Joplin

Eighteen miles into the ride today we hit the Mississippi River.  Thomas took over to ride over the bridge because I am terrified of heights, especially on bridges.  Thank God he did, the bridge's lanes were narrow and there was no shoulder whatsoever, I would have died.  I was too scared to drive over!  But we did cross the famous Mississippi, the border marker between Illinois and Missouri.  I guess we are now officially in the West, eh?  Having seen the Mississippi really made it hit home to me that we are traveling across the country.  I mean obviously we are, but now it's becoming impossible to ignore that I'm seeing a lot of things that I only dreamed of seeing before (and many that I hadn't dreamed of): the Mississippi, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Illinois, St. Joseph's College, Ann Arbor, Detroit, and many others.

The really cool thing about all this cross-country riding is that I'm seeing how diverse this country really is.  I've seen the big and the small towns, how different people build town halls, different definitions of "Business District," different dialects and ideas, and different geographical oddities as well as how different areas use their land.  I am constantly fascinated that the area between Worcester and Boston is not representative of the entire country (that's a joke, clearly I knew that... but still I could never have imagined the size and quantity of these farms and such).

Now, as we cross into Missouri I will have difficulty remembering why I'm riding.  My mind will instead be focused on thinking about the residents of Joplin, and hoping that I do not see too much damage for my sensitive heart.  While I continue to pray for them and wish them the best, and pray that they will receive much support in various ways, I'm realizing as we continue to see new sights that sudden strikes of disaster always inspire more compassion than on-going threats.

I'm not trying to demean the needs of Joplin residents.  I am in a state of sorrow when I think of all the people who lost everything in a heartbeat; not just the people of Joplin but also New Orleans, Japan, and other sites of recent disasters, natural and man-made.  But when I think about Joplin I know that the chances that they will have their lives back in the next three months is slim, yet our support for the Joplin residents will surely end in the next three months.  New Orleans is still recovering from Katrina but most of us have completely forgotten about that devastation.  For whatever reason, we cannot remain focused, we cannot be in a constant state of compassion.  Part of it is that we do not have the mental stamina, and I understand that.  If all we ever did was think about the millions and millions of people in need we'd be exhausted and hospitalized within 24 hours.

Still, we can choose an issue and stick with it.  One of the best tactics of evildoers is that of distraction.  We are always distracted, and then can only minimally support the causes that come up suddenly like a disaster.  I encourage you to choose slavery, the cruelest injustice ever imagined, as your focus for your compassion.  I can't think of anything worse than putting a person into bondage, and so I can't think of anything better to make into a life-long focus.  One donation is great and greatly appreciated, but you can continue doing that.  There is no limit to the number of donations to the Polaris Project that you can make.  And there is no limit to the number of letters and phone calls that you can make to your political representatives.  And there is no limit to the number of conversations you can have with your family, your friends, your church, your co-workers, and whomever else you come into contact with, to raise awareness about human trafficking.