every once in a while, the shocking reality and the truth about this world pierces through the intoxicating fog of materialism, mindless worries, self-centerness, and hedonism that i willingly surround myself with.
saturday night as i was coming back from my one day vacation at banff, i ran into this girl at the c-train station @ 11pm at night. she looked so young, but i didn't want to offend her by asking her age. she put up a tough, independent demeanor, but yet i could see her vulnerability. as i got to know her, my heart went out to her. @ 14 she had divorced parents. that day her dad had been yelling at her because she was late in getting home. on the other hand her mom didn't care at all. i couldn't imagine what messages the actions or the lack thereof of her parents sent her. did she feel unloved? unworthy? ugly? lonely?
that night the veil lifted just a bit and i saw the world beyond my own bubble. there are hurting and broken people out there. "hurt and broken people" wasn't just a cliche anymore, it became manifest in the physical form of a 14 year old girl at Sunnyside station.
yet even as the veil lifted, i was still engrossed with myself. the girl whom i still don't know the name of stayed behind to get picked up by her mom. meanwhile i rushed to get home on the train instead of staying with her and talk to her more. the most i could muster up was to give her a 4 laws and tell her that, that was what got me through my parents' divorce. meanwhile two drunken boys also around 14-15 who had arrived in the midst of our conversation mocked me. "did you find God?" i gave them each a booklet too. i should have stayed, but instead i jumped on the train to go home, and as the train pullled away the veil was slowly dropping again...
sunday morning at church a pastor from the congo was sharing his experiences during the civil war that ravaged the country. as everyone gasped and sat astounded through it all, i sat thinking "this isn't news to me." international development exposed me to plenty of stats, numbers, and facts about the state of the world. it just wasn't shocking anymore. except this meant i was in a worse position than most since i knew about it all, but did nothing. instead i've been justifying myself by thinking i'm poor because i'm living on a student budget. i brushed off the verses in 1st timothy 6:17-19 and attributed it to the white collared professionals that i saw going to work everyday in those tall skyscrapers downtown.
however that's not the truth. that's not the reality. in actuality i am the 761,386,272 richest person in the world out of 6 billion people according to globalrichlist.com i have access to food anytime i want, i have a closet full of clothes, i have running water, i have a car, i have a computer, i'm university educated......there is no way in the world that i am "poor".
God has truly blessed me, and i've failed to be grateful for it.
oh that the veil would not fall again.
You are dead on. How is it that we are so easily blinded to the reality of our world and all the people in it? I'm with you: oh that the veil would be always lifted and also that we saints may be granted the vision of God to see our brothers and sisters in humanity as he does.
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