BEHOLD!

Tis the season to see wholly falalala-lalalala :-)
Awareness trends at UCSB and globally.

*Behold= To direct the eyes to, or fix them upon, an object; to look; to see clearly; to comprehend.

*Awareness of= Knowledge of, understanding of, appreciation of, recognition of, attention to, perception of, consciousness of,  enlightenment with, realization of, familiarity with, mindfulness of.



At the beginning of Spring quarter I was organizing an event for the screening of Nefarious: Merchant of souls, a really awesome award-winning documentary on the global sex trade (check out the-> trailer <-). I had seen it over winter break and I really loved it. I saw on their facebook page that they were doing tours in California in Spring so I emailed them and found out that they were going in our area the 2nd week of April which was awesome since they could make it to UCSB on the 12th. So April 12th was actually a perfect date for the event since April is Sexual Assault Awareness month as I found out (we co-hosted the event with Men Against rape and the Human Rights Board).

I went to the Human rights board meeting and also to A.S. finance board meeting to request funding for the event and it was at those meetings that my eyes were opened to something that was happening on campus. It’s like all groups/clubs decided to take a day to spread awareness about an injustice, to expose myths or to correct misunderstandings about a particular issue or just for the sake of appreciation. And for many groups, one day wasn't enough, they picked a whole week in order to focus on the many different aspects of the issues they were exposing. For example, there was black culture week and 6x awareness whereby they focussed on the various issues affecting the black community at large; Rahel was putting on Health Disparities week to expose issues in healthcare faced by underserved populations; there was human rights week; middle eastern awareness week; a group of Jewish students (Santa Barbara Hillel I think) was having a week to celebrate passover and other aspects of their culture; and many other events by different groups.

So it looks like Spring is awareness season. Awareness of what? Millions of women and children are victims of sex trafficking (modern day slavery), thousands of black people are victims of racist, unjust laws, millions of people without access to healthcare, millions of children starving to death, billions of people suffering under corrupt governments, various forms of discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, culture, sex, age... the list goes on and on. Frustrating and depressing right? In short, it is awareness of how messed up this world is; familiarity with the breadth, depth and height of the mess. So I was thinking... spreading awareness is great but after all's been said (the world is messed up) what can be done? But first, there are different categories that we may fall under:

• Ignorant- a.Those that don't know what's going on in the world around them- we don't know everything so we find ourselves in this category all the time. "It is a myth that ignorance is a solvable problem. Ignorance is not a solvable problem; it is rather an inescapable part of human condition. We cannot comprehend the world in its entirety." (David Orr) b.Those that don't know and don't care to know or pretend that they know- This is a bad category to be in because like someone said, the only hindrance to truth is a presumption that you already have it. *To do: seek knowledge or be found by knowledge.
• Aware- People who have either sought out knowledge or it has been presented to them. So they know the problems. To do: Seek out solutions and act on them. “You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know.” (William Wilberforce)
• World-changers- Were ignorant, then they sought out or were found by knowledge (aware of problem), then sought out solution or were presented with solution, act on solution and make a change. Best category to be in =)

Time to Behold, Time to Know

So yeah, spreading awareness is really important since we cannot change what we do not see as a problem. So yeah we need to see, not just to see but to see clearly, to see wholly. 

“We need “wholesight,” a vision of the world in which mind and heart unite...Only as we can see whole can we and our world be whole.” (Palmer)

*We need wholesight/ unity which brings about true vision (seeing clearly) which results in true and lasting change.

The world is becoming more aware of the necessity of wholesight, for example, there's a big shift occuring in healthcare, as I found out through my underserved medicine class. Healthcare in the West is shifting from disease treatment to preserving wellness (looking at all aspects of life such as nutrition, exercise, etc).

What I loved about the Nefarious documentary is it's holistic approach to the problem (sex trafficking)- it didn't just look at the surface of the problem but it digs deep and exposes the roots ( It looks at how systemic issues such as: mafia, government involvement, economic hardships, cultural issues, family issues are fueled by spiritual issues such as lust and greed). It also takes a holistic approach at solving the problem. It shows how just educating people doesn't solve the problem, just giving money doesn't help either. If the roots of the issues (spiritual aspects) are ignored the problem will keep popping up, lasting change will not result. Exodus cry, the anti-trafficking organization headed by the director of the film, takes a comprehensive approach: political action, social action as well as spiritual action. (I have a copy of the movie if anyone wants to watch it :)
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Awareness of The Solution. Awareness of The "Real Jesus"

More than anything we need to become aware of the solution instead of just focussing on the problems. You really should watch the film for your self because I'm not doing it justice (I have a copy if you wanna borrow). If you've seen the trailer, at the very end Jesus is mentioned as the hope for change. Majority of the former sex trafficking victims even after years of counseling do not go back to living a normal life and the ones in the documentary share their story of how an encounter with Jesus changed their lives, an encounter with unconditional love. This is probably the part where you wanna tune out since I mentioned Jesus and you think you know him or you don't know and don't care, or you don't know but you think you do or you know him and are satisfied with what you know. Wherever you are in that spectrum, since he claims to be The hope for change, I think he deserves the time of day (or night lol). By the way this post is addressed to everyone, including Christians. It's "wake-up-and-open-your-eyes-wide" season for everyone :)

"Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle." (Psalm 24:8)

Jesus is the most misunderstood person in the world (among non-christians and also among many christians). That's why awareness needs to be spread about His real identity, His full identity as He has revealed Himself; who He really is, what He actually did, what He is doing now and what He is going to do in the near future. To know the real Jesus we need wholesight/unity which brings about true vision and results in true and lasting change. [I have more posts to share concerning this: Jesus and the Love and Justice combo and yes it is pertinent and urgent]

As we have established, the world is messed up. We are in over our heads and we need a Hero and His name is Jesus. He will not only save our souls but also make right this wrong wrong world we live in. He shall reign and He is coming soon! =)

(Click this link for the lyrics if you can't hear them)

"For to us a child is born, 

    to us a son is given, 

    and the government will be on his shoulders. 

And he will be called

    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 

    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Of the greatness of his government and peace 

    there will be no end. 

He will reign on David’s throne

    and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

    with justice and righteousness 

    from that time on and forever. 

The zeal of the Lord Almighty

    will accomplish this."

(Isaiah 9: 6-7)

So since Jesus claims to be The remedy if we want to see change then let's seek Jesus for ourselves, His love is what transforms us and equips us to change the world. (A dance we did at InterVarsity's dance off after common ground lol)

“Everybody wants to change the world. Nobody wants to change themselves.” ~ Leo Tolstoy.

*Let's change the world (the world is made up of you and me), let's start with the man in the mirror =) (A dance we did in 2010 at the city clean up kick off)

"Lift up your heads, you gates;

    lift them up, you ancient doors,

    that the King of glory may come in.

Who is he, this King of glory?

    The Lord Almighty —

    he is the King of glory."

(Psalm 24: 8-10)

K that's enough for one post lol. This was like an introduction, there's more stuff I wanna share so stay tuned! Feel free to share comments or questions :)

Things to Behold:

1. LOVE! (post: I Have a Father)
2. The King of Glory! (posts: King Like Mine, Quick Testimony: FREEDOM! and Pimp My Ride) 

3. A New thing! (posts: REAL Identity and Africa ARISE!)

4. One New Man! (posts: Be ONE and I Have A Dream)