Brokenness

Is The World Getting Worse?

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

bill_gates_annual_letter_0I once heard a pastor say the world today is worse off than it was 50 years ago.

In fact I’ve read many men wiser than me say there’s more sin in the world today than ever before.

I’m not sure if I agree with them. 

Bill Gates doesn’t agree with them either. This week Gates released his annual letter on the state of our world. It’s a pretty enlightening read. Check it out at GatesLetter.com.

Gates uses the letter to debunk some myths about poverty. He writes that average incomes are rising in almost every country, and that our perspectives on poverty and foreign aid are outdated. Many of these improvements are a direct result of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

“By almost any measure, the world is better than it has ever been,” Gates writes.

I’m not sure if I agree with him either.  Continue reading →

A Christmas Prayer From Henri Nouwen

/ Alex Doriot / 1 Comment

I’ve done plenty of talking to you about Christmas this month. How about some wisdom from a far greater mind, that of author Henri Nouwen?

Henri Nouwen lived an incredible life of ministry in the 20th Century and wrote many powerful books. The Road To Daybreak is a journal of his first year living in the L’Arche community, a shelter for adults with special needs where he spent many of his later years serving some of the most needy souls. It’s an honest, heartbreaking, challenging diary of a man all-consumingly following God’s calling.

I just happened to be reading the chapter on Nouwen’s first Christmas in the community the other day. On the entry for December 23 Nouwen offers a humble Christmas prayer, and I wanted to share that with you today. Here is the prayer in full: Continue reading →