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My Thoughts on Being Thankful

I am looking forward to adding another glorious year this week, thanks to God's mercies and unmerited favor. What better time than now to share these thoughts.

Here’s an interesting analogy about our world.

If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following.

If the World were 100 PEOPLE:

Gender                  50 would be female

50 would be male

                           26 would be 0-14

Age                      66 would be 15-64

8 would be 65 and older

                  60 would be from Asia

15 would be from Africa

Geography             11 would be from Europe

9 would be from Latin America & the Caribbean

5 would be from North America

33 would be Christian

Religion                55 would believe in other religions

12 would not be religious or identify themselves as being aligned with a particular faith

12 would speak Chinese

5 would speak Spanish

5 would speak English

3 would speak Arabic

First Language        3 would speak Hindi

3 would speak Bengali

3 would speak Portuguese

2 would speak Russian

2 would speak Japanese

62 would speak other languages

Overall Literacy       83 would be able to read and write

17 would not

         88% of males would be able to read and write

Literacy by Gender 12% of males would not be able to read and write

79% of females would be able to read and write

21% of females would not be able to read and write

                           76% of eligible males would have a primary school education

72% of eligible females would have a primary school education

Education              66% of eligible males would have a secondary school education

63% of eligible females would have a secondary school education

7 would have a college degree

Urban/Rural           51 would be urban dwellers

49 would be rural dwellers

Drinking Water       87 would have access to safe drinking water

13 would use unimproved water

Food                    15 would be undernourished

Poverty                 48 would live on less than $2 USD per day

1 out of 2 children would live in poverty

Electricity              78 would have electricity

22 would not

        

75 would be cell phone users

Technology           30 would be active internet users

22 would own or share a computer

          

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.

And, therefore . . .

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are blessed.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. 

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

So this week and beyond, remember just how blessed you really are, and BE THANKFUL. I am!

Sources: 2012 - Fritz Erickson, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Ferris State University (Formerly Dean of Professional and Graduate Studies, University of Wisconsin - Green Bay) and John A. Vonk, University of Northern Colorado, 2006; Returning Peace Corps Volunteers of Madison Wisconsin, Unheard Voices: Celebrating Cultures from the Developing World, 1992; Donella H. Meadows, The Global Citizen, May 31, 1990.