'These Are a Few of My Favourite Things'

‘Rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens…these are a few of my favourite things.’ Lyrics from the beautiful ‘Sound of Music’ of course! This is Maria telling the Von Trap children to sing about their favourite things when they are sad, and that will cheer them up. And this is, all in all, a great philosophy. When we’re feeling down, it’s really important to think of things and do things that cheer us up. Last night I made a ‘den’ in my bedroom. I’m 22. But I curled up in my den drinking tea because, at that moment, I needed to do something to make myself feel better.

But I think there’s a problem that we all face, and that’s when we immerse ourselves so much in our ‘favourite things’ that we become apathetic and ignorant to the harsh reality of the world outside. Take, for example, a current trend on Facebook. I’ve seen some of my friends post images of baby animals or flowers to stop the negative saturation of images on social media. I absolutely see the good intention behind this, but I think it’s actually really dangerous. Yes, there is a lot of negativity in the world, but surely social media is a platform in which these sorts of things can be displayed? I’m not saying have a full blown debate on Facebook, it’s not the right medium for that, but what I am saying is that it’s not wrong, more so it’s important, that we post truths  of what are going on in the world on Facebook. How do you think most organisations do petitions nowadays? And how are we able to point out issues, and raise awareness if we don’t expose ourselves to the truth? I do appreciate there is a lot of rubbish out there, and by no means am I saying ‘believe everything you read on the internet.’ That would be ridiculous. What I am saying is that there are some great sites with extremely insightful articles and blogs on them. Most charities have a Facebook page now, and UNICEF, Tearfund, Christian Aid, to name a few, post important articles which we should not shy away from reading! Are they nice reading? Not always. Is Ebola nice for the 10,000 people who’ve been affected? For the mother who is now widowed, and due to country laws has no rights over any of her husband’s possessions? For the children who have lost their parents? For the teenage girls being married off because they can’t go back to school? No it’s not nice! It’s horrific! But the least we can do is be informed about these issues, which hopefully provokes action of some sort, be it prayer, financial giving, or even volunteering. If we don’t inform ourselves wisely, and exploit a medium which millions look at daily, how are we going to see people rise up to stop these injustices?!

Another example is the response to the Sainsbury’s advert using World War One. Perhaps I am a scrooge and a bore for posting an article expressing the dangers of this ad, but I believe if we don’t share the genuine concerns we have, the truth will not be heard. It’s a dangerous advert which uses a horrifying event to sell chocolate. It doesn’t pay due to the hell of the trenches and it is, I believe, wrong. Some people have disagreed with me, fine, but it’s important that if I feel strongly that this piece is dangerous, I share that! Surely that is more important than a photo of a puppy?!

There’s an old expression, ‘ignorance is bliss.’ Perhaps. But it’s dangerous. If we choose to be ignorant to the situations going on around the world, we are as guilty as the perpetrators. If we choose to be deaf to the cries of the 27 million girls sold into slavery, we are as bad as the traffickers. Note what I am talking about here is wilful ignorance. Some people don’t have access to the news and updates, and that’s different. But choosing to hide behind a picture of a kitten when women are being raped in Iraq and sold into the sex trade, that’s just wrong. Ignorance is no excuse for a crime committed in a court. One day we will face the ultimate judge, Jesus. We can’t plead ignorant when we have the resources to know at our fingertips.

We know this stuff is happening! It’s not like we’ve never heard, we know about Ebola, about trafficking, about ISIS, about malnutrition, about malaria, about so many other issues. So if we know, and yet then we choose ignorance, what does that make us?