Tears for Africa

I showed The Constant Gardener the other day for my students. I've already seen the film, but I always manage to get choked up. I just can't comprehend what it must be like to live everyday in those conditions. It is such a beautiful film about such an ugly topic. One of the characters comments that aid in Africa is how the industrialized expiates their guilt. No body really cares about the thousands of people who die everyday throughout the continent. The same character exclaims that the "pharmaceutical companies are as bad as the arms dealers."

In trying to sort out what I want to do with my life, I just can't get away from these stories and images. It makes me wish I had gone to medical school - somehow that would make me useful. But then I think about the parable of the talents. The point of Jesus' teachings in that story is that it doesn't matter how much you have, but what you do with what you have that matters. I can't lament over the fact that I don't have a law degree or a medical degree. Rather, I have to trust that God is putting me in the circumstances that fulfill his purpose for my life, and that he is equipping me to do his will.

Falling into that trap of, "I can't really do anything important until ____ ( I have a job, I get married, I have my own place, I have more money, I have more free time, etc. etc. etc.)," is really just preventing me from accomplishing what I can do now. Again, it reminds me of the parable of the talents (if you want to read it for yourself, follow this link: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025:14-30). The servant who buried his talent claims to have acted out of fear. The master is no less displeased when the servant tries to explain this. For me, today, the moral of this story is: Don't be afraid to use what God has given you. He has blessed me with an array of talents and skills, I just have to apply them for his glory. So, what am I going to do today to try and help alleviate these problems that are so compelling?