Backstory: An Important Personal Question

From 2002 to 2009 as I was maturing both as an individual and in my faith, my worldview and life perspective began to change significantly. Up to this time the full-page magazine ads and other reporting on modern day genocide, ethnic cleansing, starvation, and human trafficking were so far removed from my daily reality that I could see them yet still not grasp the magnitude and realness of them. Over time, however, it became more and more difficult to ignore or gloss over the harsh realities that people were experiencing throughout the world. Documentaries, movies, and books, such as Born into Brothels, Schindler’s List, and Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea, kept the issue of ongoing social injustices visible. They also pointed out something else – that individuals could make a difference.  The concept is both inspiring and condemning.  If individuals could make a difference, a real difference addressing grave social injustices, then why wasn’t I?  It’s a simple question, and unfortunately too easy to answer with rationalizations.  I had to change my question to “how can I use my talents and abilities to reduce social injustices on a global basis?”