the whole thing.

Where do things come from? Clothes, shoes, water bottles, crafting supplies, etc. Who made it? Where do they live? Are they happy making whatever they are making?

I'm always struck by the phrase "Live worldly but buy locally" because I don't understand it. Its great to support locally but what about our shoes that are made overseas? What about the people employed to produce my shoes.

These people make shoes for a living, who may have no chance to go to college and get an education. Are these people happy doing what they are doing? Do they know anything different?

What are their dreams? Their hopes? What does God have in store for them?

How do I appreciate what they do for me? Am I supposed to thank God for providing me with shoes, do I thank God for providing them with work, or do I go without those shoes because they are not providing the best working conditions possible for workers?

I know I am fortunate, "wealthy", and in midst of opportunities that many people only dream about. This brings me to the other quote which has convicted me ever since I saw it on a friends facebook info.

"I believe that the great tragedy of the church is not that rich Christians do not care about the poor, but that they do not know the poor."
[Shane Claiborne]

My scattered questioning here leads me to believe that I just really need experience, knowledge, wisdom.

I need to see.
I need to feel.

I need to stop being persuaded by the media, the blogs, the documentaries of other people and be the person who goes, who opens her eyes, who asks questions, who takes the clothes off her own back to share with those less fortunate then her.

The true thing is that I think they have a hope a dream, a passion, a faith that I crave, I desire, I want.
They might consider me the less fortunate one. The one consumed by pride, consumed by materialism, by worldly things.

I'm praying that God will show me the opportunity.

I need to get out of my bubble and break down these filters I have on the world.
My filter is only letting in chosen sun rays and I want to see the whole sunrise, north to south and east to west.