entumecido (numb)

Feeling nothing. This is what I feel like our reactions to things are most of the time. Some big, crazy tragedy happens and we feel nothing.

Not that we see tragedy everyday and so it's nothing to us.

We hear about something and then block it out with our ipods and ipads and laptops and social networking and t.v. ... the list could go on and on. We choose to not think about it, to not truly listen to what's going on, and distract ourselves from the realities of life.

This is how I was about Haiti- a place that will forever be in my heart after my first international mission trip there in 2005. That is until last week when I read this article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100902/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_fea_haiti_hotel_montana

I knew that it was a tragedy, what had happened there because of the earthquake. I even cried about it, once. But only because I was asked to speak about it for my church's youth group. Even after, I refused to keep up with what was going on there because I didn't want to feel anything towards it. I wanted to just continue to go about my life, unaffected by this tragedy.

Once you actually put faces and names to the tragedy... it suddenly becomes real. Real people who were loved and cherished died. Not just "some people over there..." REAL people. It's crazy how it really takes that much to pull us from our numbness and our distractions.

 I pray for the people whose lives have been forever changed because of this tragedy. I pray, also, for us who claim to be followers of Christ, yet hide in our safe bubbles of "Christian community" and choose to not be moved by God.

Feeling is a dangerous thing. Once you do, there's no going back.