Lenten Love #29

“Every day, close to 1 billion people wake up to another day without safe drinking water. Children are sick and weak. There is a constant struggle to find the most basic of human needs. Generations of poverty grip millions and won’t let go. The lack of safe water and adequate sanitation worldwide is a crisis. This crisis steals the lives of 5,500 people each day - more than war, natural disasters, AIDS or hunger. This crisis rarely makes the headlines. It is today’s silent killer.” – from Water Missions International

Today, I had the privilege of joining with thousands of others as we walked in downtown Charleston, in support of our brothers and sisters the world over.  Much of the world has a water crisis. And so we walked to raise money and awareness of this epidemic.  Now, Water Missions International is not the only organization that is involved in fighting the good fight when it comes to providing clean water to the world.  It just so happens that this organization was founded in Charleston, so it is the easiest for me to support.

The walk went like this: we walked half way with empty buckets, at the midway point we filled our buckets with dirty water, and then turned around and walked back with our dirty water in order to then put it into a pool that was attached to a purification system.  It was a way for us to experience what many in the world live with every day.  The experience was eye opening. 

But while many marveled at the length and distance that people would go, I was more humbled by the ease at which I waste water in my life.  I am constantly washing my hands, my dishes, my clothes, using the restroom and at least once a day taking a nice long shower as well as giving my kids a bath.  The water comes in and out of our house with ease.  To live in a place that lacked the availability is unimaginable to me, it really is.  I think today reminded me about how thankful I am to live where I do and how I do, with water so easily available.

So my response is two-fold to blessed experience of my day.  First, I look forward to doing more things like this.   However, to participate in things that raise awareness as well as efforts to be a practical solution for those in need is not enough.  The second part is trying to change in my own life.  My hope is that I will start doing things differently by not trying to be wasteful when it comes to when and how I use the water that I have been blessed with.  It sort of ties into that notion of ‘live simply so others may simply live’.

May God bless our efforts, both large and small, as we seek to be the people God calls us to be and that the world needs us to be.

Have a great Sabbath tomorrow!
Peace,
B
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