if i had a Twitter account

i don't. i just can't get past the name.

i'd tell you that Wendy is off to her sister's place (up at 4 am for a 630 flight) so i'm batching it for about 10 days. i feel sorry for the dog who'll miss Wendy and will have to rely on my memory to actually feed her on time.

Wendy flew into Victoria BC this morning, the same morning that the Olympic Flame is in town. i think it'll be a bit zoo-ish in Victoria today.

i'd point out that i'm reffing a High School Quarter Final tonight, reffing the Rural Manitoba Final tomorrow and i'm the Head Linesman at the Juvenile Final on Sunday. busy weekend.

i think i'll be assigned to my 1st ever Provincial High School Final in a couple weeks. i'm more than a bit excited at the prospect.

i got called to read scripture on Sunday and i advised that i'm coming off a cold and i will be spending all weekend yelling across a football field. i don't think i'll have much of a voice left on Sunday morning so i asked for a raincheck.

i asked a co-worker if she might consider becoming an official with us and she's considering it. way cool.

i managed to borrow a parking space at work today so that i can get to my game on time and it wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg to pay for parking all day.

i have 4 injured players on one of my fantasy hockey teams. that's a lot, especially since we don't allow subs in that league.

i'm getting LOTS of phone calls at work today which is fairly normal at the end of the month (every month).

i don't know if i'll be able to blog about much at my hockey blog this weekend given all the football stuff going on for me.

the Macedonian man

Paul sees a vision during the night. he sees a Macedonian man, a Greek and he beckons Paul to come over there and help them. the church was still a toddler and it hadn't even dealt with its first real trial yet, but that trial would come soon enough as Paul worked his way west toward the homes and lives of Greeks and Romans. the toddling church was a bunch of ragtag Jews; fishermen and other poor folks, simple folks, but it would soon add cultures to the mix that were as alien to Jewish culture as mine is from their's right now.
Luke was a Greek. i've heard some argue that Luke was actually the Macedonian man from Paul's vision as he pondered what path he would go and was impacted by those ponderings as he slept. maybe it was Luke who imparted the need of Macedonia and who quite likely beckoned, "come over here and help us".
what is Paul without the Macedonian man? what is the church without the move into Greece and later Rome? the church builds in Greece, it's led to Rome where it is traditionally held that Peter becomes the first Pope. does Peter go to Rome if there is no church already there? do we have a church like one we have today if Peter doesn't go to Rome? do we have a church at all if Paul doesn't go to Macedonia? if Paul doesnt go west then perhaps he heads east and perhaps a young church has to battle other philosophies for prominence as it moves east. perhaps Christianity doesn't become a major religion at all. maybe, i'd be some sort of druid or something today, who knows really?
how much do i pay attention to "visions" in my own life? do i truly hear the small voice and do i act on it? how does that affect my own life and the life of this no longer toddling church?
maybe our little choices really do echo out over millenia. this decision certainly looks like it was more than just a restless night's sleep.

One

h/t to Solar Crash




i realize i put up my share of U2 vids here ... but this one actually features Mary J Blige and quite frankly the woman just blew me out of the water with her performance here. i've never been much of a fan of her work but this may cause me to take another listen.
i was home with a cold today and this brought a bit of light to a pounding skull. enjoy.

hilarious

h/t to tyler stanton

my Dad would lead the standing O

my Dad plays the accordian. yes, it's true. suddenly scores of you say to yourself, "so THAT'S why ..." when you think of the weird crap that you seem to find on this blog.
this kid completely kills on this thing and i could just see my dad's eyes getting saucer big as he watches.





h/t to randall friesen

150 posts in, not bad eh?

i think that's pretty good. in case you do some quick math as you note the archives you'll only see 148 posts listed but just know that there's 2 posts that have remained drafts because ... they're not for public consumption. sometimes i just talk to myself, to God, or to a particular person who isn't you. i'm still counting those posts and this is 150.

here's some stuff that's going on for me.

- i've caught a cold. this is brutal awful. i can't afford to be sick and Wendy can't afford to live with a sick person amidst all the other stuff of life that has to work around. i'm drinking tea, taking all sorts of vitamins in an attempt to quell the tide heading my way.
- Wendy will be taking a jaunt to visit her sister. this has been an awful year for Wendy and we haven't known if she'd be able to take ANY holiday time given her health needs. her sister brings joy to her life and i'm very pleased that she can get that although i'm always miserable when Wendy's away.
- i didn't sleep well a couple nights ago but it was because of some other exciting stuff going on for me
- i've applied to work a different job in the same division where i'm working. it's a lateral move but it also gets me more exposure to other facets of the same division. it can be an emotional risk because much of my emotional makeup can get wrapped up in how happy am i with the work that i'm doing.
- playoff football assignments have come out. if you're a long time reader you may recall my ordeal with my first Referee assignment, it was brutal. well, i guess i improved a lot because i was assigned 3 playoff Referee games including the Rural Manitoba High School Final and i'm under the distinct impression that i'll also get to be on the field for another High School Final (which i've never been priviledged to do).

blessings on your journey my cyber friends and fellow children as we stumble heavenward.

what's out there?

what a great idea! i've been following this blog for a bit now and i just loved this idea. i don't know if i have the jam to do something like this but i still love the idea.

last what's out there? i found some pretty cool stuff and this blog lands right up there with some of the best that i found last time.

and here's another one.

its really hard to do religious comedy, particularly if it doesn't cross the "line". actually, this particular blog first turned me on to MrDeity.com. i've just started to watch and i've now decided that i'm going to watch more. you can follow a link at the bottom to watch a couple seasons worth of MrDeity.

another fun one called fun theory brought to us through the holy heteroclete.

is it ok to laugh at this?

related to my world hunger and fasting posts last week i link you to a quiz put forward by Compassion International. best i can tell Compassion is a quality international organization.

i need squiggly lines. this is a fantastic analogy by one guy who's been speaking to me on many topics of late.

God listens to drunk prayers. Steve Bell points to a story told by Tim Huff. there's a song to download and plenty of pensive moments. great story.

Kester Brewin blows me away sometimes. most recently he visited the US and had some really poignant thoughts about their society. he put out a 3 part post on Laws and Packaging. seriously, every American should go read this. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

Operation Christmas Child

my dear wife's parents are REALLY involved with Operation Christmas Child here in Canada and in case they ever come to my blog i just thought they'd get a real kick out this video.
i'm proud of the work you do Mom and Dad.

h/t to St. Aidan to Abbey Manor

i blame Luther

Luther really opened up a can (make that a Diet) of worms when he nailed up 95 Theses on a Wittenburg door. the religious climate was pretty cold where no-one outside of the priesthood could really understand the goings-on during mass and salvation was sold to you if you could pay. i gotta admit that he definitely brought Christendom back into the eyes of the common man, using the language of the common man but he also started us on a path that caused some "issues" for guys like me. the concept of sola scriptura brought scripture into the vernacular and eventually brought many versions and translations of the scriptures on to my desk, but it also put the church on a path where Christian life became all about "rules for how do i live better?" instead of "concentrate on the relational with God". we as the church worried a lot about what the rules for living were and less about asking ourselves how to find God amidst our living. we became more teaching focused since we needed to learn from the beginning and we became less focused on relational worship.
from Luther we went to other various reformers and we in turn concentrated on the scriptures in the hands of the regular man. we ran away from tradition and ritual, but it's not like that's a bad thing ... completely. from the reformers we begin to see groups like the Puritans who in turn focused more and more on the concept of piety and holiness. in other words the list of rules for living better became a full fledged movement. holiness is not a bad concept at all except that in our thirst to learn to live better we did away with tradition and the relational nature with God. we kept God at arms length because we hadn't figured out how to be holy according to our rules and since God is by definition holy then we would always have to keep relationship with God at arms length.
i'm a product of my own background. my family has a Puritanical bent. the Evangelical movement is much about teaching on how to live life better and less about relationship with the mysterious. it is more about do as i say and hierarchy than it is about vertical relationship and ritual than i want it to be. it has more to do with following the rules than it has to do with letting the church's tradition speak to you from beyond millenia.
consequently, i struggle with the rules that churches tell me i must follow in order to be a believer. i struggle that i don't see enough freedom in my daily walk with God. i want to have a connection to the ancient, to the traditions and rituals that come directly from Christ. that's how i want to find value in my walk with God. i want more reliance on liturgy than i want reliance on teaching from the pastor. i want a connection to God through ritual, through symbol and i want that ritual and symbol to come to me from the 1st century. i want my worship service to be balanced between the centrality of the Eucharist and some teaching from the scriptures. i want singing of spiritual songs and i want to hear from the Word, scriptures handed down through the centuries to draw us closer to God.
i read a blog post recently talking about the importance of liturgy and it pushed me a tiny bit in the direction of this post. i want to hear and rely on the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed more, not because i want to put the Creeds on a pedastal but rather because i think they point me to God a bit. we've been discussing what place the Eucharist has in our church services during our Adult Teaching time prior to worship over the last month or so and a common theme that came out to me was how the Reformation changed the balance of the worship service so that we relied more on teaching (since the common man needed more teaching) and less on the ritual found in the Eucharist. i think that many churches are still there. we've gotten away from the mystery of faith and have boiled it down to a list of how to live. i've got to think that when i think of worship now i have less and less interest in teaching and more and more interest in the mystery.
so you see, Luther you really opened up a can. some of the stuff you brought out has helped multiple millions move toward faith but also it has moved us away from some ancient connections to Christ as we moved away from the mysteries of the faith. i'm getting more and more joy out of ritual, out of the mystery in my walk with God. i've decided to keep the teaching part in my own walk too but i still want a better connection with ritual and the ancient. that's just how i feel and yes, i kinda blame Luther.

a letter to a 16 yr old me

Ian,

i won't ask how it's going because i already know. you're doing fine by the way, be encouraged. i'm writing you from just over 25 years in your future because i need to smooth over some stuff for both our sakes.
first of all, relax. you'll be in love, you'll get married, you'll actually get to have sex some day and you'll be very happy with the mate you choose. Jesus won't return before you get a chance to have all those experiences. don't do anything rash, just chill. sex is overrated anyway. don't get me wrong it's great and you really enjoy it but it's not worth the wishing effort that you waste on it. it's just better to relax and let your friendships support you better. i get it that you're just 16, and it seems like forever til you'll get to the place that you'll "do it" but ... you will do it and you'll be fine.
the world isn't going to explode over these 25 years ahead of you, in fact the Berlin Wall will come down and you'll even get to see and touch it before it does. i know, that was pretty cool. by the way, when you're in Berlin you'll see a Lambourghini and actually take a picture of it, don't misplace that picture, because your friends won't believe you when you tell the story. you'll worry a lot less about the arms race in time and the Soviets end up losing power so that there's a lot less "us and them" talk globally. you even end up marrying a girl whose dad was born in the Ukraine. that's cool.
you'll fret over what you're going to do with your life but don't worry too much about that either, like i said, you'll be fine. you'll help people and you yourself get helped. you'll own a house, you'll be involved in life events that give you life, you'll be a part of a church community that reaches you in depths that you don't think you have. you'll bless people and they will bless you. your vocation will fulfill you and you'll love your life. get used to riding your bike because you'll truly LOVE that you're commuting to work by bike while staying not nearly as svelt as you are right now.
by the way, you cannot just continue to eat whatever and whenever you like. your preference for Oh Henry bars and Pepsi gets your waistline into predicaments that you're still trying to get out of. ease up a little will ya?
people really do like you. everywhere you go, you find friends. try to be more friendly. i know you get absorbed in your own stuff but you really should pay more attention to other folks. contrary to popular belief it's not all about you. people hurt and you can help. don't be afraid to reach out and you'll see that your friendships deepen.
listen for God's voice and actually do what you know you need to do. i have a scar right between my eyes that i wouldn't have if i actually listened to what i knew God was telling me to do. i got into an accident doing temp work at a factory and i came within a centimeter of losing an eye. to this day i think of that when i look at my own mug in the mirror. listen to me, i've been to places that you haven't been to yet.
learn to pray. much of your thought life is prayer so learn to think on the right things. talk to God about the friends around you, they're just as confused about how to live as you are.
Grant and Paul - these are your significant friendships right now. you still stay in touch and Paul will stand up beside you at your wedding (you'll be in his too). your friendships could be a lot deeper now than they should be so you really should try to go deeper now so that they last later. i haven't seen either guy in like 15 years although i do get the occasional email from Grant (you'll find out what email is later).
Sarah - she really digs you, but you know that already. you're probably thinking that she's really annoying right now, and she probably is, but she'll need you in a couple years. incidentally she'll play the lead in a Senior play at her high school and she'll rock the world with it so she won't always be this annoying. she'll have a spiritual struggle of immense magnitude and she'll be asking some serious questions of you. be there for her long before that conversation and you could probably lessen the pain of her struggle. she may not throw all spirituality away which is what i last heard that she had decided to do.
Sandra - she digs you too (don't be a dog about it). i'm actually a bit proud of you here, you really help her on her journey of faith. keep it up and keep helping folks like that.
your family - your parents just celebrated their 50th anniversary last summer and they're still very happy together spending your inheritance. listen to your sister more, she needs you and she loves you very much. give your elder brother a kick in the pants because he needs it too. your eldest brother has already moved out and he'll have an interesting journey too but everyone will be fine.
music - i love music today probably because i paid so much attention to it when i was you. listen to the radio more, you can easily sort out the good music from the stuff that brings nothing to the table. sing more. play more. don't regret the conflict that you had over choosing between music and french class, you made the right call. you'll study a bit of theory and you'll learn a new instrument over the next couple decades. you'll even play a song on the guitar with all your siblings and their spouses at your parents 50th anniversary. your father will be astounded because he won't see it coming.

when you see a pretty blond smiling at you in college, you're about to enter a world of hurt so be careful. in some ways it shapes you and in other ways it busts you up for the next half decade. i don't know how to advise you on that one because if you run away from that then you'd probably be a different man than the one that i know today.
i like you Ian, i really do ... and i'm not alone in that. bless those around you, keep praying, and just chillax a little. you'll be fine.

Love,

you

ok, so fasting is HARD

16 "When you fast, don't put on a sad face like the hypocrites. They make their faces look sad to show people they are fasting. I tell you the truth, those hypocrites already have their full reward. 17 So when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face. 18 Then people will not know that you are fasting, but your Father, whom you cannot see, will see you. Your Father sees what is done in secret, and he will reward you.

today is World Hunger Day and i blogged a tiny bit about it yesterday. i want to risk losing all spiritual reward for my exploits today so that i could also hopefully impart a little of the struggle.
i've been fasting today. i decided that i'd eat breakfast and i'll wait until after the worship service tonight before i'll eat again but ... it's freakishly hard. i've fasted before and i don't remember it being more than a blip of a struggle but this time? it's different.
i cannot get past how much of a wuss i'm being as i also regularly have thought of over 900 million people in this world who live through this sort of thing out of necessity and not by choice. i've been picturing fathers in Africa who choose not to eat so that their child can have a meager meal. i picture mothers in Asia who may only have access to a tiny bit of rice to feed their entire family for the next week. i think of folks in China who have to consider that the egg that i could have for any normal breakfast would be a treat that they may not come across again for a calendar year.
and i sit at my desk at work and my stomach growls and i moan inwardly about why i can't go have a cup of coffee to start my day. i'm a complete wuss.

my life is beyond phenomenal when i put on my global specs. 2/3rds of the world would walk for miles on broken glass just to have the chance to join even the lowest tier of my economic society and i complain about a stomach gurgle.

Abba, open my eyes to change. open the doors of our rich societies so that more might be able to escape poverty, oppression and hunger and find a life that they deserve. help those of us born with a silver spoon to realize that there are many many more without a spoon whatsoever.

and Ian? don't be such a wuss either.

Fast for Change

World Food Day is tomorrow and Canadian Food Grains Bank is heading up an initiative to try and get Canadians involved in Fasting for change and raising the profile of 900 million people worldwide who are chronically malnourished.

go check out Fast for Change to get more info. there will be a worship service tomorrow here in Winnipeg that i will be at. if you want to attend then you'll just need to show up at St. Mathew's Maryland Church at the corner of St. Mathew's and Maryland Streets at 6 pm tomorrow evening. there are also several other events planned at the church throughout the day.

whether or not you actually fast is up to you and what you think you're able to do according to your health needs. let's try and bring about some change though.


in closing i want to add this link where i found this quote:

When I feed the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why so many people are poor they call me a communist.
- Dom Helder Câmara, late archbishop of the Brazilian diocese of Olinda and Recife. Oct. 13 was the anniversary of his death.

when God ran

i saw him run to me, hold me in his arms, held my head to his chest and said my son's come home again.
he looked at my face, wiped the tears from my eyes and with forgiveness in his voice i felt his love for me again.
he ran to me.
when God ran.

(that's the chorus of an old Benny Hester tune)




the concept of God running to me as i return to where i belong has always brought joy to me. God runs to us, that's how much He wants us back and welcomes us back.

h/t to Nullus Extra Cruem

what's out there?

i wish i wrote this blog. it pokes fun at everything about Christianity and we have WAYYYY too many sacred cows. i guess maybe i like irreverence without heresy, in other words ... take yourself less seriously.

here's another one for you. i love it when we can discuss something intelligently and have a little fun with it.

and another one.

this blog has been throwing down simple statements for a couple weeks now and i've just been enjoying most of them. one of the statements made me laugh out loud and i like to laugh.

i loved this and look for a post for my version of this sort of thing as soon as i can write something up that i like.

this post was like watching a trainwreck, you didn't want to see it but you just couldn't look away.

my buddy Andrew

i mentioned Andrew briefly in my last post but i haven't ever gone too indepth about him here. he's the closest thing to a brother that i have in my church community and i'd run through a wall to help him if i could. we've been in the same seed group together for ... 8 years i guess, and that's a significant thing because we change our seed groups every 2 years or so in our community. we've gone through some struggles and we've been alongside when the other has needed something. he's a strong man of God that i love and respect more than i probably tell him.
we came to Winnipeg and we joined our community where we have happily remained for 12 years now. i didn't find Andrew as a close friend at the time, instead i latched onto some fatherly types that helped me grow a lot before i began to "come into my own" as it were at Grain of Wheat.
since we began to spend a lot more time together and shared our struggles more then he has been a tremendous resource for me and an example of someone who wants to reach out to God and find Him. his daughters are dear to me, his wife is a dear friend who encourages me and helps me along the path.

my family is not present with me here (outside of my dear wife of course) in this tundra-land but i have a brother who checks in and shares his struggle as i share mine. we're planning a brisk game of Settlers of Catan for Saturday eve this weekend. i love Settlers and i can never seem to beat Andrew at it.

Andrew introduced us to an appreciation of Cat Stevens (you may know him now as Yusuf Islam). if we ever owned a cat we'd probably call him Stevens because of a running joke that we have between our families.

and with that statement i give you Cat Stevens, courtesy of Andrew.

breathe deep

hat tip to my buddy Andrew who tipped me off to this tune oh those many years ago. i love you my brother.

peace be still

It had been a monstrously busy day and we had seen so many things. You had a struggle with the Pharisees and your own family hadn't even understood what you were called to be doing (not that any of us understood that anyway). You healed all kinds of sick and you told a whole bunch of stories about the Kingdom of God (whatever that is) and as the day came near to ending the people still pressed you for more. Finally you said, "Let's go to the other side of the lake" and we could see the exhaustion in your eyes. The fishermen among us knew their way around a boat much more than I did so I tried to stay out of the way and soon we were under sail and underway. One of the problems was that we left in a hurry though. We had to hope we could land in some little cove on the other side so that we could go into a town and get some food, we didn't bring anything.
The lake (why do some call this a Sea anyway?) was really quiet and the sunset followed by starry skies was a beautiful thing to behold. You were so tired that you fell asleep in the stern while we sat together and spoke softly of all the things we had seen lately. The idyllic scene was not to remain though. Pretty soon a wild wind swooped down upon us and we were soon engulfed in a cyclonic storm that heaved the sea around like we were in the middle of an earthquake. The waves lashed up and over the sides of the boat so that it was already filling. I'm no good trying to help with sails so I tried to bail water out with my hands but it was coming in in buckets while I threw out handfuls.

and you slept.

Our world crashed around us and you were sleeping. I was beyond frightened, I don't belong on the water to begin with, I can barely swim ... and you slept. I was the first to say, "Wake Him up" but Simon didn't seem as scared as me and James looked only a bit worried. John came along beside me to try and calm me a little, but it didn't help. Then Andrew lost complete control of the sail and I must've gone straight white as a sheet (which is a considerable thing because I have a great tan). I could tell they loved Him and they didn't want to wake Him, but I was panicking and that spreads through a small group faster than a great secret.
We forgot who He was. We forgot what we had seen not only that day but also for the many days preceding it. Instead we rushed to wake the Lord of all things, the waker, the giver, the calmer.
Don't you care? Can't you see my world falling from around my ears? Do you see this wind and those waves? I'm dying here and you don't seem to care or to notice.

You said, "Why are you afraid Ian? Do you not realize who I am? Is the Lord of all things swamped by your petty battles and disagreements? Where is your faith? What have you seen and what do you believe you will continue to see?"

Peace be still and it was.

What kind of man am I following? He takes my apprehension, my anxiety, my fear and He brings the light of comprehension to it. This isn't just any man like the rest in this boat are and I wonder if I'm the one who has been asleep this entire time.

Lead on my Christ. I'm awake and I'll try to pay attention.

Happy Anniversary to me!

i actually don't know what i want to do with this idea. technically i passed my 2nd anniversary of this blog on Sep 30, but it's not the same either. originally this was strictly a fantasy hockey blog and i blogged about hockey for several months before getting noticed by a hockey website. i moved the fantasy hockey thing over to hockeyanalysis.com and i kept the name, because i liked the name. after a while i decided i had more to say so i resurrected this blog so that i could delve into other issues.

occasionally someone from the hockey history happens across this blog. in fact if you did a google search for shallowfrozenwater you'd see some hockey stuff right up front and you'd be chanelled over here if you clicked on it. i figure that someone might just be a bit surprised at the subject matter if they came here ever since i decided to speak up on more subjects than just hockey.

if you're here for hockey ... you'll still be able to see some of that, but mostly i have a higher mindset on most days around here. you're welcome to browse all you want though. you might just find more about me here than you would over at my hockey blog anyway. if you don't want to browse then be blessed on your journey anyway, and there's a link to my hockey blog over on the right there.

Happy Avinursary. what? that's how i say it.

flags of the world

this flag showed up on my LiveTraffic Feed and i'm pretty good with flags, but i don't have a clue what this one is.

any wisdom for me out there?

my other religion is HOCKEY!

i'm the biggest hockey fan you know, seriously. except you Joel, you're the biggest hockey fan you know. if you read this then you may not know that i also write for 3 (count 'em, 3) sports websites; 2 for hockey and 1 for baseball. they all are on the topic of fantasy sports ... which some of you may think is too geeky a topic for you to delve into, even with a trained professional like myself. it's not though and there's plenty for you to learn in this area. if you're in a fantasy hockey pool (or a baseball pool during baseball season) then you can get some help with your team here or here for baseball (but i'm not the only guy writing on either site so you'd have to search a bit for my work). the best part of the deal is that you'd be dealing with me, which may be a curse or a blessing, you decide.

my Leafs lost in overtime to start off their season last night. i'm bummed about it but i'm extra bummed because they lost to the dreaded Montreal Canadiens after having a 3-2 lead in the 3rd. you see, i have 2 favourite hockey teams; the Toronto Maple Leafs and anyone playing the Montreal Canadiens. oh well.

why do i mention all of this? because it's a part of me and i'm jazzed up by the start of hockey season. it's not really a "spiritual discussion" and it's certainly a sport that focuses on violence too much but there's speed, beauty and grace in that game that many people just don't get. you may consider this a wart on my soul but in the end i'll just call it a beauty mark and move on.

invisiblemanitis

this was originally found here.

i actually heard a song on Christian radio that spoke something to me last week, it talked about pretending not to see the homeless guy on the street for the 21st time that day. this man (or woman, or child) is everywhere ... and we don't see him. i'm a welfare worker and i don't always see him. i'm looking for him but i don't really know what to do to help him. it's a complex issue.
is my response simply to be merciful? does that mean i should be emptying my pockets of change for him or should i walk with him to the shelter? maybe both? is that enough?
i'm not trying nor could i ever be the voice of God inside your head and my own confusion on the issue doesnt instill much confidence for what i'm supposed to do, but i want to be merciful.

i'm as willing as the "next" Christian to be friendly to the poor that comes across my path, but is that enough? some argue that showing respect for the man standing in front of you is all that person desires but what of the bigger picture? what of the traps and barriers in his life that keeps him in the same cycles?

i don't know, i just don't know.

open my eyes. help me see the Invisible man. you don't have to go to Calcutta or the pool of Siloam to find someone who needs you.
open your eyes and respect who you see, whatever that means to you then act on that.