I Love Sarah McLaughlan and You Can To!

I don't mean you have to love her music...but I do hope you love her message. This may seem unrelated, but bear with me. The other day I was watching the news and in a sad, sad turn of events an American died in one of the terrorist attacks in Uganda. A bomb went off during a time when a bunch of people had gathered to watch the final World Cup game. The American who died was a young man who worked for Invisible Children, which is a grassroots organization that began by three young men who traveled abroad and saw the horror of war torn Uganda, and have worked relentlessly to promote peace, build schools, and stop the war.

http://www.natehenn.com/

As I was reading this article about this young man, I realized he was the same age as me...born in the awesome year of 1985. The same age as me, and he lost his life. And what is so moving and tragic about his death is that he died in Uganda, doing what he was passionate about, bringing change in a real way to the people of this place. And I began to wonder what my calling is, where I'm going in life. I mean, I guess that sometimes I wonder what big thing I'm going to do, what cause I'm willing to die for. I'm passionate about equality, but I haven't necessarily had to give up a whole lot for that passion...sometimes I feel guilty that I'm not traveling to foreign countries or giving up all my luxuries. I think that what is so incredibly beautiful to me about Nate's story is that I believe he was doing what Jesus asked of him, obedience, even to the point of death. And sometimes I wonder if I have that passion--I hope that I do some day. I'm super passionate about things--but obedience to the point of death? Obedient enough to give up my life of luxury? How am I going to make a difference? Am I brave enough or strong enough to do take that leap of faith?

I thought and thought about this all day...and all that I can do is stay true to the calling I believe I have received which is graduate school...and sometimes I wonder if as Christians we compare callings--is one "better" then another? I'm not sure...these are just the thoughts swimming around in my head. I guess I can't believe that God gave me such passion for academia and not do something with it, right? And without sociology, without people doing the research, a lot of these inequalities wouldn't be exposed--knowing these things make me have a more active faith [even though sometimes I tend to suck at follow through]. Or is this an excuse for me to stay in the comfort of school? And then I think about the professors who have impacted me in so many ways...we need people on both sides--those doing the work, and those evaluating the current systems. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense, or connects in any way. Anyways, later I was listening to Sarah McLaughlan. Like I've said before, I wasn't a fan before Lilith, but my friend Kelsey was telling me about the music video for "World on Fire," so I decided to give it a look-sy.

"World on Fire"

And I love it. Because the song is about doing what you can, what's within your means--how sometimes we just get so incredibly overwhelmed with the problems of the world, but we just need to pick one to focus on. Sometimes being overwhelmed leads to no action at all. I love that Sarah is a musician, and she uses that for change. I know that as a Christian I've heard tons about "living out your calling" and blah blah blah...but some days it just feels more real and pertinent and meaningful then others I suppose [like today]. It is the small changes, and the problems seem like so many, but maybe, just maybe, if we all picked one, we could make a very, very huge difference. Check out the lyrics...they really moved me, and I hope they move you too.

God bless you Nate--you are in paradise.

"World On Fire"--Sarah McLaughlan

Hearts are worn in these dark ages
You're not alone in this story's pages
Night has fallen amongst the living and the dying
And I try to hold it in, yeah I try to hold it in

The world's on fire and
It's more than I can handle
I'll tap into the water
(I try to pull my ship)
I try to bring more
More than I can handle
(Bring it to the table)
Bring what I am able

I watch the heavens and I find a calling
Something I can do to change this moment
Stay close to me while the sky is falling
Don't wanna be left alone, don't wanna be alone

Hearts break, hearts mend
Love still hurts
Visions clash, planes crash
Still there's talk of
Saving souls, still the cold
Is closing in on us

We part the veil on our killer sun
Stray from the straight line on this short run
The more we take, the less we become
A fortune of one that means less for some