<h3>A New Year's Food for Thought</h3>
Jan
1
Written by:
Monday, January 01, 2007
January 1, 2007
Imagine for a moment that it might be possible to shrink the world so that there were only 100 people in it. What would this look like? Here are some eye-opening numbers that may help us understand our place in the world a little better as we start a new year. Out of 100 people, there would be:
60 Asians, 12 Europeans, 15 from the Western Hemisphere (9 Latin Americans, 5 North Americans, 1 Oceanian), and 13 Africans.
There would be a ratio of 50 females to 50 males;
80 of these would be non-white (South American, Asian and Africans) 23 would be white (North American, European and Oceanian); of these, 67 would be non-Christian and 33 Christian.
20 out of 100 would earn 89% of the world's wealth.
25 out of 100 would live in sub-standard housing.
17 would be unable to read;
13 would suffer from mal-nutrition;
2 would have a college education;
4 (only 4!) would own a computer.
I don't know about you, but I find these numbers startling. None of us has chosen our race or the place where we were born, but all of us can choose to use the gifts we have received for the greater glory of God. When my computer started smoking and shut down earlier this year, I was understandably upset. Apparently 96% of the world's people would love to have had that problem.
With all the difficulties and issues that you and I face in the modern world, perhaps the New Year is also a time to remember to give thanks for the graces we have received in our lives, too.
Father Gary