Ignorance is bliss, but bliss is overrated.
I don’t want “untroubled happiness” anymore. There have been numerous contributing factors, but recently I have been burdened by events I would have previously dismissed as unrelated to my life.
It is troubling when you face earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan, wars in two countries, heightened unrest in the North Africa and other global concerns.
What about local issues like soldiers wounded in war, families losing their homes to fire or friends who lose their jobs in unfair situations?
In our house, we are confronting an uncertain future with an adoption of a little boy in Ethiopia who is almost 4 years old. Officials in that country have slowed the process to almost a standstill just as we reached the final stages.
As that story unfolded, I wrote stories on missionaries to a spot so uncivilized the inhabitants had no written version of their own language. I also interviewed two women who traveled to Cambodia to work with girls rescued from the sex trade.
As a friend of mine said, it’s a big fat ugly world out there.
But would ignorance make any of it go away?
I used to think so.
But information leads to action. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the need for help.
With more than 10,000 likely dead in Japan and billions of dollars in damage, people there need our help. There are many local causes that are very important as well.
How do you decide who to help?
I don’t think there is a wrong answer – except for no.
No one can help everyone, but everyone can help someone.
I don’t think you can choose incorrectly as long as you choose to help.
Kent Bush is publisher of the Augusta, Kan., Gazette.
Copyright 2011 Newton Press Mentor. Some rights reserved
I don’t want “untroubled happiness” anymore. There have been numerous contributing factors, but recently I have been burdened by events I would have previously dismissed as unrelated to my life.
It is troubling when you face earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan, wars in two countries, heightened unrest in the North Africa and other global concerns.
What about local issues like soldiers wounded in war, families losing their homes to fire or friends who lose their jobs in unfair situations?
In our house, we are confronting an uncertain future with an adoption of a little boy in Ethiopia who is almost 4 years old. Officials in that country have slowed the process to almost a standstill just as we reached the final stages.
As that story unfolded, I wrote stories on missionaries to a spot so uncivilized the inhabitants had no written version of their own language. I also interviewed two women who traveled to Cambodia to work with girls rescued from the sex trade.
As a friend of mine said, it’s a big fat ugly world out there.
But would ignorance make any of it go away?
I used to think so.
But information leads to action. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the need for help.
With more than 10,000 likely dead in Japan and billions of dollars in damage, people there need our help. There are many local causes that are very important as well.
How do you decide who to help?
I don’t think there is a wrong answer – except for no.
No one can help everyone, but everyone can help someone.
I don’t think you can choose incorrectly as long as you choose to help.
Kent Bush is publisher of the Augusta, Kan., Gazette.
Copyright 2011 Newton Press Mentor. Some rights reserved
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