Monday, December 29, 2008

Are we ready for this?

I was reading an interesting article in the newspaper on Sunday. It was about a woman from another country, who is now living in Minnesota, who was taking another woman to court to prove that this other woman used Voodoo to lure her husband away from her.
How do you prove that someone used Voodoo on you?
Is our court system prepared to take on things like this?
These sort of things are commonplace in several other countries. In Jamaica, they have what is called "Family Court". This is a secondary court system that deals with all of the problems that people have with each other. As with everything else in Jamaica, it is a first come first served basis. So on the days that the local family courts are being held you will see people lining up from 5am to be among the first to be helped. There are hundreds of people in line by the time the doors open up. They usually end up being there all day. There is a judge who makes decisions between people who have grievances with each other similar to what takes place in the Old Testament. I think we would be wise to begin something like this for all of the immigrants who have come here and now call the USA home.
What do you think?

Friday, December 26, 2008

Thoughts

I have been intrigued by people from different places all my life. I remember in third grade, we had someone from the Peace Corps come to our classroom and they talked about Ecuador and what life was like there. I remember thinking that is what I wanted to do with my life.
Then the world and all its cares got in the way. I forgot third grade. I remember in high school when we had to choose a career. I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist. But... it would have taken 12 more years of college. That was a lifetime to me. I chose nothing. I remember thinking it would be awesome to be a photographer for National Geographic. But... How do you get a job like that. I just decided to have fun while I took pictures, and then I got a generic job and never went to college. I just lived my life. I did get a couple jobs in different places in the US, but they were never what I really wanted. Then God met me and my life turned around. I ended up going to Mexico on a missions trip, then I went to Jamaica. I ended up living there. I learned the culture, the language and then remembered what happened in the third grade. I was living what I had dreamed of then. It is funny to me how we can just go along and if we keep walking and don't stop, we will be directed where we are supposed to go.
I have studied several different cultures over the years and I would love to just be able to go to those places and meet these people. I think EVERY person in this world has something unique to share. I see each person as someone I could learn something from. I am saddened by how this world tries to make some people believe they are not worth anything. That is such a lie.
I hope that anyone who reads this blog will see that they have worth and I would love to hear some of the things you have learned in this life.
Today I read a Persian proverb: When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.
I love this. It is when things in our life are the darkest and hardest that we can begin to see the beautiful things, if we only look up.

Followers