I occasionally watch one of my former pastor's services (at his new church) online. Recently he used quotations from commencement speeches as a starting point. He quoted Bill Gates at Harvard in 2007, urging graduates to 'choose one issue and become an expert in it.'
That struck a chord for me, as I feel a deep urge to give back, to make the world better somehow-- but have never found a focus. Sometimes a project will suck me in, but mostly every issue and project interests me and pulls at me, until I feel completely scattered and ineffective at anything. So I've been pondering the quotation, and considering which of those many tugs at my heart are strongest.
Environmental issues are dear to my heart, but I've come to realize they're actually in second place. The stories and occurrences about which I am most passionate always involve-- children. Specifically children with some kind of special challenge-- differently abled, poverty, etc. (Remember Peace Partners?)
So, while I'll continue to read and ponder any issue that catches my attention, I think that as I begin to build my life in the Albany area, I'll be especially looking for some way I can help children with special needs, and some environmental project to get involved with.
That struck a chord for me, as I feel a deep urge to give back, to make the world better somehow-- but have never found a focus. Sometimes a project will suck me in, but mostly every issue and project interests me and pulls at me, until I feel completely scattered and ineffective at anything. So I've been pondering the quotation, and considering which of those many tugs at my heart are strongest.
Environmental issues are dear to my heart, but I've come to realize they're actually in second place. The stories and occurrences about which I am most passionate always involve-- children. Specifically children with some kind of special challenge-- differently abled, poverty, etc. (Remember Peace Partners?)
So, while I'll continue to read and ponder any issue that catches my attention, I think that as I begin to build my life in the Albany area, I'll be especially looking for some way I can help children with special needs, and some environmental project to get involved with.