NaNoWriMo - Day 19 - Dear Mary

It's 4:49pm and I'm at work. The day is going by easily. My mouth is still a little sore and I'm not eating much more than soup, but that's ok. I needed to get a lot out of my diet anyway. I also said I was going to stop drinking wine and I'm not able to drink with this medication so I guess that's good too.

As I typed how easily my day is going I am watching reports of war and an Israeli man who lost his son today in the violence. This touches my heart. The loss of lives and human beings living in such fear. A man being interviewed just now said "Every day is worse than the day before." I can not imagine that life. I can't fathom an every day of missiles being launched and hearing bombs land and destroy homes and businesses and lives.

It hurts to know that people are dying and living in such great violence and then read about people's concerns be focused on trivial matters like reality shows or what to wear, black dress or blue. Dear Mary, we live our lives like we are not connected to each other. Like we are not concerned about each other. Do you see what's going on? Does it hurt you to watch? I could stay on this topic and get lost in sadness. More and more lost by the sentence. How awful it is for me to protect myself from sadness. To turn away from someone's pain because it might make me sad. If people can live without shelter and food and heat, dodge flying rubble, be trapped under buildings and watch their loved ones die right before them, then I can at least be informed about their world and so what about my sadness. I'm very guilty of not appreciating the abundance in my life. I have so much. Some things I am not even present enough to be thankful for. Things I act like I am entitled to.

I didn't expect to say any of this. I'm watching the news right now, that's how it all came up. It's inspiring watching President Obama in Asia speak to an audience about "America's belief in human dignity." Those are beautiful words. Would that our belief were much deeper.