Giving Thanks

Hello URLight Friends,

As we prepare in Canada for Thanksgiving this weekend, I am reflecting with much gratitude.

This year, for the second time in my life, my husband and I have participated in a CSA – Community Supported Agriculture. Simply put, earlier this spring we purchased shares in a farmers’ summer crop. Each week we’ve received a ‘surprise’ variety of freshly picked produce. We’ve met the farmers themselves and socialized with them every week as we’ve collected the harvest. And we’ve received an educational eNewsletter that has taught us so much – about wet seasons, dry seasons, how they protect crops from frost. It is – as we all know – a very courageous profession to be a ‘farmer’.

And so this year I am even more consciously aware of what ‘Thanksgiving’ is all about.

You may also be interested in this campaign being led by ONE.org, Founded by the Irish rock singer Bono of U2 fame. The flip side of ‘harvest’ is famine for far too many of our fellow humans. The Horn of Africa is currently – as you likely know – being hard hit. Famine is a political quandary as much as it is a biological balance. Please consider signing the petition at the bottom of this email.

And finally, I wish to thank you. Thank you for the incredible opportunity of learning and growing with you as I serve you – your dreams, your aspirations, and the alleviation of your challenges such that you can fully flourish.

May you and your loved ones enjoy a gracious Thanks Giving.

Remember … You Are Light!

Dear [Ariole],

I hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch ONE’s new video “The F Word: Famine is the Real Obscenity” and in doing so sign the petition….

Dear world leaders,

The famine in Somalia could kill 750,000 in the coming months, and tens of thousands have already died. When you meet at the Group of 20 (G-20) Summit in November, you have the opportunity to break the cycle of famine and ensure people are hungry no more. Lives are in your hands. Please keep the promises you have made to the 2 billion poor people who depend on farming for their livelihoods.

The reasons for the famine in the Horn of Africa are complex and solutions are difficult, especially in Somalia, but we can’t lose sight of some simple facts:

1. 30,000 children have died in just 3 months.  Thirty thousand.  With over 12 million people at risk.

2. Famine is not a natural catastrophe – drought doesn’t have to lead to famine.  It can be prevented, as we have seen in much of Kenya and Ethiopia.

In the 21st century, it’s an obscenity that people are dying because they can’t get enough food to eat.  Every one of those 30,000 children is part of a family – a son, a daughter, sister or brother.  We can’t imagine what it must be like to starve to death, but most of us know what it’s like to lose someone we love.

Please watch the film and make use of the voice you have — sign the petition.  It will make a difference in putting pressure on world leaders to do more to help those in need right now, and live up to promises already made to invest in the things proven to work – early warning systems…irrigation…drought resistant seeds… and of course, peace and security.

Thanks for reading.

Bono

* Image with gratitude to ONE.org