a birthday treat

Tomorrow is my birthday. And tonight I celebrated! After wrapping up the class I teach (and stuffing a burrito into my mouth in .05 seconds), I attended a lecture by Tracy Kidder, the writer of "Mountains Beyond Mountains," a book that I absolutely loved. To write the book, Tracy Kidder followed Dr. Paul Farmer—a man who has essentially DEDICATED his life to helping resolve the pandemics of HIV and tuberculosis. And by dedicated I mean DEDICATED. While his work began in Haiti many years ago, he has taken the success of his organization (Partners In Health) to several other countries since, including Russia and Peru. He is now focusing his efforts on the continent of Africa. The lecture was inspiring (duh) but in a very unusual way. I didn’t leave the lecture feeling like my life was inadequate or that I should sell my possessions and move to another country to live (in a hot water-less home). Instead, I left feeling like I could really do something to make a dent in the world. Even if I can never live like Paul Farmer. Paul Farmer himself discourages the notion that anyone in their right mind should try to live the way he does. Instead, he suggests that we get together in groups, and use the talents that we have and love...for good. A simple request, really. So, on the eve of my birthday, I feel enlivened--ready to team up with my miraculous friends and family to make some serious change in this world. Any takers?