Kimberley Ellison
Has anybody else started to feel as though there’s some kind of conspiracy to focus every recent major college event around poverty, social injustice, and/or the environment?
I have certainly begun to feel as though there’s a theme developing. What with the justice-based message from Jo Darby during Festival of Faith, the increasingly prominent presence of COSMOS and their activities, Avondale’s new green policy, and last week’s Adventist Forum on poverty and social injustice, I’m beginning to think that either: a)Avondale’s administration has suddenly gained super-powers, b)Someone is trying to turn us all into hippies and is putting you-know-what in the caf food, or c)These problems are real and we (yes, that includes you!) are a part of a generation that is going to change the world for the better. Past experience and my own clarity of mind would suggest that a and b are invalid, so I’m going to go with c.
The fact is, our environment, poverty and social injustice are not just the incidental themes of Semester Two at Avondale College. They are the themes of Life. They are not fads, like yo-hos were in primary school or graffitied binders in high school. They are not going to go away by themselves like a mozzie in your bedroom at night. Sure, you can just ignore them, and maybe you’ll manage to get through your entire life without the plight of the rest of the world affecting you. Meanwhile, billions of children will die from preventable diseases, millions of girls will be sold as sex slaves, and countless men and women will lose their lives simply because they were born in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been you.
We’ve been brought face-to-face with reality, and it’s time to stop taking our fortunes for granted.
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.”
– Isaiah 58:6-8