Daily Tragedy

Today, Nicole and I had the opportunity to attend the Georgia vs. Arkansas football game. We weren't planning on going to the game because we couldn't afford tickets but were given an unbelievable opportunity when someone we don't even know gave us their extra tickets and said "Merry Christmas." Although the Dawgs lost in heartbreaking fashion at the end of the game, we had a great time and savored the experience of getting to attend a game at Sanford Stadium again. Yet, as I sat in the stadium and looked around I was stunned at how many people fit into this massive stadium. And, I was convicted because seeing this many people put a tragic statistic into reality for me.

Sanford Stadium holds 92,746 people. It is the seventh largest stadium in college football and the Bulldogs sell out most of their home games. According to UNICEF, 24,000 children around the world die each day because of poverty. What does this mean? It means that right now Sanford Stadium is empty. And if you took this example and filled it with 24,000 children per day over the next 4 days - by Wednesday you would have a stadium full of dead children. In the next 4 days, 96,000 children will die because of poverty! If something had happened today and the 96,000 people at Sanford Stadium had died, it would be considered one of the worst tragedies in history. There would be investigations and people would be demanding explanations. There would be major reforms and changes to ensure that something like that would never happen again. Sadly, a Sanford Stadium full of children (and then some) die EVERY week from poverty and we go about our normal lives like nothing is wrong. Our lives don't change. Our attitudes don't change. Our time isn't spent differently. And our priorities are still focused on our own selfish desires. That is the true tragedy.