Trapped.
That word feels like it is firmly and tenaciously planted just inside each ear. All I could think of when I heard about the earthquake in Haiti is how all of those people are trapped. I heard it over and over on the news.
People are trapped under rubble.
People are trapped in slums.
People are trapped outside (unable to go in for fear of the structure collapsing).
People are trapped in Haiti.
I got to thinking about this tiny little place that occupies so little space on this planet. People are poor. They are sick. They are in danger. They are forgotten.
I wonder if they feel trapped. For them, this is home. This is life. It's only by our standards that they are trapped. Sure, they may know that the odds of a child surviving past five aren't good, and they may know that a better life exists in other places. But it is still their home. It is still home. It doesn't mean they are any less in need, but it does imply that there is something we can learn.
It is my firm belief that we are all born "good". We are all vulnerable creatures that seek, first, to survive, and second, to help our species survive. Means of survival may vary. For me, I "survive" by trying very hard to stand where others are standing. I am not always successful and I am often wrong, but I always try. I survive by striving to be on the same "side" as others...despite our differences. I am not too trusting and I am not naive. But I am very flawed and simply cannot assert that I have any authority or right to judge the flaws of another.
In the spirit of survival of the species, I do all I can to teach my children to survive. I feed them, clothe them, keep them clean and healthy, educate their minds, strengthen their spirits...all in the hopes that I can help to equip them with tremendous resiliency. To be honest, I think this is part of my own survival since I can't let myself even consider a life that doesn't include their physical presence.
In the process of survival, there is danger and heartbreak, loss and disappointment. There is also fantastic joy, pleasant surprises, love, affection, laughter, excitement, courage, and reward. While I know that my choices all work in this linear and cumulative way to shape the course of my life, it does often feel involuntary. So am I "trapped"?
Despite my belief system, I still find it difficult to overcome the wedge that comes between another person and me when they say something like, "I'm tired of helping others who aren't willing to help themselves." I want to stand where they are and see what they are seeing. Maybe then I'll have a good enough understanding of it to come up with a solid, inarguable rebuttal. Instead, I just fight the urge to call them cynical and heartless. I'm tempted to taunt them with statements like, "Well, it must be nice to know that nothing bad will ever happen and you'll always have an endless supply of food and a permanent place to call home!" Instead, I stumble over terms like "the colonization of poverty" and "oppression" and "social Darwinism". I guess in the face of my own ugliness, I try to hide behind these words in the hopes that I'll just ridicule them into changing their points of view. It's futile and ineffective. But in that moment, I feel trapped.
Last night, I looked around Facebook hoping to catch a glimpse of the true goodness of others. Thinking to myself, "People may act cynical, but when true tragedy strikes, people will step up to help." A few people did. Mostly, I saw messages about posting an old photo of yourself in your profile, copying the fifth line from the book closest to you, what people were having for dinner, or how cold it was (or wasn't). It was as if no one noticed...or cared what was happening on this tiny little piece of land. I was discouraged and disappointed.
As I thought more about it, I came to the conclusion that we are all trapped. We are trapped (and paralyzed) by our fears. We are trapped by unrealistic expectations of how we should look or where we should be in life. We are trapped by the endless stream of noise and flashing lights that hit us as soon as we walk out the door. We are trapped by our own ignorance. Just as think that cynical woman is ignorant to the plight of others, I too am trapped by my ignorance of what losses she may have experienced in her life may have caused her to feel the way she does. We are all trapped by vulnerability.
Naturally, the antidote to "trapped" is "rescue". If we are all, in some way, trapped. It stands to reason that we all need to be rescued. Some may turn to religion, friends, careers, drugs, alcohol... We stand firm in our "homes", but we often feel trapped inside ourselves and victims of circumstances that no one else could understand. We look for ways to escape or something to rescue us.
So tonight, my thought is that maybe something so catastrophic like an earth quake that nearly shakes a country off the map can make us realize how truly vulnerable we all are, how no one is exempt from the need for rescue, and how we are all connected in some way. Maybe those who normally feel nothing when they hear about things like this can feel something.
xoxo
That word feels like it is firmly and tenaciously planted just inside each ear. All I could think of when I heard about the earthquake in Haiti is how all of those people are trapped. I heard it over and over on the news.
People are trapped under rubble.
People are trapped in slums.
People are trapped outside (unable to go in for fear of the structure collapsing).
People are trapped in Haiti.
I got to thinking about this tiny little place that occupies so little space on this planet. People are poor. They are sick. They are in danger. They are forgotten.
I wonder if they feel trapped. For them, this is home. This is life. It's only by our standards that they are trapped. Sure, they may know that the odds of a child surviving past five aren't good, and they may know that a better life exists in other places. But it is still their home. It is still home. It doesn't mean they are any less in need, but it does imply that there is something we can learn.
It is my firm belief that we are all born "good". We are all vulnerable creatures that seek, first, to survive, and second, to help our species survive. Means of survival may vary. For me, I "survive" by trying very hard to stand where others are standing. I am not always successful and I am often wrong, but I always try. I survive by striving to be on the same "side" as others...despite our differences. I am not too trusting and I am not naive. But I am very flawed and simply cannot assert that I have any authority or right to judge the flaws of another.
In the spirit of survival of the species, I do all I can to teach my children to survive. I feed them, clothe them, keep them clean and healthy, educate their minds, strengthen their spirits...all in the hopes that I can help to equip them with tremendous resiliency. To be honest, I think this is part of my own survival since I can't let myself even consider a life that doesn't include their physical presence.
In the process of survival, there is danger and heartbreak, loss and disappointment. There is also fantastic joy, pleasant surprises, love, affection, laughter, excitement, courage, and reward. While I know that my choices all work in this linear and cumulative way to shape the course of my life, it does often feel involuntary. So am I "trapped"?
Despite my belief system, I still find it difficult to overcome the wedge that comes between another person and me when they say something like, "I'm tired of helping others who aren't willing to help themselves." I want to stand where they are and see what they are seeing. Maybe then I'll have a good enough understanding of it to come up with a solid, inarguable rebuttal. Instead, I just fight the urge to call them cynical and heartless. I'm tempted to taunt them with statements like, "Well, it must be nice to know that nothing bad will ever happen and you'll always have an endless supply of food and a permanent place to call home!" Instead, I stumble over terms like "the colonization of poverty" and "oppression" and "social Darwinism". I guess in the face of my own ugliness, I try to hide behind these words in the hopes that I'll just ridicule them into changing their points of view. It's futile and ineffective. But in that moment, I feel trapped.
Last night, I looked around Facebook hoping to catch a glimpse of the true goodness of others. Thinking to myself, "People may act cynical, but when true tragedy strikes, people will step up to help." A few people did. Mostly, I saw messages about posting an old photo of yourself in your profile, copying the fifth line from the book closest to you, what people were having for dinner, or how cold it was (or wasn't). It was as if no one noticed...or cared what was happening on this tiny little piece of land. I was discouraged and disappointed.
As I thought more about it, I came to the conclusion that we are all trapped. We are trapped (and paralyzed) by our fears. We are trapped by unrealistic expectations of how we should look or where we should be in life. We are trapped by the endless stream of noise and flashing lights that hit us as soon as we walk out the door. We are trapped by our own ignorance. Just as think that cynical woman is ignorant to the plight of others, I too am trapped by my ignorance of what losses she may have experienced in her life may have caused her to feel the way she does. We are all trapped by vulnerability.
Naturally, the antidote to "trapped" is "rescue". If we are all, in some way, trapped. It stands to reason that we all need to be rescued. Some may turn to religion, friends, careers, drugs, alcohol... We stand firm in our "homes", but we often feel trapped inside ourselves and victims of circumstances that no one else could understand. We look for ways to escape or something to rescue us.
So tonight, my thought is that maybe something so catastrophic like an earth quake that nearly shakes a country off the map can make us realize how truly vulnerable we all are, how no one is exempt from the need for rescue, and how we are all connected in some way. Maybe those who normally feel nothing when they hear about things like this can feel something.
xoxo
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