I stood on a beach, watching from a distance, as family after family was being led away to die. They seemed to go almost too willingly- no fight- no desperate attempt to escape. Their faces were void of all hope, when suddenly a helicopter dropped a box. I was so glad to see it was from the U.S. It was full of frozen chicken and sets of fancy glassware. This is when I thought, "Oh good, this is just a commercial and they aren't really going to die. I can move on and forget this whole awful scene."
This is what I dreamed last night, and when I awoke- I had this overwhelming sense of guilt. I looked around my comfortable, safe room- I listened to the peep frogs outside my window. No fears for what the next day would bring. I thought about how my little babies were tucked in their beds, sleeping blissfully- how earlier in the day we had fun playing in the hot sun catching frogs and bugs.
Of my sweet husband, who would get up and go to his job and come home a few hours later. How we would all sit down and have dinner together then go for a walk around the lake, do some chores, or have dessert. Safe, calm, serene, secure...
I thought about my dream, and how embarrassing it seemed to me, that we Americans would send frozen chicken and glassware.Something to ease our conscience and to be able and say that we "helped." In our self absorbed, advantageous lives we forget the real needs of those around us. Often in our attempts to help we gouge the wound bigger by not understanding how to properly care- we don't have a way to relate because we run from any small amount of suffering. We are scared to get hurt- scared to be in pain. So we run- and in running we leave behind the opportunity to heal and be healed by the growth that comes from vulnerability.
It got me thinking back to the first settlers of America and the suffering they endured to build a free land, how many of them died! Their lives-stepping stones for the generations to come. They were OK with suffering if it meant those who came after them would have it better.
We have lost a little of that stamina that the early Americans had. I'm not saying we don't care about other people, but I think we need to be reminded of what it means to need and what it feels like to give up some of what we have for others. To reevaluate what we are working for and what motivates us. Is it all about ourselves and what we think we need? Are we thinking about who comes next and how we can make their burdens lighter. Are we teaching our children to love and care for those less fortunate?
We can keep shutting our eyes to the suffering around us- we can keep putting band-aids on wounds that need stitches- but I think if we want to survive as a country- as a people of hope and freedom- we are going to have to do some grunt work. Roll up our sleeves and get bruised, cut, and battered as we serve and love the people around us.
Yesterday, my heart was burdened reading about the death of Aylan, a little boy who along with his mother and brother died trying to escape Syria. Read the story here and then click on the next link to find ways you can Help with refugee crisis in Syria.
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