What I DO hope is that this blog is an accurate and thorough representation of what our thoughts, feelings, values, hopes, aspirations and inspirations are.
This being one of them.
My good friend Danny brought up an interesting point the other day, while we were discussing one of our favorite topics. He really got me thinking when he asked me what I thought would happen if religious institutions who, instead of requiring a 10% monetary donation of all income, required that all members and followers gave instead 10% if their time. They say time is money, so it makes sense, right? If you generally work a 40 hour work week, that would mean that you should be giving 4 hours a week towards serving those in your community, your state, your country, and your planet. It's a lot harder to commit to that- than to simply write a check and turn it in at Sacrament Meeting or in the donation box, isn't it? How many followers would still be able to meet their recommended "service tithe"? Think hard on that one.
What if we took it one step further and said that 4 hours a week had to not only include those in your neighborhood, but had to include people that you had never met. People that weren't members of your religious institution, your school, your neighborhood, or your family. Strangers, even.
I learned about the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation several years ago, and have been following them closely ever since. Their willingess to share their wealth for the common good and betterment of health, education, and lives all around the world just blows me away everytime and usually brings me to tears. Knowing that there are still good people out there who, despite their economic status, still care about those less fortunate than they.
They don't care about the politics, religion, race, gender, health, or wealth of the people that they care about. They take care of as many people as they possibly can. They have spent hundreds of millions of dollars working to cure "poor people diseases" (polio, malaria, malnutrition), to vaccinate the children in poverty-stricken countries, to endorse maternal and infant health, to help progress birth control, to educate children here in America, to promote proper personal hygiene. Things that are almost always overlooked by their fellow billionaires - ironically, especially those in the pharmecutical industry. Not only do they fund these life-saving projects, but they are often times found in the "trenches". Setting out on foot to personally deliver these life-saving gifts to the poorest of the poor and the sickest of the sick. Philanthropy at it's finest. Giving of one's self.
They truly understand that this is the ONLY way that we can ever hope to truly progress as a species. If it's true that a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, they sure have thier work cut out for them. In the meantime, I can only stand back and read with awe at the truly, wonderfully, amazing people that we have right in front of us, to serve as an example of what selfless love looks like. Decades from now, I know that people look back at their work and celebrate all that they have done and continue to do. I hope that many others of their economic status will follow their example. Pay it forward. Save every life possible. Progress the human race.
To learn more about the Bill & Melida Gates Foundation, visit their website. It will blow you away.
1 comment:
This is one of the reasons I love you Ash-a-lee!
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