A friend who lived in a far away dictator-run country visited for a few days. The picture she described of a community of people, displaced from thier counrty, but illegally in the one they live in. Unable to go home for fear of thier lives. Much like our African neighbor and the refugees flooding our borders.
Looking at the similarites, and although the two countries are worlds apart, the heart of the problem is the same. HOPE.
Some have it - a hope for the future - expecatiations that in thier future there is something good waiting for them, be it tomorrow or in a week or two. Others dont, expecting nothing good, or different from day to day. Stuck in a whirlpool of displacement with no way back.
Some have hope for the future here on earth, and thats where it stops. Others have a hope beyond here. Beyond tomorrow's experience.
An anticipation for something beyond the job they have, the car they drive, the house they live in, the pets they keep, the DVD collection on the shelf, the concerts they attend, the clothes they afford, bla bla bla.
Hope is the freedom to place trust in something bigger, something unseen, someone real, and to really believe with all your heart that prayers are heard, miracles happen and that there is A Divine Plan. To some the idea of this is silly, childish, for the weak.
Put yourself in the shoes of the (pick a counrty with dictatorship)-ean refugee who has had to flee for thier lives, and cant go home because of the risk of being imprissoned, not being legal in the county they happen to find themsleves in. Without a home, without a job or a way to make life work. What can you offer them?
Now Hope doesnt seem childish or immature or weak does it? Infact it seems inhumane not to offer them something that lasts longer than a buck or two. Hope for the hopeless.
It's this displaced refugee that needs the freedom to believe thier prayers are heard, that there will be a miracle in thier life and that there is A Divine Plan.
We all get displaced from time to time. Life throwas the preverbial curve ball. The job gets tough, a relationship doesn't pan out be what you thought, or bad news derails our well and carefully laid plans.
We all need hope. To be free from worry of what people will think of us when we decide to hope. After all, not to be allowed hope is inhumane.
Hope deffered makes the heart sick - We could heal a whole lotta hearts if we encouraged Hope.
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