How do we sleep at night?

I mean, honestly, how do we do it?

How do we sleep at night??

When we see things like this and KNOW what is happening in the world around us. 

We are so comfortable that we crawl into our beds each night and complain about the noise the neighbors make and in the meantime, thousands of refugees are fleeing from the worst crises in our day and age. Families wanting to live. Wanting their children to not have to survive in a literal war zone. We have no idea what that life is like but this picture-- Aylan, the little boy who drowned at sea from Syria shakes me up. It makes me angry. Because he could have lived (and his brother too) but he didn't... They didn't. 

And yet, here we are... Complaining and bypassing the real atrocities of the world. And maybe I'm a little more attentive because I feel a strangely beautiful connection to the culture of family and care and kindness and protection, which is what I've experienced of Syrian culture. And I'm whining because the speed of the Internet on my phone is slow and I'm hungry for dinner although I had lunch a few short hours ago. Although I may fear some things, it is nothing of the life in the picture above. A little boy's body lying on the shore. A little boy who wanted to live. 

I hope for you. That you lose sleep. A lot of sleep. Because there is REAL injustice in the world and we are so selfish and focused on us that we don't know what to do about it so we do nothing. We sit silently, idly by. 

Seventy years ago, many Americans did the same thing. Slept well at night and when we woke up... And we saw the numbers following... 11-15 million dead in Europe. We did the same thing in the 1990's. But we stepped out and they were endangered in Rwanda- 800,000 dead within months. We've watched the atrocities of Sudan within our lifetimes and even allowed their president who is wanted as a crime offender internationally move freely. And now this. What will our kids say in 15 years when they learn about this in their history classes? What will be our answer. 

The least I can say is that I lost sleep. And stayed and prayed for the families of those who have chosen to stay despite the immense danger to their lives. And for those who have taken the risk to leave, may Europe and the Western world open their eyes, arms, hearts, pockets and homes-- then we will truly see change because we give and become part of the solution to the problem. 

Jesus, you're always it- may we hear you speak in sleepless nights on what you want us to do. On how we change the world. On how we let go of our lives to see others saved. 

I'm not sleeping either. Melis