Bondo shared with his a few “Bullet Crosses” he brought from post-civil-war Liberia. It reminded me how fragile our world is and how precious peace is. The events surrounding the war and the experience of such terror coloured almost everything he shared. I’m part of genreration in Malaysia that has no understanding of war (the older ones probably would still remember the Japanese occupation during world war two … I’ve heard stories).
As Christians we’re called to be instruments of peace, this morning during the devotion the person in charge shared with us an interesting story from Peaceculture.net. We don’t need to wait for all the macro problems to be solved before something can happen, it can start now even if it’s a dream.
_________________________
There once was a man who was a dreamer. He believed, for instance, that there must be a way to see things ten thousand miles away. Or he figured there must be a way to eat soup with a fork. He thought there must be a way for people to stand on their own heads, and he was sure there must be a way for people to live without fear.
The people told him, “None of those things can be done; you’re a dreamer!” And they said, “You’ve got to open your eyes and accept reality!” And they said, “There are laws of nature, and you can’t just change them!”
But the man said, “I don’t know … there must be a way to breathe under water. And there must be a way to give everybody something to eat. There must be a way for everybody to learn what he or she wants to know. There must be a way to look inside your own belly.”
And the people said, “Pull yourself together, mister; those things will never happen. You can’t simply say you want something and then just expect it to happen. The world is the way it is, and that’s all there is to it!”
When television was invented and x-ray machines, the man was able to see ten thousand miles away and he could see inside his own belly. But no one said to him, “Okay, I guess you weren’t so wrong, after all.” And they said nothing after someone invented diving suits that allowed people to breathe easily under water. But the man said to himself: that’s what I thought. Maybe one day it will even be possible to get along without wars.
___________________
2 Responses to The Dreamer