We have enough – Time to Give

In America, we’re in the midst of our gratitude feast.  There are so many things to treasure about this Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  As a culture we give thanks for all that we have, pause and focus on our blessings, and hold our loved ones particularly closely.  There is much to admire in the sentiments Thanksgiving celebrates.

On a larger scale, whatever our economic circumstance and with admittedly vast generalization, this weekend demonstrates that we have enough.  Enough to survive, really … enough to thrive.  Our feast meals and our bursts of economic activity demonstrate conclusively that we are unlikely to starve, or freeze, or drown trying to escape horror.

With the enough we have, we have a bit to spare.  Yes, we can dispense those “discretionary funds” for more of whatever we fancy.  Or -- we can send a bit of it to help those who, without our aid, might indeed starve, freeze, or drown.

The Agile Strategist would like to invite your attention to the Migrant Offshore Aid Station or MOAS. www.moas.eu  They are a private search and rescue organization, operating at sea, in the refugee / migrant sea lanes.  They believe, as I do, that no one deserves to drown at sea.  They save lives – rescuing our fellow human beings from foundering boats and rafts.  They work with authorities within their jurisdictions.  They also rescue out at sea far beyond where the coast guards can reach.

So, on this holiday weekend where we celebrate having enough, go to the MOAS website. Learn about them, tell your friends about them on social media, donate some money to them.  You and I have enough.   

Book of the Week – “Human Cargo”

The events of the past week have riveted the world – multiple terrorist murders, some of the world’s largest cities turned into battlegrounds and patrol zones, and debates – both serious and bombastic – about the refugees and migrants flowing to the developed world in massive numbers.  A bit of background reading, and a search for some perspective, is in order.  The Book of the Week recommendation for this quest is “Human Cargo” by Caroline Moorehead.

A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, this work was produced by Moorehead’s years of on-the-ground research in some of the world’s worst places, among some of humanity’s deepest sufferers. 

Fair warning: it’s a painful and emotional read.  But, perhaps more so than ever, it is a necessary one for we in the developed world.  The author serves to remind that the pain of the refugee is unremitting and the lives they seek are ones with a fundamental level of human dignity taken too often for granted in Western society.

The large numbers of refugees and migrants fleeing war and nature’s fury will continue to swell.  This problem is very likely to get worse, at untold human cost.  In the weeks ahead this blog will spotlight the efforts of the too-few heroes trying to help, and the too-many on the sidelines averting their eyes, or listening to foolish political prattle.  If you want to know more about this subject – and you should – read “Human Cargo”.