Captain’s Log: Day Sixteen
Take a moment to think.
To really think.
Think about the children in your lives.
All ages.
All genders.
The ones you teach.
The ones you you care for.
The ones you love.
You watch them play sports.
Excell in the arts.
Perform on stages.
They sing. They play. They dance.
Outdoors, they run free.
They laugh.
You provide for them everything you can.
Food. Clothes. Shelter.
And with those basic comforts you give them so much more.
You give them safety.
You give them joy.
You give them confidence.
Your entire world is who they are.
Some of you have children of your own.
Others are now grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins.
Some are educators.
Medical professionals.
Coaches.
Counselors.
Mentors.
All of you with extreme passion for the ones you love. The ones you work so hard to protect, to guide.
You open your phone and on it are their smiles, joyfully on your screen, which is your go to when *you* need that pick me up. They remind you of all the good things in the world. Happiness. Innocence. Hope.
Nothing brings peace like the genuine laughter of a child.
Now take it all away.
Think.
Replace those smiles with tears.
Those glowing eyes illuminated now only with fear.
Picture your children, the ones that warm your hearts, the ones you love so much, the ones you would do anything for, the ones you protect… and strip them of all you have worked so hard to give…all the comforts and safety of their lives.
Envision them in the streets.
Envision them lost…crying.
Envision them hungry, scared, cold.
Envision them watching their families… their siblings…their loved ones… you…all doing the same.
Scrambling for safety.
Scrambling for food.
Scrambling to survive.
Their toys now hidden in rubble where their beds used to be.
Think.
Think hard.
Picture the children you love most.
It’s all gone now.
Everything.
Every kiss. Every giggle. Every hug.
Vanished like their homes.
Vanished like their food.
Vanished like there water, their electricity… their lives.
Innocence lost. Reality kicks in.
They were just pawns.
Nothing is left but emptiness.
But in your reality… there is.
Your child’s tears come when its time to take away the iPad.
Your child’s tears come when in school they don’t get the colored piece of paper they wanted.
Your child’s tears come when they miss a goal, fail a test, can’t go out on a Friday night.
This world, the side we live on, has a shield. It’s safety.
We are blessed.
But that doesn’t mean the other side doesn’t exist. Just because we don’t see it, is it not there?
Yes. We have our tragedies, our trials our injustices. Everyone does.
But there is enough of us to go around. To be aware. To understand. To see the reality. To make a difference… to make a change.
But in order to do so, we have to THINK.
And with that thought, comes action because even the smallest of actions can have the largest of impacts, especially when we work together.
Think about the children in your lives.
All ages. All genders.
The ones you teach.
The ones you care for.
The ones you love.
The ones you watch play sports.
Excelling in the arts.
Performing on stages.
The ones singing, playing, running free outdoors.
And remember, those children, the ones in Palestine…they used to do all of those things too.
