There are quite a few problems that we humans are currently facing. They are difficulties that scare us, that are seemingly unsolvable. The speed at which change is happening and change is needed in life gives many people the feeling that they are at the mercy of a dynamic that is out of control. Wars, violence, suffering, the climate crisis – one thing follows another.
But the state of our world is not a law of nature, but the result of human action. Action from a consciousness that we have known for thousands of years. An eye for an eye, envy, hatred, greed and too much ego. Ego instead of community.
At the same time, there is another way of thinking and acting. Acting with all the positive consequences for us humans, for our planet. This development takes place in parallel, living according to other values.
“Love your neighbor as yourself”, postulated the man whose birthday we commemorate year after year at Christmas. Brother David Steindl-Rast speaks of “love as a lived YES to belonging” and is referring to that other awareness: cooperation instead of competition. This is also germinating all over the world. We “Austrian Doctors” talk about “the happiness of being able to help”.
Our medical missions have resulted in many other initiatives with partners in other cultures, with people of other skin colors, with people of other religions. The difference enriches!
Together with local doctors, we look after sick people who have no access to medical care. We help to build wells and obtain clean water: in Ethiopia, Kenya and Bangladesh. Thousands of children go to schools financed by us and receive one warm meal a day. The best of them graduate from university with scholarships. HIV orphans find a place to live in our Nursery School in Awasi. In India, our project partner, the Kamina Social Welfare Organization, picks up old people from the streets and provides them with accommodation, food and medical care.
Yes, our experience is that many people are not indifferent to the future of us humans and our planet. They are responding to the many challenges, they are taking responsibility. They are contributing to a new common world. They bring to life what we celebrate every year at Christmas.
Merry Christmas!
Yours, Dr. Christian Gruber
