Sunday, January 5, 2014

Recognition

Recently I received in the mail an official recognition from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for my trip and the writing of the book, 27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves.  Offered by representative Kate Hogan and signed by Speaker of the House, Robert DeLeo, the House of Representatives extends its sincerest thanks for my work.  The recognition caught me by surprise, since I didn't think that the release of my book was all that earth-shattering.  But the recognition (now obviously hanging on a wall in my office) taught me two things.

First, I really need to update this blog.  The pages and links on this website still all refer to my trip two years ago.  It's been less than two years, actually, so I'm not totally guilty, but still the blog is clearly out of date.  A change in my life and a change in purpose for this blog, plus the fact that there is a whole bunch of worthwhile information out there that I should include, dictate to me that I need to change the blog.  An overhaul is necessary.  If people are recognizing me for my work in raising awareness against human trafficking, then I should probably not look so lazy.  My goal for this month is to make those changes.

Second, the little things that we do seeking to end human trafficking, a) do not go unrecognized, and b) do not flame out.  Oftentimes doing good work in social justice areas feels like a thankless task, but there are plenty of people out there who see what we do and are forever grateful for what we do.  To some, publishing a book may seem like a big deal; to me it's not at all (writing is what I do).  So whoever we are we should realize that what we consider to be a small, unrecognizable task, is not a small, unrecognizable task in the eyes of all people; to some people, those tasks will seem like monumental achievements.

Also, whatever good we do seeking to end human trafficking remains forever.  What I mean is that each step we take toward the end of modern slavery has such great influence on others--encouraging them to also work to end slavery--and on the world that that step cannot ever be demolished once we take that step.  We build on what we've done before and need not re-build.  Sometimes we may need to repeat, over and over again, but that doesn't mean that what we have done has not helped make progress or has gone unrecognized.  We can and should take heart knowing that every little thing that we do to help end human trafficking has unending significance.  Unending significance.  Even if you only do one little thing to end slavery, that one little thing will continue to have significance for all time.

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