One word changes the story, and one story can change the world
Ah summer. The sun is shining, the breeze is comfortably cool, and the Leafs are out—of the playoffs, that is.
By the time anyone reads this, the National Hockey League postseason will most likely be wrapped up, but for fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs, memories from the season's nightmarish end are still fresh.
After being up by a score of 4-1 with less than 12 minutes left in the third period, the Leafs went on to lose in overtime of Game 7 to division rivals, and eventual Eastern Conference Champions, the Boston Bruins. It was a collapse of epic proportions, the first of its kind in history, and one that shocked Leafs nation to its core.
Disappointing, yes. Unexpected? Hardly. Comes with the territory for fans of the Blue and White… and sadly, I'm one of them.
Being a Leafs fan is kind of like being a Christian. It takes commitment. It takes more patience than can be reasonably expected of any clear-thinking human being. And often, it's not a whole lot of fun. And, just when you think you're about to be rewarded for those many years and those many, many tears…sometimes it doesn't seem to get any better.
ChristianWeek has been covering faith and life in Canada for a lot of years, and in many cases, things don't really seem to be getting all that much better here, either. We are still facing the same issues we had 10 or even 20, years ago. Abortion is still a big issue. Euthanasia is quickly becoming an even bigger issue. And poverty doesn't appear to be going away any time soon…or does it?
As featured in one of our stories this month, there are less than 1,000 days left to cut worldwide poverty in half, in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals established by world leaders in 2000. Needless to say, we've still got a long way to go, especially among nations in the West.
But as it turns out, the news isn't all bad. In fact, things are actually getting a lot better in some places, but not the ones you might expect. Countries like Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia and Rwanda—typically among the most desperate—are actually getting better.
With one word, the story changes.
It would be easy to assume things aren't getting any better anywhere, and that our goals aren't worth pursuing anymore, which is what you might believe from mainstream news coverage—if there is any. But things are getting better, and suddenly the message goes from "pointless" to "possible." And all it takes to change that message is your involvement—now that's worth getting excited about.
We have moments at ChristianWeek where we're hard pressed to find any signs of improvement. Just like cheering for the Maple Leafs. But we've actually made some big strides in the last year, and now we're at a point where we really need your help. Your involvement—every donation, Facebook share, or even good, old-fashioned, word-of-mouth recommendations—makes what we do more attainable. And that's pretty exciting.
We need you. If you love our stories, and believe that the message we share is important, please consider how you can give, and how you can be involved.
One word can change the world, and it's your support that makes sharing that one word—and all those that follow—possible.
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