"Millennium Development Goal #4 Reduce Child Mortality" -- by John G. Miers

"Thus says the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more." -Jeremiah 31:15

Rachel is weeping. I would be, too. There is a special bond between a parent and child. This also extends beyond parents, however. It includes grandparents, too. It also goes to Godparents, Aunts and Uncles, and then to Cousins and just regular friends. People see potential and hope in these children, (whatever their relationship may be). People see the future. Each child is seen uniquely and separately, a gift from God, and treasure to be cherished and prized. Each is special.

Several weeks ago, I went to a local hospital, to visit the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, known as “the PICU.” There were many sick kids there, some very ill. There were family members there trying to soothe each other, trying to be there for each other, trying to be there for the sick child. There were subdued voices and frightened faces. There was not much weeping; there was a lot of hope. People were there hoping for healing, expecting healing, assuming that healing would come and come soon. The doctors and nurses and technicians were all bustling around. But there was hope. Always.

This was here in the US. But what about “over there?” What about places where there is not so much technology as we have here? There are places where supplies are short or non-existent. Stethoscopes, maybe; monitors, no way. But there are children there who are sick, many of whom are quite sick, and have been sick for a long time. Each is special, and each is prized. But is there hope? Sometimes. How can we ensure that “sometimes” will increase to “most of the time,” and that “most of the time” will increase to “always?”

This is the key to having MDG #4 – to “Reduce Child Mortality.” This is a goal that everyone can identify with. People see sick children everywhere, and we must remind them that things are more drastic “over there.” In order to “Reduce Child Mortality,” it has to be done there, too. It is harder to do it there, for several reasons. First, more children are sick, and there are fewer resources to care for them expertly.

This is where this MDG comes in. Through various arms and agencies, it encourages and allows us all to help. Those of us “over here” are encouraged to help those who are “over there.” Funds and resources are needed. We can donate time, resources, and funds, the ‘Time, Talent, and Treasure’ about which we have learned. We have so much “over here” that it is obvious where it is needed – and needed desperately. How can we ensure that Child Mortality will be reduced? How can we ensure that Rachel will weep less? Find an agency with international ties. Find a foreign hospital. Support them, and help Rachel stop weeping.

John Miers is from Bethesda, Maryland, where he was employed at the National Institutes of Health from 1968 to 2005. He serves on the board of St. Luke’s House, a halfway house for persons recovering from mental illness and also serves as Jubilee Officer for the Diocese of Washington. He was a member of National Commission on Science, Technology and Faith for the Episcopal Church and is active in his local church, where he is in the choir, worship committee, pastoral care committee, and the prayer team, and he also visits patients in a local hospital on behalf of the Chaplain.

"I'm an optimist" -- by John G. Miers

I’m an optimist.

I have always believed that you must look at the positive side of every situation. There are many reasons for this, from preserving your own mental health to keeping yourself from being overwhelmed and run over. Make no mistake, it is important to see all the sides of a question, but focusing strictly on the down or negative side will make you both frustrated and notorious!

I remember starting a workshop one day by placing a 16 ounce soda bottle in front of me; it had 8 ounces of soda in it. I asked for a show of hands as to who thought it was half-empty or and who thought that it was half-filled. The class was fairly evenly divided in their responses! I then gave a workshop on diversity and on looking for the best in just what you are presented with. Then I asked the question again. This time, the results were significantly different: almost every student saw the bottle as half-full. This happens again and again, in every workshop that I lead! Try it yourself.

I remember when I was in college, when everybody who was anybody was a Greek – a member of a fraternity or sorority, known by the two or three Greek letters of its name. I became known not only by the three letters of my fraternity, but also as a GDO – A “God-Damned Optimist.”

The value of optimism. There is terrific value in optimism! Its potential is amazing. You will find that you are constantly looking for many do-able small solutions, instead of struggling for the one big one. This is so much easier, and self-fulfilling. Each small victory gives you the will and enthusiasm to go one more step. One of my favorite quotes in this area is from Martin Luther King, Jr., who said “Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the first step.”

When you have a problem facing you, keep your eye on the horizon. This allows you to see exactly what is out there to deal with; it allows you to see all the stones that are there, realizing that “the solution” is lurking under one of them. While you see the problems, you also see where the solution is lying! Sure, when you move forward, the horizon moves back, and you see more stones, but you also see more opportunities to find “the solution.” This says to look and consider before you move forward.

One of my favorite phrases about being an optimist is that while you may see items that are unrealistic, you can always “Compromise Backwards to Reality.”

"Writing this blog" -- by John G. Miers

I’m a busy person.

Please don’t take that the wrong way; I don’t want to boast. Most of us are busy and overcommitted. We tend to take on lots of things both because we have big imaginations or wide vistas, and, frankly, it is easier to say “yes” than it is to say “no” when asked for “just one more thing.”

Sometimes people have asked me what I will be doing this week, and then I say “it is time to write the monthly blog” and we are both surprised. These people then ask me “how can you spend the time to write this blog? You have so many other things to do.” I had to stop and think just how to answer that question. The fact that it happens more than once a month tells me that it is important.

Writing the blog makes me stop and think.

I have been writing these blogs about the various Millennium Development Goals. Talk about big topics and wide-ranging issues! Things about them are often overwhelming; writing on these issues will make me think “big picture” and “over there.”

The way that I work and think, I have to break these issues down into smaller parts, pieces that I can put my arms around and consider. I have to start with this issue as I see it here in Bethesda, Maryland, and then expand it. I need to broaden my thinking about these issues not just to our town, but to our county, or to our state, then to our region, and then even to the entire US - and then I have to keep going beyond our boundaries. I think about a problem as I see it in our parish, our diocese, our Province, and in the entire Episcopal church, and then beyond.

One of the secrets in getting things done is to get other people busy, too. Hopefully on what they consider the “right things.” Convincing them of this is sometimes my first task, and may be the hardest. My perception of local problems has changed – a lot. I now see things as they are, usually a subset of a larger problem or crisis. But you know, looking at things in this manner makes my local problems seem easier to handle. I bet it will for you, too.

I recently wrote a meditation entitled “I Pray on Escalators.” These little pauses in my life are wonderful to try to figure out what is going on – or not – and to ask God to help me understand just what is important – or not. I ask Him to help me stop and think.

He always does.

John Miers is from Bethesda, Maryland, where he was employed at the National Institutes of Health from 1968 to 2005. He serves on the board of St. Luke’s House, a halfway house for persons recovering from mental illness and also serves as Jubilee Officer for the Diocese of Washington. He was a member of National Commission on Science, Technology and Faith for the Episcopal Church and is active in his local church, where he is in the choir, worship committee, pastoral care committee, and the prayer team, and he also visits patients in a local hospital on behalf of the Chaplain.

"Millennium Development Goal #8 Create a Global Partnership for Development" -- by John Miers

"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, 
will draw all people to myself." 
- John 12:32
"An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics," observed Plutarch, the 1st-century Greek historian. This was nearly 2000 years ago. Some attribute this quote to Plato, who also lived in that era.

It is very interesting how it is still true today; it applies to all imbalances – near and far, rich and poor, east and west, and over here and over there. Our planet is truly an “eco-sphere,” where the actions of one group will have ramifications upon many others. These ramifications may be immediate or widespread, or they may not occur for decades or may be tightly focused. Many are not predictable. It is important to look at any and all of our actions in the light of what they may cause – or not cause – elsewhere. This is not normally done; it requires a new way of thinking for most people. This goal realizes this, and calls on us to all work together.

Last month I wrote about the MDG goal #7, which is “Ensure Environmental Sustainability.” That goal is a perfect example of how we need to partner with each other, and how we as Christians need to look beyond our borders, and do what is right – for everyone. We are all inter-connected, in many minor yet powerful ways. With our world changing quickly, this inter-connected-ness can do nothing except tighten up. We are indeed going to be all together in the future.

I was struck by the book entitled “Six Degrees of Separation,” in which it is theorized that any person on the Earth can be linked to any other person through no more than six others. Each person has many acquaintances, and each of them knows many others, etc. There was also a video on TV (and downloadable) where multiple randomly selected people around the world were asked to get a package to a doctor in Boston. It shows how this occurs from the South Pacific, from Africa, from South America, from Europe. Sure enough, most make it to Boston on no more than six exchanges. It is explained that we all have multiple circles of acquaintances, and our acquaintances all have circles of their own. The way to really move a message – or a concern – is to move from one of these circles completely to another. This science is now known as “networking.”

It is powerful to get the same message from different directions, and it lends credence to the opinion. It also gets distributed much more broadly, and faster. All of these desirable qualities are enhanced by this networking. Today’s blog is about MDG #8, which is to “Create a Global Partnership for Development.” Having these Global Partnerships are doubly important: first, these partnerships ensure that multiple viewpoints and needs are considered when decisions are made. Some of them may not be immediately obvious, but they are none-the-less important. Secondly, the partnership will also ensure that the decision will be carried wherever it is needed and necessary. This networking will not only gather the information about the various needs, but it will get the answers to where they are most needed.

Having this done through a partnership and not just some hierarchical system will also help ensure that the right decisions are made and properly implemented. This is truly and example of where more is better: The more eyes that have considered a problem or goal, particularly ones as important as the MDGs, the higher will be the probability that the goal will be met or that the problem will be solved. The more partnerships and people who are involved will ensure that the maximum number of issues will be considered, from the maximum number of perspectives.

Creating this “Global Partnership for Development” goal was a very wise decision. While the other issue-specific goals are important, the fact that this process-specific goal is the final one implies that the others all need to be implemented, and it was clearly believed that a global partnership was the way to do it the most effectively.

This is the way that we reach out to one another, working together in sharing what has been given to each of us. Networking will allow many voices to be focused on these issues. Working together will allow us all to work on these problems. It also says in the book of Matthew that “What you have done unto the least of them, you have done to me.” We can solve these problems.

John Miers is from Bethesda, Maryland, where he was employed at the National Institutes of Health from 1968 to 2005. He serves on the board of St. Luke’s House, a halfway house for persons recovering from mental illness and also serves as Jubilee Officer for the Diocese of Washington. He was a member of National Commission on Science, Technology and Faith for the Episcopal Church and is active in his local church, where he is in the choir, worship committee, pastoral care committee, and the prayer team, and he also visits patients in a local hospital on behalf of the Chaplain.

"MDG #7 - Ensure Environmental Sustainability" -- by John Miers

"After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished,
he said (in order to fulfill the scripture),
'I thirst.'"
John 19:28

Many people are thirsty. Much of our environment is in trouble. Our planet is suffering. What should people do? What should nations do? What should Christians do?

Like the old song reminds us: “Problems, we’ve got problems; we’ve got stacks and stacks of problems…..”

Well, the world has problems, too. Big problems. These problems are bigger than one geographic area – bigger than a city. Larger than a county, state, or even a multi-state area. These problems affect our entire country, our continent, even the whole wide world. What kind of problems? Well, it’s getting warmer, our ice is melting, it is harder to grow stuff, more expensive to move stuff, and the wells are going dry, just to name a few concerns.

This set of problems is like a big mobile, like the one I hang over my patio every spring. It is wide, and has many arms, all delicately balanced, awaiting the slightest breeze. When the breeze comes, and it always does, the mobile swerves, dances, and swings around, always in harmony. But go ahead and pull on one of these arms, and something happens: Almost everything moves, somehow. Yes, it may be possible to affect only one other arm, but that’s very hard to do. Pull on one, and there is a widespread effect. One moves, and then another, and still another. Pretty soon, all are impacted. This movement spreads from one place to another, all around the system.

It’s sometime hard to understand – or even believe – that what you do in Maryland will have an effect on someone in North Dakota, or Somalia, or Venezuela, or even New Zealand. But it will; just like pulling one arm on the mobile.

What we do to preserve our environment will have an effect somewhere, sometime, somehow. These effects are often not easy to discern or to understand. Sometimes they are not economically logical But they usually make sense when you look at the bigger picture, and investigate just what will happen – or what will NOT happen if this action is undertaken. Education and imagination and boldness are all essential.

Sometimes what is done here means that something will NOT have to be done over there, leading to another movement in their arm of the mobile. If you don’t need the paper, maybe a tree in Canada won’t be cut down, and then the wood won’t have to be cut and sawed up. The pulp won’t have to be made into paper, and the wood and the paper won’t have to be shipped thousands of miles. Less energy will be needed, so maybe the electricity generating station won’t need to be started up today, with less coal being burned and less pollution being expelled into the sky. Maybe. Perhaps if it isn’t quite as warm in Nigeria today, someone will not have to buy a coat, and can use that money instead on a goat, which will give milk to his family for years to come. Maybe. Maybe if the coal consumption falls below the “magic level,” a new mine won’t have to be dug. Maybe. All of these are little slivers of “maybes”, but lots of them add up to something significant. Absolutely.

The Christian way does not do things any old way; it seeks to do things “the right way.” We see ourselves as stewards, not just for our immediate relatives, but for the rest of the world, as well as for those who will be future inhabitants. What better way to be “right” than to try to leave things better off than they were when we found them. This is what sustainability is all about. We should not just do things to benefit ourselves, but to also benefit others. The best way to ensure this sustainability is to be careful and judicious in our use of our resources. Using them wisely will mean that there will be more to “go around” and that there will be more available in the future. One of the most exciting and important uses for our modern technology is to allow this wise use to become a way of our lives. We can use less, and we can use things better – things that can be used again, and things that can be easily replaced.

It is amazing how inter-connected we are in “this fragile Earth, our island home.” That is to be discussed next month, when I turn to MDG 8, which is “Create a Global Partnership for Development.”

John Miers is from Bethesda, Maryland, where he was employed at the National Institutes of Health from 1968 to 2005. He serves on the board of St. Luke’s House, a halfway house for persons recovering from mental illness and also serves as Jubilee Officer for the Diocese of Washington. He was a member of National Commission on Science, Technology and Faith for the Episcopal Church and is active in his local church, where he is in the choir, worship committee, pastoral care committee, and the prayer team, and he also visits patients in a local hospital on behalf of the Chaplain.

"Millennium Development Goal #3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women" -- by John G. Miers

"There is no longer Jew or Greek,
there is no longer slave or free,
there is no longer male and female;
for all of you are one in Christ Jesus."

Galatians 3:28

All of you are one in Christ Jesus.
All of us are one in Christ Jesus.
All of us are one.

When I read this Bible verse, I naturally progressed as noted in these three lines. “All of us are one.” How easy it is to say it; how difficult it is to live it!

As I have read about the history of the world, I am always amazed as to how far we have all come – but how far we have to go. When our Diocese processed the MDG banners in our last Convention, I carried the banner for Goal #3 (photo). Some people kidded me about this, but I always noted that I was the only man in our family (I have four daughters) and I am always stunned and thankful how far they have all come. I then told people that I want to do what I can to ensure that ALL women can make the same progress that my family has, and to do it faster!

What kinds of progress? Education. Job choice. Marriage. Voting. Freedom of choice. Where to live. How to live. Medical Care. Religion. Family. Lots more.

These are things that many of our women enjoy and even may take for granted. Many are told by grandmothers that “they couldn’t do it” (whatever that was). It is fascinating and challenging than women in other countries sometimes exist where our women were a generation or two ago. We have seen how much better things are for OUR women. It behooves us to ensure that these freedoms and life styles are transmitted to all women, everywhere. Some women, in other countries, are even further along than we are.

We don’t want other women to struggle to earn these freedoms and equalities like our women had to. It is incumbent on us to do all that we can to allow all women, everywhere, to be “one in Christ Jesus.” Some may not be Christian, but they are still one.

Think of the world as embarking on a continual progression of all this progress. Many are ahead, and some are behind. Let those who are ahead reach back and pull others up to be with them. Let us all walk together. All will progress, and all will keep walking forward. Together.

John Miers is from Bethesda, Maryland, where he was employed at the National Institutes of Health from 1968 to 2005.  He serves on the board of St. Luke’s House, a halfway house for persons recovering from mental illness and also  serves as Jubilee Officer for the Diocese of Washington.  He is a member of  National Commission on Science, Technology and Faith for the Episcopal Church and is active in his local church, where he is in the choir, worship committee, pastoral care committee, and the prayer team, and he also visits patients in a local hospital on behalf of the Chaplain.