For the past three days now, I’ve gotten on my computer not to log into Face Book trying to figure out why no one writes on my wall, but to check the news for the latest information in what has been happening in India. I was almost in the military and my brother spent 18 months in Iraq and is mobilizing for another 12 months in Afghanistan. It scares me knowing that people so easily find themselves in the path of someone who’s agenda is not them, but requires their pain.
So many people, myself including, look at India and the conflict in the Middle East with disgust and concern. We start asking where God is in all this. Some even go so far as to pass God’s Judgment on these type of horrible acts. I wonder what puts someone or a people in a state that causes them to want to hurt others as their method of pointing out. Where are we as humans that it takes such violence to make us turn our heads in the right direction?
On December 1st Starbucks is offering 5 cents to fight Aids in Africa for every signature drink that is sold. Why not just donate the $4.07 for that Grande Vanilla Latte instead?
The song “Dead and Gone” by T.I. is about recognizing the wrong mentality in one’s life. Seeing the problems and putting them down. Not just walking away, but letting it just die.
“Dead and Gone” my theme song for now. It challenges me-sad that a song does that quicker then the Bible-and it asks me to really think about what I’m doing with my thoughts one certain things. Isn’t that what theme songs do to us. They play while days, weeks, months, even years go by. In the background while a great struggle is playing out, our theme song plays on.
Where does the violence come from. From me and you…from all of us. It starts in the homes and in the classrooms. In the hallways and in the parks. Every time I yell at a student, every time I judge sooner than I should. Every time I write off a student who bothered me, I add to the violence.
Sure I’m not suggesting that one day one of my students will be on the news for smiling while they issue out death, but then again…What am I doing to make sure they now they’re loved.
At the end of the movie Schindler’s List, Oskar Schindler falls on his knees asking how many more could he have helped. How many more lives could have been saved with his pin or car. I wish my heart was like that. But for now, I feel empowered and passionate. For now my theme song plays as I go forward.
