If you don’t
have a Facebook account (or use other social media) it’s possible that you
avoided seeing all the videos of people pouring buckets of ice water on
themselves, challenging family and friends to take the “ice bucket challenge”
by making a video and making a donation to help ALS research.
Over the course of several weeks, I’ve been
the unfortunate witness of a plethora of videos of people pouring ice water on
themselves. And while it’s true that
some of the homemade videos were creative, fun, and even funny, I found them
all just silly. At one point, more
people seemed taken aback by several celebrities who took the opportunity to
make videos of themselves, writing checks for ALS research, then using an ice
bucket to put ice in a drink—thus avoiding the uncomfortable and humiliating “challenge”
of withstanding a bucket of ice water dumped over their heads.
Thankfully, when
I saw this cartoon this week, I felt like I was finally returned to some sanity
about what truly matters. Because while so
many “first-world” people were accepting challenges to take ice water and pour
it over themselves, so many in the world are truly suffering. It turns out, those buckets of ice water are
for the rest of the world a wasteful, gluttonous display afforded only to
people (US) who by comparison are super-rich.
As this cartoon suggests, there are plenty of people who have to work so
much harder for their buckets of water in order to sustain daily living—and we
haven’t even begun to touch the realities we “first-world people” foist upon
the rest of the peoples of the world whose land is destroyed in pursuit of all
the metallic resources needed to power our smartphones, computers, and i-pads used
to make the videos in the first place. Nor
the fact that pouring buckets of useable water is wasteful for so many people
who don’t have access to clean drinking water who don’t even share the benefit
of seeing the amusing videos of us “first-worlders” WASTING what is to them
PRECIOUS WATER!
Plus, there’s
this. While surely this created a lot of
publicity for the cause of ALS research, the hard truth is that what ALS
research needs more than that is the actual dollars to fund it. In other words, we could have taken all the “costs”
to waste water and produce those videos and poured it into ALS research; or, we
could simply be dedicated, passionate supporters of ALS research and written
checks because someone we knew and trusted asked us to—no silly, wasteful video
required.
To make a
difference, we don’t need opportunities to dump ice water on ourselves. The best way to show our mettle is to respond
to what we believe and know by supporting the things we believe and trust can
change lives for the better. What
matters isn’t a public spectacle, but personal conviction. What matters is not that we take pictures of
ourselves doing silly things, hoping a kind of school-yard dare will get more
people involved. What matters is that we
are convicted by what we believe and choose to be actively involved by sharing
what we have. What matters is
participating with God in making the world a better place by emulating God—by giving
like God gives.
There are many
causes that matter to me; some of them I am able to financially support and
others I’m not. The list of things that
matter to me is long, and it’s tempting to believe there isn’t ever enough
money to go around. I believe and trust
what God says to us—that there is enough and for all; we all still have to be
committed to giving it. And people are
drawn to giving, not because we’re dared to pour ice water on our heads and
make a video of it, but because we are asked to give. People give because when they hear about what’s
important to us, they will want to join us—or not. Passion and faith drive our giving. Not dares.
So I’m asking
(not daring)—don’t make a spectacle of giving.
Make a gift!
And here are
some places where your GIFT can make a big difference (and none of them require
or desire you to pour ice water over your heads before or after you write the
check, or press the “donate” button, or place your envelope in an offering
plate!).
Rev. Kate Taber
recently shared an update from the Middle East.
Her story includes an opportunity to give directly to a hospital in Gaza
where we can provide help to victims of recent violence there. Check out here story HERE.
Presbyterian
Disaster Assistance provides help and relief in times of disaster or hardship—both
natural and human-caused hardships. PDA
has an almost instantaneous response, but in order to respond, they use
donations to help prepare the way—before disaster strikes. Giving before, during, and after disasters is
important. Check it out HERE.
Now that school
has begun, classes have resumed at our Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) theological
seminaries. Theological Education Fund
of the PCUSA is the only denomination-wide funding source for our PCUSA
seminaries. Our seminaries prepare
church leaders—valuable to have on the ground in churches (in communities) when
hard things happen. If you think pastors
have valuable input in places like Fergusson, MO, or Sandy Hook, or who open
sanctuaries in times like 9/11—then our seminaries deserve your support. You can find more information about TEF HERE.
And if you those
problems are bigger and larger, or if you have concerns about a large
denominational apparatus and how much money may or may not be used as a part of
“overhead,” you can always fund the ministry and mission of a local
congregation—in your community or elsewhere.
The congregation I serve has financial challenges we’re facing. You can check out what we do, and even make a
donation to our ministry via Paypal using our website. You can get to our website by clicking HERE.
Don’t just dump
a bucket of ice water on your head. Make
a gift. Fund a ministry. Change the world.
© Rev. David Stipp-Bethune; Teaching Elder and
Pastor, The Presbyterian Church of Llanerch, Havertown, Pennsylvania
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