So i just finished watching the celebrities climbing Kilamanjano, and im filled with conflict, i see what they did and i see that it was positive in so many ways but it also seems hollow....
It seems as though once a year people take notice of what's actually going on in the world, and all the horrific statistics come out about how many children die a minute...and for a day the world takes notice. The facts remain, yes so many children do die on that day and it is beyond awful, but what about the other 364 days of the year?
There is no denying that they have raised incredible amounts of money for some worthy causes, incurring many challenges and pain themselves through doing so, but it all seems just abit too temporal to me....this was emphasised by the fact that Gary Barlow shelled out £50,000 to pay for a private jet for them all to fly home in as he felt they deserved it. Now maybe i am an awful person but to me this just smacks of hypocrisy, yes you have done an AMAZING thing but then why negate that by spending stupidly high amounts of money on something so unnecessary?
Why not add to the massive total they had already made? As they said £5 is all it takes to buy a mosquito net, so £50,000 = several mosquito nets no? gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh
Then my brother attempts to make inappropriate and racist jokes which im sure were "hilarious", but i just felt sickened that when seeing such acute suffering, this is what he thinks of...
I dont know maybe i am being ridiculous, but i know how much i have had to pray that God breaks my heart for the broken, the lost and the poor. I have been praying those prayers for nearly 7 years and yet so so so much of the time i feel as though i forget all about those people who are in so much need. If the God of the universe is softening my heart for these ones and i still get it so so wrong, how much more do those people who dont know God need to be thinking about this for their hearts to be changed?
And dont you also find that sometimes the use of celebrities is counter productive? I know that they generate interest, but at what point does there become too much focus on the "famous people" and not enough on those ones who are permanently unnoticed and forgotten?
I think God loves hearts that give, hearts that are full of compassion, and hearts that consider the needs of others, and so i hope that people go into saturday rednose-less but with a brokeness within them that desires change that lasts beyond a day......
I absolutely agree. and i agree that it is too little that there is focus on povery for one day of the year [every 2 years actually!] and then it is forgotten the rest of the year. and equally i think this applies when people are moved by poverty in some areas of their lives and then in other areas take actions which increase poverty.
ReplyDeleteBut i guess, while i do agree with your point, i think we are in a time when people don't pay attention to the rest of the world, and sadly they do pay attention to celebrites, and i think comic relief are aware of the influence that celebrities have and the utilise that well. In a time when the majority of people are desensitised to what goes on in the rest of the world, and completely obsessed with following popular culture, celebrities are an incredibly powerful tool. and if they can be seen to be engaging in poverty then maybe, for a day, those people will too. i agree that there is too much focus on the 'famous people' but sometimes you have to reach people in the only way they'll let you.
but i do agree, and i absolutely echo your prayer that people will come away from rednose day with a brokenness that stays with them for more than a day, that encourages them to change the way they live, shop, act and think. everything we do has an impact.
I love you lovely laura!!