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Babies in the River Once upon a time, a villager was walking along the banks of the river. To his horror he saw a baby floating in the river, being swept away in the current. Without hesitation, he jumped into the river, swam out and brought the baby to safety. The next day, he brought a friend out to the river to show her where he had seen the baby. Today, however, there were two babies floating in the river. The two adults jumped into the river and saved the babies. With each passing day, there were more and more babies floating in the river. The villagers were able to rescue most, but some were lost. The villagers quickly organized themselves into teams. There were spotters and swimmers. Teams were assembled to care for them, and others were charged with providing food and clothing. A team of builders began work on a dormitory while another team started building a school. All the people of the village were involved in saving the babies from the river and were proud of the effort they were putting forth. One night, during a meeting of the village elders, one individual suggested sending a scouting party upstream to see where the babies were coming from. He was quickly rebuffed by the elders because the entire village was engaged in saving the babies and nobody could be spared. And so day after day, the babies kept coming and nobody knew why. Author Unknown This story has been used often to illustrate the need to "look upstream" to find the root causes of poverty. Yes, the scriptures tell us that the poor will always be with us. We are also told that we need to reach out to our neighbor and offer whatever we can to sustain them. The gap between those who have and those who have not is getting wider and wider. The government is unable (or unwilling) to provide an adequate safety net for those in need. It is incumbent on us, the people of faith, to seek out and help the invisible and forgotten people who have fallen through the cracks. The prophets of old called upon Israel for justice (not to be confused with judgement). Their words still cry out for us to excercise social and economic justice for all of God's children. We in America enjoy the most wealth and prosperity of any society that has ever existed, and there are still those among us who lack the most basic necessities of life. So what can be done? Granted, there are no easy answers; there is no silver bullet. We need to continue to nurture and sustain those around us who are in need. We also have an obligation to seek solutions to end the suffering caused by poverty. Through legislation and grass roots organizations, we can build a society that provides all people with the basic necessities of life. Pray for guidance. Discuss the issues of poverty with your families, friends, and co-workers. Discuss actions that can be taken within your church or service organization. Write to your elected representitives at all levels of government. Get involved! |