One world. One planet. One people.

Loaves and Fishes

This is not the age of information.

This is not

the age of information.

Forget the news,

and the radio,

and the blurred screen.

This is the time

of loaves and fishes.

People are hungry,

and one good word is bread

for a thousand.

--David Whyte

Yesterday a co-worker sent an email containing photographs of the devastation caused by the floods in Pakistan. I can't include the photos here because they are on my work email and I can't seem to download them.

And there's a part of me that's grateful that I can't.

My heart ached when I looked at the photos. My mind was overwhelmed. I cried. So many lives lost. So many lives in turmoil, angst, pain, sorrow. So many people at risk.

My co-worker who sent the photograph is from Pakistan. He is frantic. Worried about his relatives. Worried about his friends. Worried about his country of birth.

It seems impossible, sitting here on this side of the world that just on the other side of the globe there is so much disaster unfolding every minute of every day. And yet, there is.

It seems impossible some days to think about what I can do, sitting here at my desk in Calgary, Alberta, to change the course of a river overflowing its banks so far away.

I can't change the course of the river. I can impact the change in the lives of those who have felt the force of the river's waters tearing away at the foundations of their lives.

It may not be a great thing I do, but to do something is more important than to do nothing.

The UN estimates that over 20 million people have been directly impacted by the flooding, including over 3.5 million children in the affected areas. WorldVision is one organization helping those affected by the floods. Go here to help them or go to someone else you want to support. But please. Go. Go somewhere. Do something. Give.

Let your one good word be the support so desperately needed by our neighbours in Pakistan. Let your one good word help our brothers and sisters who are in pain.

This is one world. One planet. One globe. We are One People.

Nameste.