Yesterday morning I spent my time pouring over blogs posted on 'Blog Action Day.' I like to think of 'Blog Action Day' as 'Debut Two'. It is my second blog post. I think of it as an inaugural to my blogging commitment. I owned the day. I made a commitment to blog in the future. It is a new beginning. The subject of the environment was the catalyst. Pastor Paul's Mission would be the bi-product. Both are important to me. At the time, I did not know how to tie them together. I did not see the forest for the trees. It finally occurred to me. Pastor Paul's Mission recycles millions of pounds of food each year that is destined for landfills. The mission represents a solution to a problem with the environment which is waste. I wondered what other bloggers would write.
I started by reading the posts of bloggers who committed to post on October 15, 2007 'Blog Action Day.' On August 14, 2007 the first day of enrollment 27 bloggers committed to post. Committing two months prior, I thought they were the dedicated bloggers who caught the vision. I read them all. Prior to this I had only read a couple of blogs, and one consistently. I liked two posts and found them helpful; Young Go Getter.com-'5 Innovative Environment Business Ideas' and Copyblogger-'The Butterfly Effect'. I read the next day's enrollment of August 15 totaling 8. I liked Lifehack.org-'You the Consumer'. The organizers of 'Blog Action Day' promoted it and following up with lists of bloggers enrolled and committed totaling over 16,0000. I wanted to read them all. Realistically, I Google searched 'Blog Action Day' and found some media articles and controversial posts.
While reading some I had to laugh out loud. I read Washington City Paper's-'The Folly of Blog Action Day', Spectator.Co.Uk-'Green and Greener', and finally, Iain Dale's Diary-'Why I Boycott Blog Action Days and Number Ten Petitions'. I had to read on about 'Number Ten Petitions' that sounded really interesting. A real 'boycotter' imagine that, unfortunately he was boycotting the day that inspired me to blog! It did not really matter to me that he was boycotting 'Blog Action Day'. The whole matter was quite intriguing. I had a 'newbie' fresh perspective, an uneducated enlightened attitude, with blind enthusiasm, willing to laugh at adversity and the fiery words of the enemy.
At first I was prompted by the idea that thousands of other bloggers were blogging. The marketing got my attention. Next, I liked the idea of the cosmic energy of the master consciousness (God) linked with thousands of minds at the same time focusing on one issue (praying). The posts reaching toward heaven for answers and help to a serious problem. I disregarded my negative skepticism about the marketing of the day, recent political events, and fundraising opportunities. My time had come I had procrastinated enough. It was time for action...It was 'Blog Action Day.' I received the call to action. I made it personal.(It called to me.) I owned it.
The two paramount issues were the environment and Pastor Paul's Mission, a perfect combination. Economically the solution is supply and demand. An over supply distributed to needed demand. Excess food eliminating hunger. In most cases food is over produced and not spoiled. One problem solves the other. Providing food to hungry people that would otherwise be dumped in a landfill. This is efficient and the right thing to do. It is funny because at first I did not see the correlation even though I spoke about it many times referencing salvageable food.
I reflected back 20 years about my own experience as a volunteer. I picked up day old bread at a grocery store. We would put it in bags that we distributed at a 'Bread Run'. We used an empty bus to transport bags filled with bread. Volunteers distributed the bags on a designated corner in a poor neighborhood once a week to hungry needy people.
One day while picking up day old bread I spotted a dumpster surrounded by cases of fresh vegetables and bags of potatoes and onions. I managed to pack my 'old' car completely. (If I had a 'new' car I would have hesitated or probably not picked them up because they needed to be sorted.) Like the dumpster, I was totally surrounded by cases of vegetables. I went to Pastor Paul's Mission excited to unload the 'booty'. After sorting the produce, we found very little waste. While giving the food to people at the next 'Bread Run', I experienced the same feeling I had when I first came to the church to volunteer, this was important and my eyes were open.
Here were people who needed and appreciated the food that I dug out of the dumpster and rescued from the landfill. I kept up my dumpster diving. I believe it was the catalyst, the prayer in action, that opened the windows of heaven to bless our mission with millions of pounds of produce in the future. It is a spiritual law that if you are faithful with a little, you will be given more. Just like it is a spiritual law that it is more blessed to give than receive.
As for 'Blog Action Day' will it be defined reminiscing a faded memory. Or will it be the spark to ignite the call to action in the hearts of those who are willing to go the distance while lighting their path is the spiritual law of Love. Time will tell.
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