Tuesday, July 24, 2007

waiting on the world to bleed

"sometimes i wonder...will God ever forgive us for what we've done to each other? then i look around and i realize...God left this place a long time ago."
- danny archer in "blood diamond"

there was a scene in the movie that really caught my attention. it was when archer, solomon and maddy approached the refugee camp where solomon's family were and the camera showed people lining up for food at a un world food programme tent.

the tent looked tiny compared to the vastness of the refugee camp and the multitudes of people waiting to be fed. sure, it was the size of a one-storey terrace house and there were huge trucks unloading supplies at the door. also, the programme would have kept the millions of refugees well-nourished. but what aid is that compared to the devastation of civil war? it is close to negligible on the large scale.

it is here that john mayer's satirical song "waiting on the world to change" should come to mind.

i can do without comfort. i will go and dish out food or figure out the complexities of logistics in a relief operation but that is minute in comparison to the change that is necessary in so many countries, even my own.

the real earth-shakers are not the countless men and women who give up their own lives to touch people's lives in little displays of generosity and care. the ones who can truly make things happen are the policy-makers and politicians and even the lobbyists. therefore in reality, the earth-shakers are the parents, friends, teachers who impact them along the way, who make sure those future decision-makers get on the right path, away from greed and selfishness.

when archer told maddy that he has failed to see God anywhere in the midst of the hell that is civil war, my mind automatically leapt to, "no, God is there because (and this is the over-used taken for granted phrase) He loves us". but when i gave it a second thought, i realised that he was right.

God wasn't there, but only because the people who yielded the power didn't give Him a place to stay. exactly how many of us, future policy-makers of the world, allow Him to live in us anyway? somewhere along the way we have vacated the throne where God sits in our hearts and replaced the crown on our own heads.

how then, can the world change? maybe we should just continue to wait.

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i blame cain for committing the first murder. i blame my tear ducts for succumbing so easily to my heart. i blame the wasted time, the unnecessary conflicts. worst of all, in some cruel human reflex, i blame myself eventhough nothing's got to do with me.

lishun at 10:46 PM

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