Words at War

July 7, 2016

I’m a struggling suburban housewife. Our car is broken and our basement and yard flooding. We scramble to pay bills, like many in the United States, yet we get by. We remain relatively healthy and seek education. We attend church and act as morally as we can. We are typical in many ways, blessed in others, and lacking in some small areas.

Bombs don’t fall from our skies. We don’t huddle in caves with neighbors, cringing at sounds and praying for food. We drink fresh water and launder our clothing and clean our skin and hair. We care for pets. We don’t scavenge for life-sustaining supplies. We dose needed medicine and can seek medical attention without fearing our hospital will be bombed.

Yet there are people hiding in caves in Syria, families educating children below ground, human beings starving, watching each other die. Their children look to them, pleading for succor. Real lives lived in unending peril, agonized knowing there’s nowhere for them to turn.

Mothers clutch babies bloodied by battles, innocent victims unable to prevent the conflict. Fathers helpless to save them from the experience claw at barriers, hoping to squeeze their loved ones through. Luminous eyes observe terrorism at ground zero.

And much of the world remains silent.

Many present the theory that hidden amongst these needy souls hide terrorists. Others point to an influx of refugees ruining economies and destroying infrastructures.

I don’t know the answer. I’m a struggling suburban housewife of middling intelligence. I send prayers to the refugees ripped from their homes, desperate to survive. I beg those with the power to help to do so.

In this messed up world, we are each other’s keepers. We are each other. Any one of us could be cringing from lack of care. We could be displaced and homeless. We need to have faith and help.

I know. Bleeding heart liberal. I can hear the slurs. But I believe we are called to a higher purpose. We are not meant to simply scramble about, nose to the ground, and carry out the duties of our lives.

Thus I send out words since I haven’t much money, physical strength, or political influence. I have only a compassionate heart and words. Words at war against atrocity. Words incensed by silence while human souls suffer, huddled in caves, trying to merely survive

I don’t see much news coverage on the Syrian situation. Our news coverage is lacking. I sifted through media outlets to brave graphic images and learn, to understand the plight of my fellow man, and thus ask you to do the same. Learn what is happening in the world around you. Check out Unicef’s site and Humanitarian Aid and Justice. Read international news.

Even if you think this situation doesn’t affect you directly, it does. We are part of a community. A worldwide community. We should care for one another. We must not sit by and watch “reality TV” while ignoring reality.
K.

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