Actions Speak Louder

I have been burdened recently with the things going on around the world.  My heart hurts because as I watched the news today about the earthquake and the tsunami warnings I couldn't help but find myself in quick sand.  What I mean by this is that I was aware of the catastrophe but couldn't stop myself from being sucked back down into my selfish comfortable surroundings.  My mom mentioned something that I completely agree with as we were looking at cars and bridges being ompletely destroyed- that we have become almost numb to these images due to movies/video games/ tv and etc.  It doesn't even phase us sometimes when we see a house torn apart or bodies laying everywhere because we see it all the time on the big screen.  Life is so fragile and it is remarkable how quickly it is taken.  Looking at the images make me almost angry because I cannot be anywhere near there or do anything sitting in my chair at the restaraunt.  I can't run to the crying kid or move the rubble from the fallen structure because "it doesn't effect me." Those words are poison.  It should affect us all- It should make us sob with remorse for all those families who lost their loved ones.  It should make us want to be the most helpful we can be whether it include money, experience, provisions, or anything.  We are all made in God's image and THAT is why it should affect us.

I was recently reading a status on facebook the other day that said something along the lines of "Why should we be helping Haiti?  Lets fix our own country first."  At first I was angry because I didn't understand why someone could be upset about helping Haiti but then I realized that our own nation is also suffering just not in the same way necessarily.  We all are aware- atleast I think we all have an inkling of knowledge about how screwed up alot of people are whether they like to admit it or not.  We all know what goes on in those places that our parents don't want us to go to and we deny their existence.  We make sure to not involve ourselves in other people's affairs because that JUST might mess up whatever we had going right now.  I am completely apart of this and am not ashamed to admit my passiveness.  I can talk all I want about helping but nothing will never come of it unless I take action.  We can never be truly passionate about a cause until we take action towards it because only then are we truly making an effort to help.  Everyday is another day wasted unless we take the initiative ourselves and strive past this huge wave of apathy that is so quickly crashing on our entire generation.  When it is all said and done who have you helped? When you turn around at the end of your life will there be any kind of legacy left? Or will you like so many others be slowly forgotten because without you everything goes on just as it did before.