Waiting on the World to Change

This morning I cried over a bowl of cereal. Not really over the bowl of cereal, but as I was eating breakfast I saw something on TV that pained my heart. ABC is going to be broadcasting tonight a piece on 20/20 that Diane Sawyer has been working on for the last year, called Waiting on the World to Change. In this piece she follows three children who are growing up in the poorest and most violent city in America: Camden, NJ. I was moved by the one child they showed this morning–4 year old Ivan who has lived on and off the street with his mom and his little brother. His dream was to live in a home with his family and to go to school to learn to read. They showed that their Pastor had rented them a room to live in for only $50 a week. The room was dimly lit by one lightbulb, and it seemed cramped and dirty by most American standards. The boy’s response, however, blew me away. He said, “I’m so proud, and I thank the Lord for giving us this home to live in.” This, from a 4-year old? How ungrateful am I?

The next scene shows little Ivan on the first day of school. He’s walking to school with his mom, and he’s scared. She tells him that it’s ok to be afraid, and that she won’t leave him in a place he is not welcome. They showed little Ivan working on numbers with a school administrator. He knew the number three, but was stumped when the man asked him how many meals we eat in the day. His family usually only ate once, at best. That broke my heart. I can’t handle seeing children in poverty without doing something about it, can you? How can we sit by and let something like this happen, not only in N.J. but in places closer to us?

Maybe that’s why there are TV programs like this, because there are people in the media who care about others, and hope to make a difference in what they do. I want so much to have a career like that, and maybe that’s why I’m so drawn to teaching. So this is my challenge to you: Do what you love in life, and make a difference to someone in need. Could there be any greater joy in life?