By Kellen Anthoine ’26
Chance. The abundance of our food measures the scarcity of theirs. The purity of our water measures the dirtiness of theirs. The health of our children measures the sickness of theirs. We have much while they have little. We have fortune while they have poverty. The blessings we have failed to count measure the hardships of theirs.
Chance. In October of 2023, I traveled to Nairobi, Kenya, for an opportunity to experience a foreign culture. I dreamed of laying my eyes upon the gigantic animals that rule the savannah, tasting the powerful explosion of color and heritage that is East African delicacy, and hearing the tales of sorrow and joy that originate from ancient people whose descendants still tell them. That was my dream. I wanted to experience life, novelty, and diversity, and I was granted this opportunity through the education my parents have so generously given to me.
Chance. Reality was a nightmare. Reality was the powerful kings and queens of the savannah being captured and killed for their mighty tusks and beautiful furs. Reality was eating familiar European-style meals affordable only for the tourists while just outside the window the nation’s own people starved in the streets, covered in dust and feces with dry mouths and empty stomachs. Reality was a nation of uneducated and impoverished people forced to steal, kill, prostitute themselves just to provide unclean food for their children that will inevitably follow the same path. Reality was death, disease, and distress.
Chance. Chance is a strange thing. A thing that has determined the outcomes of war, the collision of atoms that triggered the creation of our universe, and even the quality and path of your own life and death. By chance, some people on this Earth will not live to see their first birthday. Others will outlive nations by that same chance. Some will starve, while others will feast. All because of chance.
Tell me then: is it right to bask in the warm sunlight of good fortune while your own brothers and sisters shiver in the darkness of poor fortune? Is it right to take this chance for granted? Most of you were born in a first world country out of pure luck. You have the opportunity to access as much food, water, and shelter as you need for the rest of your life if you work hard enough. There are many people in this world who do not and will not ever have that.
But you… you have a chance. You have a chance to split your plate in half and give half to the hungry individual sitting across from you watching you eat. You have a chance to let that freezing man or woman into your house instead of letting them die on your doorstep. You have a chance to follow the Word of Jesus Christ and clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, and visit the imprisoned. You have a chance to look down at the people that this cruel Western world tramples on as it moves forward hastily and expediently and in an act of kindness offer your hand.You can give them a chance. My dream is that one day as a society we will all be Christlike and recognize how blessed we are, and how vital it is that we share our blessings with those around us. So far, we have failed miserably at this. Our vanity has taken hold and blinded us to the unnecessary suffering of our brothers and sisters. My dream is that we finally see.