“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Martin Luther King, Jr

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

When You Wake



You wake in the morning to the sound of the alarm clock. You groan and want just five more minutes, snuggling into the depths of your warm bed. You finally get up and pop into the shower letting the hot steamy water roll over you as you pour you new body wash by Elizabeth Arden and lather the scent over you. You rinse and jump out to wrap in a big fluffy forty dollar towel. Run downstairs and pour a cup of espresso and hurry and drink your juice and gobble your pastry. Run and put on your designer dress and put on your makeup and put the hot rollers in your hair. You enjoy the sound of Vivaldi  that softly comes from the speakers. You brush out your hair and spray it and out the door to jump in your Lexus and head to work, where you enjoy your office with it’s 125,00 dollar view.

You wake in the morning to the sound of your child, whimpering in her sleep. You know the bad dreams she has from running from the soldiers and watching her Daddy being taken and beaten in front of her. You know she is also hungry and has only had a small handful of leaves, and some Mukheit berries that had soaked for three days in a little bit of water to remove the toxicity. Today, you must wake your child and prepare to search for  more leaves and hopefully some wild grass to at least make a little flour. You will try to get water without being shot or raped. Without life giving water you cannot eat the Mukheit berry or make flour into bread. You look out at the barren desert in front of you. You adjust the cloth about your face tighter to shield yourself from the scorching sun. Hopefully you can make a few more miles toward your goal of a refugee camp. If only you make it with yours and your child’s life.


The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people that are evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.

                                            Albert Einstein

Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.
                                             Albert Einstein

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! That was intense! As it should be. The quotes are spot on.

Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men.
Boondock Saints

What will you say when God asks what did you do to help the abused child? The hungry family? The dieing man? The slaughtered nation?

I struggle with these ideas. I want to help so much. I know the pain that others feel. I have felt it my self. I still feel it. But while I'm struggling to survive and hurting myself...how can I help? How much should I give?

mitch said...

badevan, I hope to inspire others. I so appreciate you stopping by. I know you have been through so much yourself. If you click on the link to Freedomfromhunger, I think you will be pleased to see how they help. Not only with food but more importantly education. It is my favorite organization. Please read about this wonderful organization, but as important help spread the word.

Relax Max said...

And what will God say when I ask him why he didn't just snap his fingers and make the child's hurting go away?

There are more questions than the ones you pose, Mitch. Unknowable. Unexplainable. Not quite that simple at all.

Let us all do what we can and not stop simply because it will never be enough. Both stories are accidents of birth. The woman need not give up her corner office or even feel ashamed of her good fortune. She probably gives more money to charities than you know. Is it not wrong to make blanket assumptions in your attempt to make an exaggerated point? Does that not become propaganda as well?

Remind people to give and tell them where to send their money, Mitch. Don't you think? How many people will read your post and run sobbing to the mailbox because of it? Don't know. Keep pounding away at the need. Sure. But don't try to shame people into giving. It just doesn't work. Not with me anyway.

And do put a prominent link or button that readers can click on to take action while you have them emotionally involved. I am going to try and do the same thing. Put it right at the end of each post, I think, not just generally in the sidebar. I'm looking for the right one, is all.

Mitch, your heart is in the right place. God, I wish the world were full of special people like you!

All my love. Tough love today, baby. :)

mitch said...

max, exactly what I need, tough love. I want people to remember there are those in need. Perhaps it is not the correct way to do it, but I am still feeling my way. How do you think I felt when I read your post? I felt shame that I am not doing enough. I realize that was not your intention Have patience and let me know what ideas you have. Thanks Baby!

Relax Max said...

Shame? With all the good you are doing? Better not, baby. I will stop talking to you if you feel shame. I will back off and be nice to you. Polite too. Sorry. I love you.

Anonymous said...

Superb post. Sorry I missed it earlier. To tell you the truth I think it was perfect. I don't think there was any feeling that you were trying to shame anyone, just highlighting the contrast. As I said, superb.

Unknown said...

a. thank you. I was highlighting the contrast. I think " there but for the grace of God go I " I want to quit whining about what I don't have and be more thankful for what I do have.
Max, if you are polite I will be so pissed.

Relax Max said...

I give up. You both are too much for me alone.

BadEvan said...

Mitch, I checked out the group and plan on posting them to my blog. Thank you for sharing such a great organization.

Max, God could end all of the suffering and pain in the world. God could rid us of all evil. But what would life be? What would be the point to it all? We grow through our struggles and triumphs.

We also can become stronger in our faith through witnessing the harshness of the world. We are our brothers keeper and it's up to us to heal the wounds of the suffering.

mitch said...

badevan, thank you so very much for your support. I would love to do an awareness day for this cause. I am looking into what I need to do.

BadEvan said...

You should start a thread in the EC forum about an awareness day. Get the other bloggers into it. I did this once before about 2 yrs ago. You just need to work with some one, setup a plan, and then give 2 months for others to join in.

One thing...While many in the EC community would do it for nothing...there should always be another incentive. Like a gift card or a ton of ECs.

kimberly nyambura said...

the quotes are really inspiring how i wish guys could take them more seriously ....

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