The Cause Within You

Someone has leant me an amazing book – ‘The Cause Within You’ by Matthew Barnett, subtitled – finding the one great thing you were created to do in this world. It is an amazing story of how a 20 year old arrived in Los Angeles and through a series of events, relinquished his personal dreams of success when he realised that he was called to serve the poor, homeless and those with no power. He founded the Dream Centre which reaches out to befriend, feed, clothe and heal families, addicts, the abused, victims of human trafficking, runaways and many others. It does this on a vast scale, in one of the most lawless and challenging areas in the United States. The food distribution programme alone, now runs to over a million dollars each month.

His point is that he is just an ordinary guy, surrounded by ordinary and typically, broken people. But they have found the cause they were made for. They use their life experiences, even the most difficult ones, to fulfill this destiny.

The challenge for the reader is to discover the cause we were made for.

As someone passionate about young children and their futures, I understand that there is more to life than my own needs, dreams, ambitions, fears and pride. I can recognise a cause worth giving my life to, investing in others – children, staff and families.

This morning’s news report includes an item with the headline –

“Two children in every classroom go hungry as neglect takes its toll”  

It reads –

An estimated one million children in the UK now live in homes without enough to eat, according to the study by the child welfare charity Kids Company. The charity has reported a rise of 233 per cent in the last 12 months in children using its services for their only meal of the day. Those children have an average age of just 10.

There’s a cause, right there.

 

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