Haiti has been devastated by a recent earthquake and most recently cholera. Many are aware of these recent catastrophes, yet we often forget that Haiti has struggled under the hands of oppression since Columbus. If you begin to feel guilty, stop. Guilt too often leads to apathy. If you feel anything, do something. We may not be able to revoke injustice for those unknown in Haiti or for that matter other people groups damaged by the sin and greed of Western arrogance. However, we can work to change the greed within ourselves.The clothes we buy, the food we eat, and the programs and politicians we support all affect the world around us; assumptions are always dangerous. And all to often our fortune is the result of someone's loss. Sacrifice and giving are what lead us to hope, yet these seems increasingly hard to come by.
Many programs of thought help to convince us that combating sin and ego is all there is to hope. "Fight injustice with justice! An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth! Placate the sin desire with service and kindness to the poor. Love heals all things!"
Sentiments such as these often fall short of changing the dirt realities of child prostitution, slavery, and suicide. When acted upon they may benefit those suffering, and possibly change the attitude of the agitator, but we will always have the guilt of yesterday. One may think his good-boy reputation will protect him from his reckoning, that his acts of kindness outweigh his former acts of depravity, but his soul is left restless from the unavoidable account of trespass.
Do you know the Truth? If so, you are set free. You are free from past mistakes and free to work towards an establishment of Truth all over the world- Peace on Earth. Please pray that the Truth, Salvation Himself would be revealed in our hearts, and in the hearts of those in Haiti.
