"It’s been ten years since my daughter first journeyed to Haiti. It changed her: the mountains, the banana groves, the soccer, the sunshine, the people. Eventually, it changed my family and me, for, in the wake of her passing, we were drawn to Haiti as well. We went to honor our girl, our grief, and the Haitians for whom she had so much affection, and yes, it changed us. I suppose it’s impossible to make such a trip and not have one’s perspective affected.
Crazy how one person influences another, isn’t it? How one year bleeds into the other, one life bleeds into the other. How interconnected we all are in time, in life, in love.
I was thinking about all this recently as I read a little about the first astronauts going to the moon in the late 60s. Apparently, they were caught off guard by the new perspective they gained around the idea of interconnection. Imagine being the first humans to turn around and see Earth from space.
David Beaver, co-founder of the Overview Institute, recalls comments from one of the astronauts: “When we originally went to the moon, our total focus was on the moon. We weren’t thinking about looking back at the Earth. But now that we’ve done it, that may well have been the most important reason we went.” They were focused on the moon but came back thinking about Earth.
Going to Haiti has been a little like that for me. Yes, I have gone to remember my kid, to do whatever I can to help this beautiful wreck of a country. But being involved with Haiti also helps me look back, to gain a sense of where I come from, to remember how important it is to honor people within my own circle, to slow down, look people in the eye in the US––beautiful wreck of a country that it is.
Haitians and Americans aren’t that different. We share the same world, water, air, and environment. The only thing we don’t share is the same economic possibilities, which is a travesty because these are our brothers and sisters. If we were on the moon looking back at earth, we would realize how enmeshed we all are, the Global North and Global South, the entire world. We’re deeply interconnected. We ignore this to Haiti’s peril. We ignore this to our peril.
I hope whatever is going on during this important season––a season where we remember the interconnectedness of humanity with both each other and the divine––that you consider getting involved with the “interconnectedness” of what's going on at lovehaiti.org. You might not take a trip like the one Quincy took ten years ago, but you could pray, subscribe, or give. I can tell you from first-hand experience that as you do, you’ll gain a deeper perspective, a new respect for life and love. And in the end, seriously, what else could any of us ask out of this journey we’re on?"
- Dr. Jonathan Foster (author, theologian, pastor, entrepreneur, and father)
