I Have a Voice

Bundibugyo, Uganda
Volume 2, Issue 30
January 24, 2008

-I Have a Voice-
…and so I will shout…

Sometimes I get so self-focused and centered only on my needs that I ignore those around me and forget that I am not the only one in this world with problems. Even when those around me are suffering great, I still all too often focus only on me. Why can’t I love others as God has loved me? Why can’t I focus less on me and more on those around me? Why do I feel sorry for myself when I have been given much and opportunities have been many? Why do I feel sad, when I know that there are so many reasons to be glad?

I am not sure why I feel the way I do at times, but I can not ignore those feelings, instead I must seek to find the root from which the emotions stem. Most days I am happy, joyful, thankful for life and living, but some days I am not. Some days I am dreadfully sad, frustrated, impatient, and occasionally I even get mad. A range of emotions is good, I think, but must be kept in check and balanced well.

More and more I am realizing that this world was not meant to be my permanent home. Over and over again I have seen travesty, injustice, and remarkable despair. In moments like this I am incredibly reminded that it was not intended to be this way. In a perfect world man chose sin, thus chaos and crime ensued. I can not set things completely right, and only in the very end will all things be made new. Until then I am a traveler in a world of wrongs, seeking light and hope, justice and peace. If one does not try to make the world a better place for all, then maybe one will never be disappointed by brokenness, sin, injustice, and despair. But if one does not strive for equality and justice, what hope is there? When life goes awry, which it often does, should one sit back and let it happen, or should one stand up for those without a voice. I have a voice. I am able to take a stand. So I will not sit by and let the unjust prevail, but I will raise my voice high, and I will shout. I will shout until I can shout no more.