From the Episcopal Public Policy Network: “In order to review progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), United Nations General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have called a meeting of world leaders, civil society and the private sector in New York this week…. Halfway towards the [MDGs] target date of 2015, the meeting is intended to review progress to date, identify gaps and next steps, and translate existing commitments into concrete plans and action on the ground to ensure that all countries can achieve the Goals. The meeting takes place during the UN General Assembly’s annual debate.

Anglicans, along with people of faith from diverse traditions and many others, will be gathering in New York to pray for the leaders meeting at the UN and to advocate for their governments to live into the promises that have been made.”

Christians believe themselves to be members of the body of Christ. Understandings of this phrase differ from denomination to denomination, and probably from believer to believer, but it is clear to me that, at a minimum, it means that in some way we are all connected to each other, and that both the source and substance of that connection is God, who became fully human in the person of Jesus. One consequence of that connection is that when one member of the body suffers, we all suffer.

Yet how far most of us are from truly taking on the suffering of our brothers and sisters, especially when they live in places that seem utterly foreign, even alien. The Millennium Development Goals are a way to bring that suffering to our attention, to be clear and focused about what specific issues most plague people in extreme poverty around the globe (poor maternal health, HIV/AIDS, high infant mortality rates, environmental degradation, and so on), and to find concrete steps to take in order to relieve their suffering.

You can be a part of the solution. You can pray, you can fast, you can witness. You can send money. Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation and the Episcopal Public Policy Network both have resources readily available to get you connected, so that you can help achieve the goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2015.

You know those TV commercials about how “for just a few cents a day” you can feed a hungry child? I am one of those people who changes the channel when they come on. I just can’t stand to see the haunted faces and emaciated bodies they inevitably show. But at least for today, I am committed to keeping tuned in. At least for today, I will not look away, not pretend that those people are nothing to me. At least for today, I will remember that we are all one body.

For a lighter look at one very easy way to save lives, check out Stephen Colbert’s recent interview with ESPN’s Rick Reilly about his charity, Nothing But Nets. A $10 donation could make all the difference for a child in Africa. (By the way, if you’re not familiar with the Colbert Report, you might find some of his humor objectionable–let’s just say it’s not a family show. The interview begins about 17 minutes into the program.)

Photo is a reproduction of Marc Chagall’s “White Crucifixion,” found in the Art Institute of Chicago.