World AIDS Day
It seems to have been with us forever. Yet it is only a little over 20 years. A mere blink of an eye in history, but an ongoing devastating tragedy. AIDS. HIV. Decimating large populations in Africa and perhaps elsewhere.

It started in the US as the "Gay Plague." Which meant it was a political issue from the start. Perhaps even a moral issue for many. And something to ignore for many others. After all- they weren't gay. Then friends and neighbors and relatives began to die. Many were gay. Some were not. Back before blood tests- or we even knew it was blood-transmitted- transfusions became fatal.

I lost my two oldest friends to AIDS. One for each of the reasons above. One 15 years ago, the other 13 years ago. Both were barely in their 40s. Since then it has become what many of us were saying it would become back then- an epidemic hitting the poor and underinsured and forgotten more heavily than the rest of us. It was already rampaging across Africa where, still today, there are times when churches can't hold Sunday worship in some areas- they are too busy burying their dead.

Fear. Politics. Poverty. Superstitions. Big business. Sex. Drugs. Apathy.

These are all factors. More people are living longer with it now. If you are a westerner. More people have drugs to help them. If you have the resources. It is still a justice issue. It is still a sad and devastating disease.

It is not a "gay issue" nor an "African problem." It is a true test of our humanity and our desire to help the least and the lost- those who have no other help.

Yes, there are other killer diseases out there. Lung cancer is as devastating, but even more preventable. Colon cancer is awful. I have lost close family members to both of those. We need a concerted and united effort on all these fronts. Life is interrelated and as we seek the clues to an answer for any one of these we will be closer to finding the clues for the others. We may be a long way off from a cure, but we need to continue to work.

And above all, we need to continue to care. At home and wherever the lack of care and support has made this a truly community-threatening disease. After all, the community is all of us, together.