It's
All about Hope
“I
thought, if ever there were a time for a book about hope, it's now.”
Studs
Terkel
All
of us, the world over, have watched the refugee crisis unfold in
Europe on the daily news. Hundreds of thousands of pitiful,
beautiful, war-ravaged people, little children, old ladies, mothers
and fathers, risk everything to get to the relative safety of a
European shore. Half die at sea. The ones who make it are often
turned away, tear gassed, shut out or carted away to camps. The
countries being swamped by this sea of humanity are reeling from the
impact. They have no clue how to provide even the meanest existence
for so many. And yet, and yet...
All
over Europe, in cities and towns, and along the open roads,
ordinary people come out to help. They bring food and blankets, water
and clean clothes. They play with the children, and console the
stressed out parents. They welcome and offer solace. Everywhere there
are good and decent people caring for total strangers, foreigners,
asylum seekers, who only want to live. One man, sleeping with his two
little sons on the concrete floor of the Budapest train station,
commented that even that was better than what lay behind them. While
governments wring their hands, argue and fight among themselves,
everyday citizens are doing what needs to be done.
The
only hope we have in this world, and I do have hope, is in the
goodness of people. We seem to have reached a point where governments
do not reflect the compassion of their people, but at least those
people are still here. They know that frightened children, foreign or
otherwise, need food and shelter, a warm blanket, and to be greeted
by people with sympathetic hearts. I feel grateful today for the
people of Europe, who step into the breech to lend a helping hand.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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