're planning a Sunday to focus on it in May. In the meantime keep filling those jars with change.
As to the exact statistics. I would be interesting in finding them out, too. I haven't done much poking around on the web to see what the latest numbers are regarding global poverty. Whatever those numbers may be, I still anticipate them to be a helpful corrective for our distorted sense of what economic trouble really is. It's perfectly understandable to be afraid of losing our jobs and our houses should that become a reality.
And yet even in the worst scenarios I can imagine, I would expect that we would continue to have a clean water supply, readily available food, and shelter that includes heating, a/c, electricity, etc. Don't get me wrong, I love me some high speed internet, but it is not a necessity.
suburban, starbucks, handheld games and teenagers with phones... yup it stung a bit but that RELEVANT article was good perspective. It definintly echoes my thoughts of late. We can still be thankful to be where we are... and until we aren't watching our satellites and chatting on our phone it really isn't that bad!