"The least of our brothers and sisters
"Have become the faceless and voiceless ...
"People who are forced to walk the path alone ...
"Carrying with them ...
"The burdens of injustice.
"Knowing only a world of limited resources ...
"As limiting as the air she breathes ...
"Can anyone hear her plea?
"She can no longer be faceless and voiceless ...
"I can no longer be faceless and voiceless ...
"How am I called to share the journey with others?
"It only takes ONE voice to change the world ...
"Whose voice will it be... Will it be my voice?"
"Speak out for those who have no voice." Proverbs 31:8
Limited resources. I complain about waiting too long in traffic, about slow Internet, about a furnace that doesn't keep me toasty warm all the time. I complain about not having time to finish catching laundry up or about poor customer service. There's no end to ways we complain.
Yet some of our sisters must walk miles just to get water for the day. Some of our brothers live in huts with dirt floors. Many of our brethren don't have more than one or two sets of clothing to worry about washing. They have no motor cars, no traffic jams or customer service complaints. No one serves their needs. No one even knows they exist, except in the abstract.
Interesting that I got this first reflection, about voices. I am not really a complaining sort of person, most of the time, and much of my career has been spent giving voice to those who seek it. Yet now I sit during this first week of Lent and ponder:
What burdens do I carry?
Perhaps the burden of feeling entitled ... to good customer service, to smooth roads with few obstacles, to comfort and convenience. After all, I am paying for those things, yes? Yet this sense of feeling entitled is a burden.
Recent industry changes in my career field caused me a good deal of stress and worry recently (also burdens). I had to consider the possibility that I might be unemployed, looking for work, even work in a different field. Almost certainly work in a different field. It was unsettling. I came to realize how much of my own sense of identity is wrapped up in my job, my work.
Who would I be without it? Would anyone care what happened to me anymore if I wasn't writing columns, soliciting commentaries, helping to give a voice to others, yes, but also giving me my own sense of value in my community.
What within me is faceless and voiceless?
Like those who live in Third World countries? Faceless and voiceless? What value do I bring to my community, if not that function of helping others to find their own voices? I would have more time to volunteer if I didn't work. That's a good kind of facelessness. Just giving to others. I could crochet more scarves for kids. More baby blankets, more lap blankets, more hats and gloves. I could keep my house a lot cleaner if I had more time. If I was faceless and voiceless. If we could pay for it, that is.
What do I need to embrace in my life to help give voice to others?
I can't travel to Third World countries. That costs money. But if I could pare down my own spending, cut away the excess, empty my house to some degree and in the process, empty my own being to some degree, maybe it would be possible. Maybe.
Yet maybe, by doing my job, simply by doing what I get paid to do, I am in my own way giving voice to others. Maybe in time, there will be an opportunity to extend that same voice to others who truly live in poverty, in need.
How can I speak with ONE voice of justice on behalf of all people?
Well, sometimes a voice doesn't have to involve sound waves. Justice is a complex concept. Fairness, equity, at least an equal playing field.
But it hurts to look at pictures of people whose lives are so difficult compared to my own. But how to make my own sacrifices somehow relevant to them? There's something to think about.
Sometimes actions are louder than words. Not everyone can get up and travel around the world to help others, but we can make our sacrifices count -- not just during Lent, but all year long -- if we can direct our efforts toward giving to agencies and organizations that can help.
And we can do things in our own communities. I coordinate an effort to gather handmade scarves that are given to young children whose parents seek help at a local ministry. I support a very informal effort by some friends to collect food and clothing to distribute directly to the homeless in our own community. I support other similar efforts.
It's never enough, but it's a start. If everyone could make a couple of small sacrifices, give up just one luxury or vice and give the savings to a community charity, the collective effort could make a huge difference for those in need right here in our own communities.
That's a loud voice in support of justice.
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