Conundrums and Cures

Every time I turn around on campus I hear it from someone else, "Why am I here?", "Why are we studying this?", "How come it's so depressing?", and most commonly, "How come there are no answers to these questions and no solutions to these problems?".

It is pretty common for people to get down and beat up on themselves in this line of study. Everyone has the grand idea that they will be able to 'save the world' or play a role in ending hunger or creating world peace, but reality strikes somewhere during the first semester and you start to realize that you will be lucky if you get a job doing much more than paperwork.

I know that I had this image of myself working in a refugee camp somewhere in Africa. On the ground, with cute little orphans... but, in actuality, this work is best done by locals. In fact, most agencies do not want to send westerners in, they want to empower locals to do the work. I love the idea, I just hate the implications. So what are we training for?... Capital hill? Admin work? Research? BLAH.

You do not come to this program if you are not willing to get your hands a little dirty. We all want to help people, solve big problems... but the more we learn, the more we realize we have no idea how. All of the smart people that came before us couldn't figure it out, so why do we think that we can? All we get are a bunch of conundrums, huge questions, and unsolvable problems... "Here, continue the work..."

...how depressing.

I have to admit I find myself less discouraged than most. I have faith that I am here for a reason, and I am still (at this exact moment) content to have no idea what that might be. God placed this desire in my heart and I am sure that it will serve His purposes.

Last night in small group we had a significant discussion about the overwhelming nature of poverty, slavery, and all of the other ailments that plague the world. What can we do? Well, first we can step up and DO something about it. I am sure that God has called more people to action, most just get so overwhelmed they give up before they try. But, I also think that we are ALL called to pray.

I know it's hard to know how, what to say, what to pray for.... and it's incredibly overwhelming and seemingly pointless to pray for ending poverty or world peace... but I think that if we allow those thought to overtake us, we have missed out. Pick an issue, pick a country, pick a neighborhood, pick a neighbor... pick something! and PRAY.

Pray for freedom, pray for food, pray for health or healthcare... anything. But most of all, pray for them to experience and realize God's love and comfort in their situation. Because, we all know that some food, a job, or a home are all great! ...but they don't solve all of your problems. This world really sucks and just because we provide for people's physical needs, they won't be satisfied. Just because we make their life look a little more like ours, will they suddenly be problem-free? I mean, are we?

Anyway, one thing I know for sure... God's love is the only thing that will solve all of our problems.