You know what frustrates me probably more than just about anything about myself (and others)? Forgetfulness. That tendency to be totally moved and overcome by emotion at the distress caused by natural disaster or otherwise and then as time moves on, so do we. Front page news begins to move it’s way through the pages until it becomes a footnote at the back of the newspaper of my mind.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti. Remember that? Doesn’t seem that long ago, but maybe that’s because I’ve not been living in the hellish conditions that so many people have grown hopelessly accustomed to. I read this today in the Wall Street Journal:
On the anniversary of the devastating quake that killed an estimated 300,000 people and left millions homeless, many Haitians are losing hope. Buildings remain destroyed, tent cities are becoming more permanent and their country has been it by disease, hurricanes and political turmoil.
Am I moved again today? If so, for how long and what difference will it make? So, what do we do about this tendency to drift away; to become apathetic to those things that were, at some point, so emotionally charged and painful to think about? Is there no way to overcome this progressive apathy that tends to overtake us and be moved to action until the trouble is resolved? It’s very troubling to me, but am I just to eventually become apathetic and forgetful towards even that?
So, what is the remedy for such epidemics as forgetfulness and apathy? Or are we, too, without hope? Are we serious enough that we would ask the Lord to break our hearts every day until the hurt in others is healed? Do we care (or even want to care) that much?
