“In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.”

-Pastor Martin Niemoller

I am watching Hotel Rwanda right now. I had to pause it for a minute and write. In this particular scene, the western soldiers came only to rescue the foreign nationals, mostly whites. Several things stuck out to me: (1)when a black British journalist tried to pass, he was immediately stopped, and had to show his passport before boarding the bus. (2) If the foreign nationals all banded together, and refused to go, what would have happened? I immediately thought of the quote above by Pastor Martin Niemoller, and I thought to myself, “Who am I not speaking for?” “What am I willing to die for?”

It is so easy just to be a spectator, and use words. It is even harder to be a participant, and create change. A Hindu belief, I believe, states that we are reincarnated in so many different forms, that becoming a human being is so rare, that we should cherish LIFE. So, to much is given, much is expected, as they say. There is so much to do:

The Congo

Sudan

India

Somalia

New Orleans

Urban America

Israel/Palestine

Rural America

You

Me …