"Jesus loves the little children of the world."

As a child and teenager, we used to sing that chorus a lot: "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow black and white, all are precious in His sight..."

Last night Gloria and I saw the movie, Slum Dog Millionaire. Wow! I'm not surprised it's in the running for an Oscar this week. If you read a little about how it was produced before you watch, it will add layers of appreciation to the experience. It's a great story.

Knowing that the slums pictured were the real thing, not a movie "set," moved me deeply. It's so easy as I live in "Disney World" (the USA) to forget the plight of billions of people, especially children, around the world. I wanted to turn in my bucket of popcorn and give the money to someone who would help the children.

I don't want to lose the way I was touched nor the sense of urgency to know how best I should live in this "flat earth" where I have to work hard to not know about global suffering.

I must not be paralyzed by the struggle to balance the need to reach out with Jesus' compassion to allieviate suffering with the even greater need to address peoples' allienation from God.

"Lord, show me how to live in this broken world, and how to be an agent of your Kingdom as we wait for 'the restoration of all things.' Speed the day!"