Yesterday about 48 people were snuck into our country as human slaves. “Snuck into this county…” They were trafficked. Not a bright way to start a blog post on an otherwise beautiful Friday morning. Sorry to disrupt.

I put a red X on my hand yesterday to raise awareness for #enditmovement. I posted on Pressgram that I was raising awareness but I was also learning. As Eugene Cho says, “Let’s be honest. Fighting slavery has become trendy.” Man, are we pathetic. But he’s right. Clean water is another thing that’s trendy. But to be clear: just because it’s trendy doesn’t mean it’s not real. It doesn’t mean we can ignore this problem. I also learned there are 27 million slaves currently around the world.

That’s the population of New York City metropolitan area. There are more slaves around the world right now than at any time in recorded history. A problem that most people think ended more than a century ago is, in fact, thriving as never before. (source)

I don’t know what to do about that number. I’ll give some money. Will you? But beyond that I’m just sitting here learning, making myself more aware. And that feels so inadequate. Fellow human beings being sold as slaves in the year 2014. The sex and the money behind this… there simply are no words for it.

What will we do? Could this be part of our legacy? Can our generation really end this? I believe we can! It starts with awareness but must quickly move to action. If we don’t act quick, human nature will take over and our moment will be lost. Younger people, our children, will ask: “Where were you when this was going on? What did you do?” Let’s be part of the answer.

When I began blogging back in 2006, I built it on the foundation of a game plan. I was writing as a man trying to create order in my life, to think and plan and be reflective of situations around me. I knew I could not write about everything, so I made a decision to write about family and my work. My blog has evolved, which is a good thing. I sit here happy with what I’ve documented. Those who know me personally know of my Christian faith but I don’t write about it often. Lately I’ve wrestled with this decision because if my faith is such a critical part of my life as I claim, it should be better represented on my personal blog.

Grace is certainly a church word, but I believe we all are looking for grace in out lives. Different than any other religion (not my favorite word, but people understand it as such) the topic of grace makes Christianity unique. At our church, Blackhawk in Madison, we talk often about the difference between mercy, justice, and grace. Our senior paster, Chris Dolson often shows this slide

I don’t profess to be an expert on grace but I am telling you it is the backbone of my faith. I’m not a professional on the topic of grace, but thankfully John Rosensteel is. He gave a wonderful description of it this week. I hope you enjoy.