In light of it being Martin Luther King Day this week, AND in light of the constant state of dreaming I find myself, I thought it appropriate to process a bit of this dreaming with you. Something happened to me through this past year that simply changed who I am to the point I'm struggling to remember who I was. The only way I can describe it is that I've got a much more open-eyed view of the brokenness in this world that has distorted my view of who I had been prior to all this. Now, that sounds exaggerated and negative, but truly I don't see it that way. Prior to our involvement in this foster/adopt system I had a pretty easy going life. I mean, we had our struggles and I've seen some of the harsh realities of our world, but I never really felt the agony of those struggles and harsh realities for what they really are (or what I perceive them to be now). Having had a first hand run-in with these struggles and harsh realities, including bearing the burden on behalf of three defenseless children unable to face these struggles and harsh realities themselves, I believe I'm beginning to see that our world REALLY is broken. It's functional, for sure, but the results that transpire from the systems and structures we use are far from a reasoned response anyone in their right mind would want.

My assumption is, I've been given a good hearty glance at what God sees every moment of the day as a result of experiencing the deep pain caused by one of the structural systems we have in place to run our world... that being our foster/adopt system. And that is only one of hundreds, thousands, even millions of structural systems we have in place. Economic, judicial, political, relational, spiritual/religious, transportation, security, financial, scholastic, medical, dental, computer, architectural, business...and these are just a few of the structural systems we have in place, all of which are shifted and adjusted according to other structural systems like cultures, ethnicity, tribes, associations, parties and the like. ALL these different systems, ALL functioning as if they have some autonomous ability to avoid creating problems for other structures and systems as they go about doing what they do. In reality, however, every move each individual system makes affects the other systems, and more often than not, in a negative way that needs to be adjusted for the other systems to function as intended.

For instance, something I've mentioned before, we currently have structural systems in place to support and care for the homeless. These systems are supported by people who are paid to care for the homeless. If, as the ONE campaign promotes, we are able to end extreme poverty and eventually end homelessness, the current structural system would need to be dismantled and those paid to care for the homeless would be out of work. Such a result makes creating a system and structure that could actually end homelessness unwanted, I assume, by those working within the system. If these people were altruistic, then sure, they'd advocate to end homelessness. But, in reality, these people need there to be homelessness for their own livelihood.

Another example is that story from a scientist I met in South Africa who discovered the dangers of plastic. You may remember, in spite of his scientific confirmation of the cancer and infertility issues he discovered, his findings were discredited by the political powers at the time. The good doctor recognized how attempting to remove plastic due to these medical issues would be more destructive to our world systems due to the overwhelming amount of plastic used throughout all of the infrastructures we have in place.

One final one, which our world leaders are attempting to address right now, is our fuel issues. It was not more than a hundred years ago that we transitioned from horses to steam to oil. Now we're stuck with a WHOLE lot of political and environmental issues because, just like plastic, our world is overwhelmingly run on oil and petroleum-based fuels. Everything we do it seems is being negatively affected by the lack of these fuel products and it's become such a part of our lives that we're willing to spend triple the cost we spent just a few short years ago because of the lack of alternatives available to us right now...or at least the lack of alternatives we're able to see or willing to use.

Alright...I realize I'm not offering any kind of suggestions or solutions to deal with these issues. But, like Dr. Martin Luther King, I have been dreaming about ways to advocate for the system that has impacted my life so deeply. Just as Dr. King dreamed of a different world on behalf of those impacted by racism, I have been dreaming of a different world to assist those impacted by this foster/adopt system. I think there is work we can do to advocate for the kind of change that could make positive difference to the system we have in place. It involves good people being good neighbors. It is people like you and me stepping up to care for parents falling apart due to the other broken systems affecting their ability to be the parents they desire to be and their kids need them to be. Parents using drugs or alcohol to soothe the stress and anxiety of life need good neighbors like you and me to come along side them, love them, and let them know there are alternative stress relievers that would give them a positive lift to their lives, like exercise, reading, and counseling. Parents financially unable to care for themselves or their children need good neighbors to come along side them, love them, and offer monetary and non-monetary assistance. Career counsel, childcare, food parcels, and help filling out the needed paperwork to receive governmental and non-governmental assistance could make a world of difference in these parents' lives. And, coming from a good neighbor who genuinely cares for them could take the edge off of the embarrassment regarding the need for such assistance.

Those are my incomplete and untried suggestions to address a huge broken system in our world. In reality, I'm still a bit too involved in the current system to begin breaking out and truly becoming the advocate I desire to be for the changes I've suggested. My hope is, either now or once we're beyond this current process we find ourselves, I'll have the strength and wisdom to rise up as an ambassador for these kind of initiatives. I don't know what that will look like, but I look forward to seeing such advocacy take place in my ministry pursuits in 2008.

That being said, I am beginning to see the ways personal experience greatly influences our ability to see the areas of our structural systems that need advocates for change to rise up. For me it has been my personal experience of the painful process of this foster/adoption system and all the brokenness created by it that provokes me to rise to the challenge my convictions create. For Dr. King it was the very personal experiences he had in regards to racism that provoked him to rise up and challenge the powers that be to bring about the kind of change his life and death created. For you, I have NO idea what areas of our world you are or have been involved in and what you see or have seen of the brokenness needing to be addressed and advocated for. Maybe you work within one of the systems I mentioned above, or maybe you've been thrust into one of them as a result of some aspirations of yours as we were when we set out to pursue adoption within the foster/adopt system. If you're like me, you'd probably rather sweep such issues under the rug and forget about them. The pain such issues have caused make advocating for change a tiring adversary we would rather avoid than fight. I get that...more than I'd like to admit. But the world needs us to encourage each other towards such ends. I will save my perspectives for the spiritual implications of this challenge for another posting, but do know, there are PLENTY of them!

Thanks ahead of time for beginning to think of ways you have been called by your circumstances and experiences to rise up as an advocate for change. And thank you for encouraging me to do the same, if not now, in the near future. If you get the chance, let me encourage you to watch the video of Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech. Click the picture of Dr. King above to view it. It encourages me to move forward, and I believe it will do the same for you!