I have to admit that until I signed up for the current Bloggers Unite event I was not all that familiar with the refugee problem.
Shame on me.
I asked a friend and staff member at my church what information she could share with me about our efforts as a church. We are planning to devote some church resources and energy around the theme of social justice in the world. I am quite glad that the people in my church are more knowledgeable than me, and are al;ready jumping into this.
As I read information about refugees in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur just to name a few locations, certain words keep coming up:
Human trafficking.
AIDS.
Starvation.
Disease.
Genocide.
Civil war.
It is horrifying as you look at what is causing refugee situations across the globe, and what these poor people are being subject to.
It almost makes the term refugee become a way of glossing over the real horrors, of making the situation palatable for prime time U.S. news coverage. Of letting us feel good about helping without really understanding the depth of human depravity that drives this behavior to other people, and the depths of human suffering endured as a result. This is not making little or light of what the refugee problem is, this is more about me not understanding the depth of the root causes behind the refugee problem. And wondering how many others are in a similar position (one of ignorant obliviousness) as I.
I am glad my church will get involved in some way to help in trying to alleviate this staggering problem.
I pray your church does as well. I pray that you do as well. But most of all, I pray that I get more involved going forward. Because I have not been doing anything up to now.
And we do it in a way that focuses on the bare, naked, brutal truth of the matter at hand. That we not hide behind any attempt to make it a more palatable issue to see and deal with around the dinner table. For there are so many who have no table to sit around and discuss the issue, they are fighting for their lives everyday.
Shame on me.
I asked a friend and staff member at my church what information she could share with me about our efforts as a church. We are planning to devote some church resources and energy around the theme of social justice in the world. I am quite glad that the people in my church are more knowledgeable than me, and are al;ready jumping into this.
As I read information about refugees in Cambodia, Rwanda, Darfur just to name a few locations, certain words keep coming up:
Human trafficking.
AIDS.
Starvation.
Disease.
Genocide.
Civil war.
It is horrifying as you look at what is causing refugee situations across the globe, and what these poor people are being subject to.
It almost makes the term refugee become a way of glossing over the real horrors, of making the situation palatable for prime time U.S. news coverage. Of letting us feel good about helping without really understanding the depth of human depravity that drives this behavior to other people, and the depths of human suffering endured as a result. This is not making little or light of what the refugee problem is, this is more about me not understanding the depth of the root causes behind the refugee problem. And wondering how many others are in a similar position (one of ignorant obliviousness) as I.
I am glad my church will get involved in some way to help in trying to alleviate this staggering problem.
I pray your church does as well. I pray that you do as well. But most of all, I pray that I get more involved going forward. Because I have not been doing anything up to now.
And we do it in a way that focuses on the bare, naked, brutal truth of the matter at hand. That we not hide behind any attempt to make it a more palatable issue to see and deal with around the dinner table. For there are so many who have no table to sit around and discuss the issue, they are fighting for their lives everyday.
1 comment:
Thank you for raising awareness and by going a step further to actually become involved through your church's efforts.
Post a Comment