The place God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet.
-Buechner

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Red Letters Campaign: Project Ethiopia







I've headed to the Red Letters Campaign (RLC) on and off over the past many months. Project Ethiopia of course holds the most impact for us.

Parts of an article, (All I'm Offering Is Truth...Nothing More) from the online RLC magazine, Serious Living, struck me. How insightful the author, Ross is. I put this down to his personal experience but equally, find his thoughts easy to relate to.

Ross discusses the scene from the Matrix, (ever seen this blockbuster?) when Neo has the choice between taking the blue or the red pill. Honestly, I am not a fan of this movie. I don't like anything with a touch of sci-fi...but this analogy is striking.

Choosing the blue pill would allow Neo would wake up believing that his visit with Morpheus had just been a dream. The red pill would open Neo up to see the world as it truly exists. As Morpheus tells him, “All I’m offering is the truth … nothing more."


How often do we make this choice? Choosing truth over anything else...

Some. Thing. Else. Any. Thing. Else.

And then Ross reminds us of something else:

These are the moments that shape us. With the truth lying before you, the only decision that remains is what you will do with that knowledge - accept it or hide from it.


We make dozens of choices daily. Sometimes trivial. Sometimes life changing.

I remember the day we chose to take the Red Pill...the path less known, less beaten down. The one, however, with a light so gleaming at the end, that we would have been remiss not to have taken it. No longer a dream, the path of adoption was now a reality. I can't imagine having chosen the other, blue pill. Seeing the dream as nothing more than that. A dream. Simply something "others do". Something to regret in a couple of years.

The choice has strengthened our faith. It has opened our eyes to the realities of the world. Extreme Poverty. Child trafficking. Illness. Disease. Hope. Love. Grace. Faith. Selflessness. Sacrifice. Truth Of What Happens At The Foot Of The Cross. It has brought us closer to real truth.

Now, while I don't necessarily think we are doing absolutely everything that we can. I know we are doing more. More than 1 year ago. More than even 10 months ago. Right now, that is enough. It won't always be, but for now we take one day at a time.

So, when presented with two pills which one will you take?

The Blue - dream - Pill.
or
The Red - reality - Pill.

The Red Pill stirs up Passion. It seeks Knowledge. It provokes Action. It may accompany (or better yet) trigger a Turning Point in your life. It encourages Growth. It enables Truth through Restlessness - the desire to no longer let the world pass us by.

I want to be the change that I want to see in others. This is how I will begin.

I've never grown into a better person through dreams.

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