A Heavy Heart

These past few weeks have given me a glimpse into the world - into how people live, how people interact, how people express culture, but, more than any of these, into the instincts of human nature. I have been interning at a non-profit organization -- Human Rights Initiative -- which, among other things, represents asylum applicants in their journey to flee their homelands for fear of continuing persecution. As part of my position, I spend a lot (really most) of my time researching these disheartening stories to corroborate the events set forth by the applicants. My research has taken me from the depths of domestic violence in Latin America to political persecutions in Africa. With each case and country, I am even more shocked by the prevalence of hatred that is expressed worldwide through harm to innocent peoples, people that just happen to believe something different or have a different color skin then their persecutors.

At our core, human nature is sinful. We are greedy, angry, fearful people. Unfortunately, this means that some will suffer at the hands of others, as has been seen throughout history. And this cycle will continue to repeat through generations - because world peace on a global scale is not accomplished through human hands.

I was reading through old journal entries the other night and came across one written approximately two years ago. The sermon that Sunday had apparently addressed the lack of prayer in our lives. In regards to this, I wrote,"I want to see the kind of change that will move mountains - but I never ask for that to happen. My heart longs to be part of something bigger than me - but I never ask to be a part of that movement." I feel helpless to combat a world bathed in injustice; but I also forget that there is a source of power stronger than the sins of the world, a power that literally carries the weight of the world on it. I want my prayers to be heard, to be understood and to be acted upon - I just need to believe in those prayers.