As we look around us at the world, we see so much suffering, poverty, disease and violence. Our leaders, politicians and governments have made such a mess of things. Selfishness, greed and corruption seem to rule everything. We threaten our very existence with nuclear weapons and contempt for our environment. Billions live in poverty and millions of children die every day of preventable diseases.
And yet we see so much beauty all around us. Our natural world is full of beauty and wonders. People have created fantastic music, art and literature. Our scientists are eliminating some diseases such as leprosy, polio and smallpox and there is hope for cures from the killer diseases: malaria, aids and cancer.
When God created us, in his image, he also gave us free wills. But mankind has gone its own way and refused to acknowledge the plan God had for us. But God’s plan has always been one of restoration and reconciliation. Jesus came to institute a new kingdom which would radically change the world we live in. In the Gospels, this is known as the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven.
In the United Kingdom there is a lot of fuss being made about the new school curriculum. Apparently, 198 academics have signed a letter which says that the new curriculum “abolishes childhood”. Now, I do not have qualifications to judge the curriculum educationally. But really, “abolishing childhood” or “destroying childhood”?
It is normal for me to care for my extended family and for people in my social group. But why do I care about people I have never met?
If you had asked me 20 years ago to write about food poverty in Britain, I would have laughed and said, “No! Food poverty only exists in Africa or India.” But now, there is so much poverty in Britain, the USA and other ‘rich’ countries.
It is so easy to pop into a supermarket and buy a packet of prawns, eat a pre-cooked seafood pie, or enjoy a pawn cocktail at a favourite restaurant. Have we ever stopped to wonder, how once a luxury item, is now common-place? Have we ever wondered why the price is so low?
I started blogging just over 2 years ago and try to add one article a week. I write about what I feel passionate about. Most of my posts are categorised as “Justice”, “Compassion” and “Poverty”. Inevitably I touch on politics and am not afraid of being controversial. My articles are influenced by my faith as a Christian but I do not intend to be exclusive and fully appreciate that some of my readers will have other faiths or have no particular faith.
I have been writing about some of the injustices I see in the world and aim to campaign to reduce it’s impact. Part of the answer is to have stronger laws and stronger law enforcement to eliminate them. Another part of the answer is to make people aware so that injustice becomes unacceptable. But what is the root cause of injustice? There is no avoiding the fact that we are dealing with human nature at the deepest level.
Compassion and Justice 