fair

So I've been avoiding our blog. Not sure what to say in light of Haiti. Trying to piece some fragmented thoughts into paragraphs. Frustrated. I hate that I'm not a nurse. I hate that I don't have a plane. I hate that I don't have a million dollars. It's not okay that a major earthquake w/a magnitude of 7.0 struck the Bay Area in Northern California in '86 and 63 people were killed. Haiti's earthquake with the same magnitude will take 100,000(??) lives. Because they are poor, they suffer immeasurably greater. It's not fair. But, we all know life's not fair, right? Here's what I learned in college (learning to educate): fair means everyone gets what they need.... some kid may need homework to get the skill, some won't. That's okay. Equal means everyone gets the same amount/thing. All the kids get a test for example. Fair=all getting what they need..... equality=all getting the same thing. So I see that things won't always be equal, but why not fair? Don't we all have something in us that pulls toward fairness? Don't we all have enough to share - share something? I really can't put my head around complete countries with such poor infrastructure that cities are built so poorly..... poorly.... poor-ly. They are poor! But can't we appeal to our sense of fairness. Couldn't this have been different? And what about the other 3rd world countries? What about Ethiopia? Our daughter is right now in a place where any natural disaster would most likely take her life. I appreciate where we live. I have hospitals all around me. I have running water and a grocery store. I don't think it's a political thing. I think it's a Jesus thing. And we're behind the curve. I do have more than I need. I'm torn between wanting every spare red cent to go to support efforts in Haiti and getting our girl here as fast as we can. And when the dust clears, do we move on - back to normal? Not us. The scales on our eyes have been falling for months now and we won't be the same. I pray the same for you. I do have knees to fall on and pray. Jesus said do it. Get out there and make it fair! For those of you like me who don't have a plane, millions of dollars or a medical degree, try helping here:

www.compassion.com
www.handsandfeet.org
www.lifeline.org