As I write from the comfort and shelter of my home in Canada, where I have food in the fridge, coffee always brewing, and electricity to charge all my devices, it can be easy to push out of mind the immediacy of a world in crisis.
We only have so much headspace for the trouble in the world, right? And it’s easier to binge on Netflix and escape reality than to look it in the face.
Even if we care, what does it matter? Those problems are so far away.
Finding a way into these pressing global issues can take some coaxing. Requires an opening. And first and foremost we need to clear the hurdle of apathy.
When I speak with groups about justice issues my hand is usually raised among the audience members I poll when I ask, “Who here would be watching a movie than think about the world’s injustice?”
I was recently asked in an interview for Hope In Action about what I would say to people who feel overwhelmed by the issues the book presents. It was a pertinent question.
I set that question beside another question asked by Dennis Ignatius, the Former High Commissioner from Malaysia to Canada in the book’s foreword:
Has Malaysia become a vast gulag of human misery where untold thousands are deprived of their most basic rights, denied even a modicum of justice and stripped of every ounce of their dignity, slaves to our economic ambitions, our comforts our leisure?
Put that overwhelming Q in your pipe and smoke it.
Perhaps our comfort doesn’t matter as much as we think it should. And maybe being overwhelmed isn’t such a bad thing, especially if it moves us into action.
What fascinates me is when we hurdle over the apathy, there is hope beyond the obstacle. The good news is that there’s more good news than bad news. And in my experience the true stories created by people who help others in need eclipses apathy.
Ignatius concludes his foreword with this: “I have no doubt that our fate is ultimately tied to how we…treat the suffering sea of humanity right here in our midst.”
If you don’t believe in addressing injustice, then you better not believe in fate.
ABOUT HOPE IN ACTION
Shocking stories of human rights abuses in South East Asia have now been heard around the world. Hope in Action gives an up-close look at the lives of migrants and refugees as they come to Malaysia. It portrays an honest and eye-opening account of their experiences.
Through stories, photographs, reflections and extensive research, Hope in Action shines a light on what many migrant workers and refugees currently endure in Malaysia. It will refresh compassion for people who are in desperate situations and equip readers to help those in need.
Join the thousands of readers throughout Malaysia and around the world who are compelled to become true hope in action!
Want to order print copies for your study group, youth group, book club or church? Order print copies here.