African Civil War Reality

As I watched Blood Diamonds, Hotel Rwanda and Beyond the Gates - all movies which detail some of the war crises that happen in Africa, I find myself angered by comments of North Americans that these movies depict too much graphic violence. Movies, news clips and documentaries cannot even come close to depicting the actual horror, fear and suffering the people of countries like Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Sudan and Congo have faced. We want to shield and protect ourselves from the horrible tragedies that have befallen these people and the immense scars that the survivors live with. We shudder at photos of Africans with missing limbs knowing they were brutally cut off with machetes. We are shocked by photos of young boys carrying machine guns who had no choice. We are upset by photos of young women looking ten times their age because of their suffering. We say "Stop. This is way too violent."

But this IS the reality of the people who have lived through these atrocities. Even the movies cannot accurately portray the depth of what these people have endured. It is watered down to protect the Western public. People make excuses that it is Hollywood making things more dramatic than it really was. But no - read any survivor's account, listen to their voices quaver in fear, look at the sadness in the face of a boy with no hands - these things really did happen and continue to happen. These are real people, real events and real stories.

When will we allow ourselves to even think of these horrors? When will we acknowledge this suffering? When will we speak up for justice for these innocent people? When will we step out of our comfortable lives and feel some of this pain? When will we stop hiding behind the excuses of "too much violence," "that's Hollywood," and "it's just a movie?" When will we say "I'm sorry we didn't care to end this violence. We were too busy trying to protect ourselves."?

I do not want to forget the images I saw as watered down as they were. I do not want to hide my head in the sand. I don't want to say it's so far away that it has nothing to do with me. I do not want to stop feeling their pain. I do not want to white out the photos of the survivors.

I wonder what I can do. Money seems so inadequate. Prayer sometimes seems so small. Going is expensive and risky. Talking seems so empty. I can state the truths. I can let some of their pain touch me. I can thank God that His grace has protected me so far from such suffering. But most of all, I can remember. I want to remember. I don't want to forget. These are people just like me, these are my brothers and sisters, my fellow companions on earth. In some little way, I can be their voice.

Time Flies

It's a scary thought to think of the last time I wrote here. Yet, what has been on the tip of my fingertips over the past month is about this very subject - TIME ! And it flew so fast that I hadn't had enough of it to write about it!

"If I could turn back time..." (the words of a popular song)

"Stop the world, I want to get off." (I think from another song)

"Lost, yesterday, somewhere between Sunrise and Sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered, for they are gone forever." (Horace Mann, "The Father of Education")

"The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man." (story of Joshua and the Israelites fighting the Amorites, Joshua 10:13-14)

In the past two months, these phrases have been very much in the forefront of my mind. How much I wanted to turn back the clock 10 min so that I could make it to my appointment on time. How much I wanted to stop the crazy whirlwind of my life to just take time to walk in the fallen leaves and to catch my breath. How much I wanted those two hours that I slept past my alarm. How much I had hoped God would listen to me and hold the sun still for a day so that I could get caught up.

Never before has time seemed to go so fast. "Wait." I screamed as summer drew to its close and I wanted that one last walk by the creek. "Wait." I screamed as classes began signalling another year towards the end of my degree. "Wait." I screamed as the leaves changed color and fell off the trees. "Wait." I screamed as I heard Christmas songs being played the day after Halloween.

Why now, does time seem to be going so fast? Is it because there are more grey hairs on my head? Is it because I have allowed myself to be so consumed with things I think I have to do? Is it that the world is spinning faster - maybe due to global warming? Is it because I realize certain things which are so precious seem to be slipping away? Is it because I have taken on more than I can handle?

I apologize for ending this now - I have once again ran out of time - and I have not yet figured out where it all went to and why it flies so fast! And I even had an extra hour today as we turned back the clocks!