Ben Godar’s article “Stop your whining and lend someone a hand” was a powerful call to put one’s values into action where one can really make a difference, right here, right now, in Ames, Iowa, today.

His examples were excellent ideas where one can make a real difference.

However, I believe that Godar undervalues paying attention to situations outside of one’s immediate community.

I believe that it is often necessary to understand what is happening in the world around us in order to make appropriate decisions as to how to live our lives.

There is an adage: “Think globally and act locally.” These are words to heed.

Several years ago, the United States was contemplating going to war with Iran. A popular revolution had overthrown a U.S. backed dictator and lead to what was essentially an Islamic theocracy.

Americans were being held hostage in the U.S. embassy, and we were concerned about our oil supply. We reintroduced the military draft here at home.

Being of prime draft age, I took a strong interest. I began to learn about the origins of world conflicts. I contemplated how I would respond if I were called to defend my country’s interests; to kill a human being or to be killed.

I asked myself how I could reconcile this with my Christian faith and its call to love my neighbor.

I found I could not reconcile loving my neighbor with training myself for warfare. I became a conscientious objector to war.

However, the conflict remained. Simply denying that war was an inappropriate solution did not make the conflict go away.

I looked at World War II and discovered that the seeds of conflict grew in soils made fertile by human poverty and oppression, the condition Germans were left in after World War I. I decided that I would take action to meet the basic human needs of people.

I worked as a soil conservationist for four years with the Peace Corps and CARE in Guatemala and for 10 years in Wisconsin.

My point is, I needed a global vision. I needed to understand my values, put them in the context of the world, throw in a large amount of scientific and technical knowledge, and then I was and am able to act in a way that I believe will best serve humankind.

Think globally and act locally. Understand global warming and ride a bicycle. Understand xenophobia and befriend a foreign student.

Understand political, economic and social injustice and vote for the best candidate.

Understand your values and the needs of the world around you and choose a career to match. Try it. It could change your life, too.

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Eric G. Hurley

Graduate

Soil science