“If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world. If you have money in the bank, your wallet, and some spare change, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy. If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the agony of imprisonment or torture, or the horrible pangs of starvation, you are luckier than 500 million people alive and suffering. If you can read this message, you are more fortunate than 3 billion people in the world who cannot read at all.”
I read this to Katie a couple days ago after seeing it pinned on Pinterest, hoping she might understand even in the slightest bit how very important this is to grasp. I tried to simplify the concept for her by explaining that when she tells me she’s “starving” and wants a snack, she really has no idea what starvation feels like. When I told her there are children who don’t even know what “Wizards of Waverly Place” is - kids with no TV (Netflix in our case) - she was horrified.
In 1997, I was a Freshman in High School. My sister allowed me to tag along with her and her friend to a movie one night. I knew it was called Titanic and that it was supposed to be a big deal, but I admittedly had no clue what it was about and how the movie would end. I had no idea that the Titanic was known as the “Unsinkable Ship of Dreams” that did not live up to it’s name. On the drive home after the movie, I distinctly remember staring out the window in the back seat, trying so hard to let the reality of this tragedy sink in. I couldn’t. At the age of 13, I was simply awe-struck by the idea of this huge ship, sitting at the bottom of the ocean, with all that cool, old stuff in it. The concept of real people aboard the Titanic in 1912 was too difficult for me to grasp. I ended up watching this movie a total of 11 times in the theater and countless times at home. I collected books full of photos and information. I even visited an exhibit featuring real artifacts found on the ocean floor. I was thoroughly entertained without ever shedding a tear.
Fast forward 15 years, sitting in the theater by myself - my friends don’t share the same fascination as I do ;) - with my commemorative/collectable 3D glasses on and popcorn in hand, I expected to be thoroughly entertained once again. What I didn’t expect was the brick wall that pounded me in the face half-way through the movie when the reality finally set in. 15 years later… I finally realized that 1,514 real people died on April 15, 1912. I was able to feel the devastation and was blown away by the horrifying choices some of these people had to make. Women choosing to stay on board and die with their husbands instead of getting on the lifeboats. Men allowing the women and children to survive in their place. And then, of course, the 3rd class passengers having absolutely no choice at all but to die. This actually happened. And it didn’t happen so we could be entertained 100 years later.
I can’t expect Katie to understand the importance of the above statistics at the age of 8. I wouldn’t have been able to. But I promise to never stop trying to see the big picture and share it with her and others. I want to feel the pain and grief with my friends who have lost family members or the brokenness of the women and children being raped in the Congo, just like I can now feel the devastation of those that died on this very night, 100 years ago, in the Atlantic Ocean.
Why would I want to feel all of this when I don’t have to, you ask? Because too often I find myself putting importance on things that don’t matter. If I can actually feel what others are feeling, then I can live outside of myself and fully sense the urgency of helping them and living in community with those who are inhabiting this planet with me. I actually think this is the reason most people believe in God. They want a motivation beyond themselves to continue to persevere when things get tough. In that case, God is all around you! It’s people! And love and grace and beauty and passion - all things we’re lucky enough to experience as humans.
I know we don’t all agree (or even have any clue) as to why we’re here… but I think we can agree that to survive as long as we can and live this life to the fullest, we must help each other.
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Music attached is from the Back to Titanic soundtrack, titled “Nearer My God To Thee” played by Eileen Ivers.
she pops into the bathroom
