We spent Thanksgiving on a 20 hour bus journey from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur (KL), eating power bars, chocolate milk and cookies from 7-11 because that's all we could grab before our hasty departure. As I'm sure you've read: Bangkok airport has been closed due to riots and anti-government protests. I spent the journey thinking of how grateful I am for an education, a savior who loves me unconditionally, a husband I'm having a blast seeing the world with, family, friends and being citizens of the US and UK. How blessed we are!
Sadly, I thought about our American and British brothers and sisters who lost their lives in the heinous terrorist attacks in Mumbai all for having different religions and passports. With heavy hearts, we watch the news and current affairs in both India and Thailand (our last and next destinations) pondering humanity. A few days earlier, we walked the streets of Phuket, seeing many younger local women with much older Western men. One woman, or girl I should say as she didn't appear old enough to have hit puberty, held the hand of a man who looked very easily old enough to be her grandfather, but clearly wasn't. They sat across from us at a pizza parlor, her eating, looking terribly unhappy and staring around in silence. It broke my heart to see such a youthful, beautiful girl with so much of life ahead of her looking so sad and losing her innocence at such a young age, her innocence probably sold by her parents for pocket change. I wanted to go up to her and smile at her, to show her the kindness and goodness of people, to hug her and tell her that she is beautiful and of great worth in the eyes of her creator, but instead, due to a language barrier and cultural differences, I sat there and prayed for her instead.
What a world we live in, full of people with such capacity to promote both goodness and evil. The more hurt I witness in the world, both personally and in the headlines, the more I don't want to be just another person contributing nothing more than a carbon footprint. I truly desire to leave the world better than I found it. Too idealistic, unrealistic, optimistic...I don't mind...what do I lose for trying? I feel it's a win-win situation. I feel the real question is not why bother, but where to begin?
