How much is £7?

Seems a daft question, but just how much is £7? I mean, if I went to a supermarket I could get a small shop for £7, or I could spend the money on a DVD or a book, or if I was really lucky it would pay for a meal out. But, £7 isn't that much, I mean I couldn't live off it. 

But, 80% of the world's population lives off £7 or less a day. How is that right? When I'm willing to spend £7 so easily, and yet for some people they have to live off it.

Don't believe me? 

Image taken from: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats

It's crazy, but do you know the reason why? Because you and I are rich - we are in the richest 20% (at least) of the world population, and us rich people we account for 75& of the global income whilst the lowest 40% of the world population accounts for only 5%? 

Can't get your head round it? 

Here are some other horrifying facts:

• There are 2.2 billion children in the world of which 1.9 billion live in the developing world and 1 billion are in poverty. 
• The best way out of poverty is by getting an education, and yet 121 million children aren't in education.

And if that isn't bad enough:

• 640 million children are without adequate shelter,
• 400 million children have no access to safe water 
• 270 million children have no access to health services.
• and the worst roughly 29,000 children die every day.

And there was me thinking that a day in labs was bad, and yet I have been able to come home to clean water to make a pot of tea, biscuits to dunk in it and the chance to relax. I'm incredibly lucky to be doing a degree when so many children don't even get a basic education, and yet do I value my education as much as I should? Do I value the luxuries of my life or do I take them for granted constantly asking for more and more and not considering the consequences. The richer the rich will get, the poor will just get poorer. And yet isn't that what life is about? Building riches up on earth and not caring for others?

And if that really is what life is about, is that life you want?

I know I don't.

Please comment and/or discuss

And the facts were taken from this website and all seem legit, at least they have a huge pile of sources.

Christians: Holier than holy?

No.

But also yes, Christians are stereotypically seen as holier than holy. Ohh, and there is that well known fact that you can't be a Christian unless you live a perfect life and obey the bible to the t.

I mean, it even says to life like that in the bible:

"Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of live as Jesus lived." 

1 John 2:6 (The Message)

I tried that route, and I failed. Because I can't be perfect, not even close to it, and I imagine that no one else can either. But then I discovered what God's grace truely meant. Grace means that God has already forgiven me for what I have done and for what I will do. In fact, as long as I believe that Jesus died for my sins and rose again, so that I can join him in eternal life. I can't do anything so bad that God won't forgive.

Brilliantly, so Christians can live their lives exactly how they want, but we don't. We do try to follow what's written in the bible. Something we can't actually do, and doesn't matter because God will forgive when we slip up anyway. So why do we?

For me, and probably many others it's because of Jesus. I don't follow him because he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lord, I follow him because he loved me so much he died on a cross so I could live with him forever. So why wouldn't I want to walk life with him? I can't ask for a better friend. So I follow Jesus down the path he lived his life, because if I'm with my closest friend, why wouldn't I want to do what he wants? So me and Jesus we walk the narrow path together, sometimes I wander off track, sometimes a sit down and scream that's it's not fair. But whatever I do I know that when the going gets tough, he's going to be there to hold my hand, to carry me, to wipe my tears away when I mess up yet again. Because, I get to call Jesus, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords my friend and my brother and together we walk the path Jesus walked 2000 years ago. 

 Any comments welcome :)

A week as a veggie....

First off, it's day seven and I've failed to be a veggie (twice) although both times the meal was cooked for me so it seemed rude to refuse.

But overall it's not been too difficult, there have been moments when I've wanted to cook one thing but instead had to cook something else, but overall substituting meat for other forms of protein has been relatively simple.

So, why did I?

As most people who have lived with me know, I don't eat that much meat - so why did I go veggie for a week. Partly, because I like a challenge but more importantly I read an article which made me realise the negatives to eating meat. To summerise it, the amount of meat we eat in the western world isn't sustainable. It's adding to climate change and whilst people are staving we're feeding animals only to slaughter them a few years down the line. Which, through a scientists eyes is a definite net loss of energy.

So, why does this bother me?

As a christian I believe that we (as human beings) have a responsibility to look after the earth, God calls us to be stewards of his creating.

"let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

Genesis  1:26 

Therefore, if my actions are leading to climate change, how I can I claim that I am looking after God's creation? So, I need to change my lifestyle to properly care for God's creation.

It's now the 28th November, over a month since I went veggie, so what have I changed?

First things, I've cut down the amount of meat I eat, whilst that is partly due to the hectic lifestyle I have been living recently, it also has something to do with thinking about this. I managed to make a 2 meal amount of beef last 4 meals, just by cutting the meat really thinly. Whilst this is only a small action, if we all did it, we could easily reduce the amount of meat we eat. But, I will admit, I've not done half as well as I'd have liked to, so I'll re-consider my meals and try again! 

The value of water

Water: it's free right?

I mean, I pay a water bill but that's to make sure the water that comes out the tap is clean. But, water itself, that's free. It falls from the sky (a lot) and it's just there waiting to be used.

But is it really?

I've just returned from Uganda where I was working on a Water and Sanitation project. Whilst I was away I discovered that water really does have a value. For me, living in the UK I expect clean, drinkable water to come out of the tap whenever I want. But, for some of the members of the community I was working in water had a value.

Water meant a trip down a steep valley.

It meant climbing back up with a jerry can of water, either 5, 10, 15 or 20L. 

It meant being late and tired for school as many children collected water before school.

It meant having to collect water again in the evening.

It was limited. 20L isn't that much.

But most importantly, water means life. Without water we wouldn't survive.

And yet, water is something I take for granted. So far this morning I've:

- filled the bath with water to soak my clothes.

- used the washing machine.

- had a cuppa.

- had a shower.

- flushed the toilet.

- washed my hands.

- hand washed some more clothes.

And all without thinking. 

I'm pretty disgusted with myself, I thought after a month of valuing the importance of water, of collecting the water from the valley (to realised how hard it was) to having limited water to shower/wash in, I would remember it's importance. But I've not. 

Jesus says:

Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

John 4:13-14

And, like my ease of forgetting the importance of water, I also forget the importance of Jesus. Just because my life is currently full of water (yes, it's raining outside) doesn't mean I should forget water's value. But, more seriously, just because I feel okay, my life is going where I want it to, doesn't mean I should forget my Lord and my Saviour, my King and my friend, my support and my joy. And yet, I do. I forget that Jesus is everlasting life, that Jesus is who I should be worshipping in my every act, in my every thought, in my every breath.