A Day of Service

by Lynn D

As we watch a new President being sworn in I am struck by his call for a Day of Service and a national call to service by all Americans to help move this country forward. Not just one day but to make it a part of our collective lives.

As you have read my posts on the blog these last few days you know that I have been trying to find help for the Alaska native villages who are in crisis right now. I don’t know why it has lit a fire under me as there are people struggling across America and the world. All I can say is that I heard this call for help and because I heard it I can’t just turn away. Even if I can only help in a small way, like spreading the word, sending a few dollars etc… It means I know and just can’t pretend I don’t. It means more to me that these are fellow American citizens who need my help.

Below are quotes that I read on an Alaskan blog that really has my brain in a whirl. The first one really shook me up. Why? I keep thinking is this the real attitude of America have we really reached the point that we can look at an area or region in our own country and say just let it die because economically they may night be as rich as the next area or region? Have we so displaced how we feel that we don’t want to see that people live here and have built lives here and oh well so sad to bad? Doesn’t letting it die imply that we should ignore the pleas for help and really let these people die? I just can’t fathom where this person is coming from. As bad as this post sounded to me the sad thing is I have read much worse on other blogs about this situation.

“If a place cannot sustain itself economically, it should be allowed to become extinct. Economic Darwinism has left ghost towns across the globe over the centuries and many of Alaska’s villages should be next.”

The post below was in response to the above post. This person is saying what I was thinking only in a more coherent manner.

“I’m not sure where you have been, but this crisis in the YD (Yukon Delta) is due to a perfect storm of poor fishing season, skyrocketing fuel prices when the villages needed to buy, and an early freeze. This is a case of people possibly dying- not whining for a hand out."

"And, if I understand your point, it’s ok if some YD (Yukon Delta) villagers die because they shouldn’t be there? And it was ok that people died in hurricane Katrina? Or the governor of Texas should not have sent assistance to storm victims? Or the governor of California should not have sent assistance to victims of the fires in California?”

In all of this I am beginning to realize for me that if we can’t help our fellow Americans and continually fight over policies and politics of any given situation then nothing gets done. How bleak is that?

So I am choosing not to let this keep me down .I just need to keep doing what I am doing in my small way one foot forward at a time and try not to ignore what is going on outside of my neighborhood or state or around our whole country. I may not be able to do anything grandiose but I can acknowledge that I see a problem and assess what if anything I can do. Sometimes it may just mean an extra prayer.

I am not perfect and really am uncomfortable when you tell me how wonderful I am when I do my volunteer work. I look at it as part of being in my community and I work no harder than anyone else at any job whether you make money or not that contributes to our society as a whole.

Can we move forward? Will it take all of us to make the difference? I think so, even if it is just acknowledging we see and hear you even if we don’t agree and taking the time to see the people and not just the problem.

Thank you for letting me get this off my brain and maybe I can now let it rest.

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