Thank you God
All I could say as I watched what is going on in
the Sudan
September 17, 2004
iranian
Today on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,
I saw a sight that had a profound impact on me. A one year-old
little
girl
was
barely
clinging to life in a Sudanese refugee camp, her skin was hanging
from her body, her face expressionless, as if she had already gone
to another world. I thought to myself, what if that was my niece?
What if that was my child?
I truly wept from the bottom of my heart, struggling to make
sense of it all. I sit here in my house, never a concern about
what I
will eat tomorrow, or how I will have water to drink, or where
I will sleep at night. We live our lives so unconsciously, thinking
that these privileged worries we are blessed to have are so unbearable
at times.
We worry about bills, deadlines, relationships, rarely giving
a second thought to the fact that we are truly blessed to have
these
kinds of "problems." Yet, imagine having absolutely nothing.
A tent provided by the United Nations for a home, scraps of
food, loved ones dead and dying all around you, and no hope for
a better
tomorrow.
I am guilty. I worry endlessly about materialistic, mundane
concerns, arrogant enough to question God when things aren't
going my way.
As I watched what is going on in the Sudan, and no doubt
in other places around the world, all I could say was Thank you
God. Thank
you for giving me this honored life, for the wonderful opportunities
and comforts that I have each day, and help me to be conscious
of it in every moment.
 Regardless of religious persuasion, or even none at all,
every individual decides for themselves what the meaning
and purpose
of their life is. Whatever the purpose of life may be,
it is indisputable that life has value, intrinsic or not. If
it had
no value, no one
would care about dying, or someone that they love dying.
And this value of life makes me personally, feel responsible
to
do something
during my lifetime that will leave this world a better
place that will help people who are suffering from genocide, starvation,
and
poverty.
Despite the horrors that the Sudanese are facing at this
moment, a poignant story demonstrates the beauty of the
human soul.
The news report mentioned a family sitting on the dirt
in their tent,
a piece of cardboard for a roof. The mother nursed a
baby while the father taught their young son from the Quran.
They were
holding on to hope.
I have noticed that the situations in my life, whether
personal or not, always leave me with, how ever small,
a glimmer of
hope. Maybe it's because of my name. Yes, I am an idealist
and my hope
is that you will read this article, and if only for
just a moment, you will set aside your concerns, and be grateful
for
whatever
supernatural or natural force that is allowing you
to
be alive and fortunate enough to have so many of the
things
that so
many people in this world do not.
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