The Cause of My Life

I have written much about struggling to find my calling in this life. The people I admire and look up seemed to have discovered their passion much earlier than me. Meanwhile, my passions have shifted a multitude of times: environment, commuter/off-campus/nontraditional students, volunteer engagement and human services. 

I was beginning to become disillusioned and worried I would never come across a cause for my life. I have known for some time that I needed to focus my energy in an effort to avoid burnout. But again that question was, what? 

Then, in the course of a research assignment in grad school, I stumble upon the answer: The end of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. The stats are alarming: 30 million slaves worldwide, 200,000 slaves in the U.S., human trafficking estimated to be a $32 billion business annually. 

I want to end this. I want to dedicate my life to this cause. I want to venture to the ends of the earth to meet its demise. I want someone by my side who pushes and inspires me to bring this atrocity to an end. Now, all that is left to do is to get to work. 

Thanks for entering my world, 

-Nathan 

Shoulder Temptation

On every street corner is an opportunity to fall through the gutter. 

In the heart of the "City of God," human beings are sold of their innocence. 

They are objects not subjects. 

And we sit idly by and chalk it up to temptation; a burden for someone else to shoulder. 

No one comes to the rescue. 

God doesn't come down from his mount. 

He isn't offering his feet for ceremonial washings. 

Forgiveness falls with the weight of an old wooden cross. 

And we sit idly by and chalk it up to temptation; a burden for someone else to shoulder. 

On a nightly basis, the system fails. 

No empathy or sympathy on display for the girls of Rio. 

Those who care must rise up and offer to rescue one. 

The power to change the world is not ours. 

The power to change someone's world is. 

We can start by putting a shoulder into the temptation. 

Thanks for entering my world, 

-Nathan