India

Are we supposed to have all the pieces of the puzzle before we start building? We are asked to GO, to take risks, and to be WILLING. What are you holding back? What are you waiting for?
These are some of the questions that were going through my head when asked to go on a trip to INDIA.

Sometimes I wonder if GOING makes a difference. I think it makes a difference in my heart, more than it does for the people that we are visiting. I need to go, because that is what God told us to do. He will GO before us, and make our steps fruitful. It may be different, and uncomfortable at times, but those items are the precept to change. Being challenged is part of life. I want to choose to GO up the hill, not down. Dig the hole deeper, don’t fill it in. Whatever analogy you want, we are supposed to keep pushing. Keep testing yourself, and continue to accept the challenges that come.

India is an amazing country, fascinating culture, with a TON of people. Lets GO beyond the surface level: poverty for many, riches for others, lack of personal space, emphasis on education, and deep traditions.

The majority people group in India live with a different ethos than we do. For one, the Hindu religion believes in re-incarnation for the most part. Your actions here have consequences in the next…whatever there is. We believe in the greek finite life system. The greek believed if you don’t get it done in this life, you won’t have another chance in the next life. What is the next life? Well that is a different conversation. Who is God/god? That is also a different topic.

One of my favorite quotes from gladiator….”my name is…and will have my vengeance in this life or the next…”

It is not the fact that I believe in vengeance after this life, or the fact that I believe in getting ‘even’ at all. But I do believe that the wrongs will be righted, the fact that people may not pay for sins here, but they will somewhere. There has to be a PAYMENT for the evil that goes unanswered here. I don’t believe it is based on how good or bad you live here, I believe there is a judgement. The judge holds truth and life in one hand, and justice in the other.
The Gladiator does get his revenge in the movie, and his family is ‘justified’. Ultimately the revenge costs him his life. Like every good tragedy, the end is not typically how it turns out in real life. To sell tickets, you need the bad guy to die, and the good guy to go out in flames, dead or alive.
I am afraid that if we fantasize the tragedies in our real life, we beg, and cry for justice, enough that we want to see it done HERE and NOW.

There is so much injustice around the world, that when we compare our problems, it seems like spilled milk. Bonded Labor, Sex Trafficking, Hunger, Education, Dirty Water, Dictators, Corruption, Human Trafficking, Religious Discrimination, and so much more. Last time I checked, the USofA has plenty of problems, but these don’t make the everyday list. Of course, we have these issues here, but compared to INDIA, AFRICA, Parts of Central and South America, and about 3/5 of the world, we are doing just fine.
We need to work together to solve these issues, but the reality is, we will not, and cannot serve justice for the world, it just isn’t our job. HERE ME: We are called to act, to speak up, stand up do something for those hurting, and vulnerable. The marginalized downtown, and the abused across the globe.
There is a fine line in doing good, and thinking you are doing enough good.

Is it enough to believe in God, or believe in an afterlife? I don’t believe in re-incarnation, and given that, we don’t have a lot of time here on earth. USE IT. Don’t hide behind the excuses of life to not live out to your potential. GO to all the places of the earth. So whether that is next door, or on the other side of the world, GO.