a mishmash of different thoughts for those who care

Hey friends,

Well, there is a lot going on here. Bombs in Bangkok, Saddam swings, airplane crash in Indonesia, etc, etc. No real surprises though. These sorts of things are commonplace in this world. And I started wondering why. Part of the answer came the other day as I was driving for a team that we have here right now. A great bunch of people, who really want to serve God and the Karen people. As we were driving, I was speaking with one of the team members, and inevitably, politics came up. Now I dont confess to know a whole lot about the politics in America, nor do I really care. I have no say in them, they don't affect me much, therefore its not really worth worrying about. But in the conversation, we got onto the politics of Burma, which is immensely more interesting to me, as I am here, and these things affect me directly. And the conversation swung to Burma's lobby in the American government. (read article here and here) I made the remark that lobbyists should be illegal, as they represent only the people who have money to pay them, not the everyday citizens of the country, who are the ones who should be represented but are so many times overlooked by those whom we elect. Well, it turns out that the guy sitting behind me is from the Washington DC area, and his father is a lobbyist for Unocal (now part of Chevron). Unocal was a big investor in Burma, denying for years the enslavement of the Burmese people at the hand of the regime. (article here and here) (these articles are older, but the basic situation hasn't changed) Well, this guy switched trucks at the next stop, and hasnt spoken a word with me since. Guess I pissed him off. Something I have to fix. The point of this little story is this: we were talking about all the problems, and trying to solve them with our talk, blaming them on others, and in the process hurting those around us. But no problem will be solved until we realize that the real problem lies within ourselves. Our apathy, unwillingness to change, our willingness to shut our eyes to the plight of others, and a myriad of other shortcomings of humanity. Some call this the human condition, some the sin nature of man, some say humanity is just plain bad. I guess if we all cared a little bit more about those around us, and a bit less about ourselves, we could make a big difference in the world. Until we can all say "The problem is me", this world is in a load of trouble. I admit to being one of the most selfish people in the world, very little if anything I do is motivated by purely selfless feelings. Sure, I want to help others, but I want to have fun doing it, or go someplace new, or get a cool t-shirt, or whatever silly motives I have. But that's something I would like to change.

Changing tack, Saddam got the noose the other day. That will cause a bunch of riots and protests. That video that got out probably wont do any harm (sense the sarcasm there) Any thoughts on that folks?