Less distracted

In China, the leading cause of death among people younger than 35 is suicide.

Hearing that renewed my focus on investing in people's lives here in China. Sure, I teach them how to do engineeering on some car parts. But I know that success in a profession is not going to deliver the self-worth and value that we all crave. It may provide a "warm fuzzy" for some period of time, but we know it fades. And in China, there are not a lot of distractions that prevent people from thinking about how tough life really is.

Let me explain. In the US, we are so rich, that it blinds us from seeing our own need for something more in this life and beyond. Jesus said that it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. I think he was hitting on this truth in our temporal life on Earth. We avoid confronting the truth about eternity by saturating our short-term perspective with "stuff".

We've got the new plasma television to look forward to. We enjoy watching our 401k grow and dreaming about retirement. Or season tickets to Michigan football in the fall. Perhaps it's looking forward to the next hunting season and a new bow. Maybe your career is taking off and everyone is telling you how great you are. There are thousands of distractions in the US that are not present in China. Distractions that keep us from thinking about how short life really is. Here in China, the lack of distractions leaves young people with less to live for and depressed. In the lives of some young people here, it becomes unbearable.

So, today, I'm reconsidering the "distractions" in my life. The things that keep me from living with eternity in mind.

There's a new employee at work. She's just 22. It's a 12 hour train ride to her hometown. She's in a new job, in a new city, far away from family. I can't imagine the challenges she faces emotionally. So, with renewed perspective this week, I noticed that she was sitting alone at lunch. Needless to say, she now sits with us at lunch. She must be told, through my actions, that she matters. That she is loved. My actions are motivated by my perspective on eternity. I know that she is valuable to God in heaven.

Jesus also said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." If you pray, would you pray that the suicide rate in China would drop because they come to know full life in Jesus Christ? The thought of young people taking their own life because they have nothing left to live for should should stoke each of our fires.