“Nations do not lead people to peace: rather
people lead nations to peace.”
Though
many of us think of peace as the absence of violence, I believe such an image
to be incomplete. In addition to an
absence of violence, my image of peace includes a place where each of us holds our
relationship with one another as sacred, regardless of race, gender, or
economic status. I believe in a world
where each of us recognizes that as a human family, we are interdependent. We recognize that we are to treat our
neighbor as another self. In other
words, we must honor our neighbor including (or especially) the marginalized in
our society. We are called to treat each
other with justice, to respect the dignity of every human being. We are responsible to meet the needs of our
sisters and brothers so that everyone would have equal opportunity to achieve
her or his potential.
In
my work at BEACON and BARN, I have encountered some of the most marginalized in
our society. It is heartbreaking to work
with adults who have never being in school.
Not only does the person cannot read, she cannot even copy the
alphabet. Our aim at BEACON is to each
English to our learners, which would enable them to acquire a better job. But there is a need to teach literacy in the
person’s native language. Unfortunately,
there are no funds to help such people.
Their native country had failed them, making it extremely hard for them
to participate fully in society.
Yet,
it is not only Latin American countries and African countries that struggle
with illiteracy. In my work at BARN, the
scene of a young fifth and sixth grader who is unable to read is becoming too
familiar. I have been taught that
education is one of the most valuable gifts.
But, too often I have encountered those who have giving up: “Those children
are with us for just a short period of time, then they will move on. Let them do what they want… It is up to them
to figure out what they desire in life…” In other words, their problem is not
my problem. I have to say that what is more heartbreaking than seeing adults
and children struggle with reading is witnessing those who have already giving
up; those who places the homeless and the immigrants as the ‘other,’ not worth
spending time with; those who rely on their discomfort and are unable to see
that the ‘other’ is another self.
In
the words of Shane Clairborne and Chris Haw, I pray that “God gives us the strength
to storm the gates of hell and tear down the walls we have created between us
and those whose suffering would disrupt our comfort. May we become familiar with the suffering of the
poor outside of our gates, know their names and taste the salt in their
tears. Then when the ones ‘God has
rescued,’ the Lazarus of our world- the baby refugees, [the immigrants] and the
homeless outcasts- are seated next to God, we can say, ‘We are with them’.
Peace and Blessed
Easter Season,
Christina