A Mountain out of an Ant Hill
Some times in our lives, we have problems that we think will totally break us in half. We think that nobody understands or fully appreciates the depths of our despair. Maybe they don't, maybe they do or maybe, they are going through their own trial and can't see past their own struggle.
I am no different, and yesterday, I was struggling with something that continues to rear it's ugly head in my family's life. I found it difficult to concentrate on anything but that problem.
So, last night, to get my mind off of what was bothering me, my husband and I watched a movie. We watched Blood Diamond with Leonardo Di Caprio portraying a soldier of fortune in war torn country in Africa. Ultimately, he is attempting to smuggle diamonds out of Africa to any buyer willing to pay what he is asking. The audience is taken on an edge of their seat whirlwind of violence and heartbreak. It is based on the Sierra Leone Civil War, a bloody struggle between its government and insurgent forces. The death and brutality left in their wake is both shocking and heartbreaking to see. As a citizen in Sierra Leone, you have no rights, its a place where your arm can be hacked off by a machate weilding maniac simply to prevent you from voting . You can be sent to work in the Diamond fields where you work for no pay for these brutal insurgents hoping to find diamonds to sell so they can finance their drugs and weapons. Families have to watch their daughters be raped and their very young son's be dragged away and forced to be gorilla soldiers, brutalizing and killing their own familiy. It's a circle that can't be stopped.
I know that terrible things happen in the world. I see it on the news and read about it in the paper, but do we really? The media only gives us a watered down version of the horrors really happening across the world or across the country. We really have no clue to the atrocities that take place everyday to other human beings BY other human beings.
We see it or read about it and cluck our tongues and think "That's awful"and then go on with our day, forgetting about it when it is no longer in our vantage point.
If we really thought about it, we would be outraged! What if it were us, or our loved ones? What if it were us running from these sadistic monsters chasing us down in jeeps? What if it were our arms being cut off with a machete to stop us from voting for a government that might possibly put an end to this nightmare? What if it were us?
But, by the grace of God, it isn't. Thankfully, we are comfortable in our home, have food to eat, indoor plumbing, shoes on our feet and clothes to wear. We don't have to worry about walking down the street and hearing gun shots or fearing the noise of a fast moving vehicle driving down the street.
No, our biggest problems are what fabric to chose for our new sofa, or what colour to pick for our new car? We don't have any troubles that we haven't imposed on ourselves. We may be struggling with things that keep us awake at night, but when you realize others are fearing for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, well our troubles seem pretty trivial and trite.
I am so thankful that I live in a free country. A country that allows me to be different and diversified in what I believe in and uphold the values I hold sacred without concern that I may be physically persucuted. I am thankful that I can walk down the street with my grandchildren and not have to worry about being shot. I am thankful that the problem I thought was so big is nothing more than a bump in the road.
Mostly, I am just thankful to God, my country and the people who fought to allow me these freedoms and rights, and I pray for all those who don't.
I am no different, and yesterday, I was struggling with something that continues to rear it's ugly head in my family's life. I found it difficult to concentrate on anything but that problem.
So, last night, to get my mind off of what was bothering me, my husband and I watched a movie. We watched Blood Diamond with Leonardo Di Caprio portraying a soldier of fortune in war torn country in Africa. Ultimately, he is attempting to smuggle diamonds out of Africa to any buyer willing to pay what he is asking. The audience is taken on an edge of their seat whirlwind of violence and heartbreak. It is based on the Sierra Leone Civil War, a bloody struggle between its government and insurgent forces. The death and brutality left in their wake is both shocking and heartbreaking to see. As a citizen in Sierra Leone, you have no rights, its a place where your arm can be hacked off by a machate weilding maniac simply to prevent you from voting . You can be sent to work in the Diamond fields where you work for no pay for these brutal insurgents hoping to find diamonds to sell so they can finance their drugs and weapons. Families have to watch their daughters be raped and their very young son's be dragged away and forced to be gorilla soldiers, brutalizing and killing their own familiy. It's a circle that can't be stopped.
I know that terrible things happen in the world. I see it on the news and read about it in the paper, but do we really? The media only gives us a watered down version of the horrors really happening across the world or across the country. We really have no clue to the atrocities that take place everyday to other human beings BY other human beings.
We see it or read about it and cluck our tongues and think "That's awful"and then go on with our day, forgetting about it when it is no longer in our vantage point.
If we really thought about it, we would be outraged! What if it were us, or our loved ones? What if it were us running from these sadistic monsters chasing us down in jeeps? What if it were our arms being cut off with a machete to stop us from voting for a government that might possibly put an end to this nightmare? What if it were us?
But, by the grace of God, it isn't. Thankfully, we are comfortable in our home, have food to eat, indoor plumbing, shoes on our feet and clothes to wear. We don't have to worry about walking down the street and hearing gun shots or fearing the noise of a fast moving vehicle driving down the street.
No, our biggest problems are what fabric to chose for our new sofa, or what colour to pick for our new car? We don't have any troubles that we haven't imposed on ourselves. We may be struggling with things that keep us awake at night, but when you realize others are fearing for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, well our troubles seem pretty trivial and trite.
I am so thankful that I live in a free country. A country that allows me to be different and diversified in what I believe in and uphold the values I hold sacred without concern that I may be physically persucuted. I am thankful that I can walk down the street with my grandchildren and not have to worry about being shot. I am thankful that the problem I thought was so big is nothing more than a bump in the road.
Mostly, I am just thankful to God, my country and the people who fought to allow me these freedoms and rights, and I pray for all those who don't.
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