Today is World AIDS Day, and I’ll have to be honest with you… I don’t think about the issue of HIV/AIDS near as much nowadays than before.  I think it has a lot to do with my age.  I was still young when Magic Johnson’s diagnosis was revealed (remember that?), and most of the media chatter either blamed needle sharing or promiscuity as causes.  I’ve long thought of it as an American safe sex issue, and not an issue of it being the worst killer we have ever seen in this world.  I had no idea of a world in which some 33+ million people have died from it.  How do we mourn the loss of that many people?  How can we make a difference?  I currently give 8 bucks a month to Compassion International’s AIDS Initiative, which provides care for those affected with HIV/AIDS, as well as providing preventative information to folks in AIDS-affected areas of the world (Africa in our case).  I know for a fact that I blow 8 bucks every time I enter Chik Fil-A, so this is not a huge cost for most of us.

So, what can we do?  Sure, we can talk about it, raise awareness on blogs and tweet ’til the sun goes down.  But what about doing?  Wouldn’t it be so much better to be known for that?  Read the post over at One Day’s Wages for some great information on World AIDS Day, as well as a challenge to do something about it.  It’s much, much better than my ramblings.

After all, talk is just that.  Talk.  Let’s being to start doing something, shall we?