It seems like a day doesn’t go by without a reference in the news about the latest scare: the H1N1 or “swine flu” virus. I understand people’s fear; this virus can be deadly. But it reminds me of the alarm raised a few years ago over the avian flu, feared to cause a global pandemic (it didn’t).

Meanwhile, the world’s worst global pandemic is still with us: AIDS. It’s still killing many more people than any flu; about 2 million people died of AIDS-related causes in 2007 compared to between 250,000 and 500,000 flu deaths worldwide. And while it is preventable, many of its victims can’t protect themselves—particularly the 740 children who die of AIDS every day.

These children likely contracted HIV from their mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, or through breastfeeding. Of all the things a mother wants to pass along, a deadly virus is nowhere on the list. And she doesn’t have to. In 1994, scientists developed drugs to reduce mother-to-child transmission.

I saw this myself in Zambia when I visited the Zamtan Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission clinic, one of the most advanced AIDS centers in Zambia. Pregnant women and new mothers can access anti-retroviral therapy, safe delivery measures, and counseling on ways to reduce the risk of passing HIV to their babies—by 80 percent.

This life-saving clinic had an exciting connection to the U.S.—Chicago business owners Jim and Tedde Reid rallied about 30 others to raise $1.4 million to fund it.

World AIDS Day is Tuesday, December 1, and it’s a perfect opportunity to pray about AIDS—and act. If the Reids inspire you as they did me, make it a priority to do something.

One simple thing World Vision is advocating is to call your member of Congress and ask elected officials to keep their promise to provide $7.2 billion this year for AIDS prevention and care. Go here for more ideas on how to help innocent children on this World AIDS Day.

I’m looking forward to some pumpkin pie next week and a chance to reflect on my blessings: God’s grace, family and friends, good health, and meaningful work.

What makes you grateful? I’m not asking what you’re grateful for—but what does it take for us to feel grateful? And how does being grateful change you?

Earlier this week, Warren Watson posted his story on World Vision’s Gift Catalog Facebook page. After losing his job last October, he said, “I looked around my house and my life and knew that I lived better then 90 percent of the people/children around the world.” Rich in gratitude but not in funds, he invited people to help him purchase goats for people in need. He raised more than $2,000—enough for 32 goats!

Warren is still unemployed, and again this Christmas, he’s determined “to take a portion of the abundance that I have” and “forward it to those who have a real life need.”

That’s gratitude in action. That’s moving from thanks to giving.

Think about the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. What have you been given, five talents, two, or one? How many of us have been duped into thinking that we haven’t been given enough? A constant barrage of advertising messages tells us we’re always missing something that we need but don’t have.

Here’s a reality check: Plug your income into www.globalrichlist.com. Then search the Bible for what God has to say about the God-given responsibilities of the wealthy.

What would change in our lives if we truly acknowledged how much we’ve been given? How would a consistent perspective of gratitude change our lives, and our world? This Thanksgiving, how do we move from giving God thanks…to giving God everything?

Have you noticed that “love” is not just a noun for God? It’s a very personal verb. “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son” (John 3:16). “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son” (I John 4:10).

When God says, “For I, the Lord, love justice” (Isaiah 61:8), it comes after an amazing list of what justice—in action—means to God: good news for the poor; release for the oppressed; praise instead of despair; renewal for ruined cities; and other amazing proclamations.

At the Justice Revival happening this week in Dallas, churches and Christians across the city have caught the vision of living out God’s love—love as a verb. And as the conference wraps up, hundreds will head out to serve across the city, proclaiming “I love justice” with more than words, but “with actions and in truth” (I John 3:18).

What Justice Revival is doing is so important because loving justice is not an abstract concept for God—it means changes in individual lives, as well as the world.

For most of my life, loving God and loving justice meant believing the right things, living the right life. Coming to World Vision taught me the richness of loving as a personal verb. I’ve watched wells being drilled—the thirsty given water. I’ve seen the lame walk and the blind given back their sight. I’ve met disaster survivors praising where they were once despairing. I’ve seen widows comforted, orphans cared for, and children freed from slavery and abuse.

Loving justice is not a calling reserved for a subcategory of Christians. It is God’s heart, and so it must be ours.

Please pray for Justice Revival’s Day of Action in Dallas this weekend. In your city, how have you seen God’s love for justice in action? How can you be a part of it?

Last week the famed French anthropologist, Claude Lévi-Strauss, died at age 100. His very long obituary in The New York Times referred to his “imposing legacy” of literature and thought on world cultures.

Do you ever wonder what your obituary will say? Maybe a better question is: Do you ever think about what your legacy will be?

Two weeks ago, I spoke to a group of Christian university students at Harvard. Imagine the legacy possibilities in a gathering like that—future lawyers, doctors, CEOs, media moguls. And I was once just like them, as a student at Cornell, looking forward to a bright future of making lots of money.

In graduate school, I became a Christian, and I’d like to say that everything changed for me then. The seed was planted, but I continued my climb to corporate success, and only later did I realize the difference between career and calling.

God gave me the opportunity to plant a seed in the Harvard students, to remind them that for followers of Christ, there’s a greater end goal than a corner office. We are called to love Christ and love our neighbor.

As Ryan’s comment on last week’s blog noted, Christians and atheists both can be compassionate givers. But our call to love our neighbor is rooted in—and is a reflection of—serving Christ. We are called to be carriers of the gospel, bringing good news to a world that needs it, now more than ever. God has chosen me, those students, and you, to leave a legacy of compassion—an honor and a grave responsibility.

How are you living out your legacy? Are you pursuing a career or a calling—or both?