Today is a story of three ships. Not the Christmas carol, though that has a catchy tune, these three ships have very different passengers.
You see yourself as a shipwreck, but we see your treasure glowing inside, beneath the oceans in your eyes." - Curtis Tyrone Jones
Oblivious
Our first ship is called “Oblivious.” This ship is full of people who are indifferent to the needs of others. They don’t know because they don’t want to know. These are the people who stay mainly focused on themselves.
When other ships pass by the passengers of “Oblivious,” they barely notice. In fact, they don’t even look up from their mobile devices and wine glasses to see the shipwrecks that are to their right and their left. We will get to the shipwreck in a moment, but first, let me introduce you to our second ship.
Advocacy
Our second vessel is called “Advocacy.” This ship is full of laughter, meaningful conversations, and deep relationships. This vessel is heading in the right direction and having a fantastic time on the journey.
When we start to veer off course slightly, we collaborate and work together to the right the sails. We aren’t perfect, but we help each other have amazing adventures. Our view of the world is immense, and we are always on the lookout for ways we can make improvements.
In the distance, we see a shipwreck. At this point, we have some choices. We can pretend we don’t see it and continue on our merry way. We can quickly change course, steer clear, and head in the opposite direction, so we don’t have to see the wreckage, get wet, or even get involved.
We can convince ourselves that someone else will help hail their SOS, or we can move full steam ahead towards them, roll up our sleeves, and anchor them to safety.
As you can probably guess, we rush to give aid. I'll leave it to your preference and imagination whom we might encounter on this ship, but suffice it to say that these people are undoubtedly in need. I'd also like to welcome you to name this ship after people you are passionate about helping.
Maybe your heart’s desire is to help cancer survivors, or soldiers, or education, or the arts. Whatever you “name” your ship, take ownership of it, and support it whenever you can.
Hope
I call my ship “Haven’s Hope,” and she is a majestic vessel of hope and healing for little girls who have survived sex trafficking. This is a very unpopular and unpleasant conversation for most, but it is the one to which I have been called to.
Most people prefer to be oblivious and pretend it doesn’t happen here. They don’t want to believe that America is the world’s highest consumer of Child Abuse Sexual Material. The truth is, I don’t want to know either, but I also can’t ignore the fact of the matter nor what I've seen. The legacy I hope to leave behind is The Mission Haven.
Whatever you feel led to help, I encourage you to leverage your gifts, talents, and skills for the “castaways” to whom you feel called. This Holiday season, make your mark. Even the smallest gift lets the world know that you care.
An excellent resource for checking on how non-profits spend donations is Guidestar.
Here are a few of my favorite charities:
www.themissionhaven.org (obviously mine)
This holiday season, I hope you'll take a moment to help someone who has been ship-wrecked and help them put new life into their sails.
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