Pray for...

Normally when a tragedy happens I see and post about "Praying for...." but with events of the last few days let alone the month and year I am at a loss of what to say and do. Prayers and thoughts are all well and dandy but what else are we and can we do to help? Everywhere needs help and thoughts, no where has been immune to tragedy.

This year alone we have seen Flooding in Chennai India, Earthquake in Chile, Papua New Guinea, Japan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Argentina, Fiji, Mexico, Tonga, Greece, New Zealand, and many more. There have been a total of 13,370 earthquakes in 2015 alone ranging on the Richter scale from 4.0-8.3 with the deadliest being in Nepal with over 8,000 people dead. (source Wikipedia list of earthquakes 2015)

Refugees from Syria, Mass shootings around the world most recently in Paris, & California.
Some ask, "is it safe to travel?" after some thought my answer is no. Even within our own communities we are taking that risk, however it is so needed. By traveling we represent our country in a way politicians cannot, we show the true American spirit rather then the Hollywood stereotype.

All of these disasters present an opportunity for the human race to step forward and show their better side. We have all seen the worst of humanity with terrorist attacks both domestic and international, now is the time to have the best of humanity come forth and show good still does exist in the world.
Smile at your neighbor stop to help someone as they are struggling, any little act goes a long way. We can fight with kindness. It is time to see the beauty in the world again, both in the culture & beliefs of others as well as in the natural beauty all around.

"I don not agree with what you say but I will defend your right to express it to the last"- Voltaire

Migrant crisis 16th century vs 2015

As the weekend winds down, 2 things have overtaken my Facebook feed; the Paris attacks and the Migrant crisis in Europe. Many people are concerned that Obama is letting migrants into America, but have we stopped to consider the most Americans were once migrants? After the discovery of the "new world" people came (i.e. the mayflower..) for freedom from religious persecutions. They came for freedom from various oppressions (or seemed oppressions for all the ships bearing criminals).

These are my thought and mine alone, if we can sit and deny that type of freedom from others, do we deserve that? Why does it matter where one was born? Not all(in fact most) from the middle east are terrorists, not all Germans were Nazi's, not all Christians were crusaders, not all Americans are sleeping around as many movies portray to the world outside America. Yet when I have travelled to the middle east I have never been injured or attacked, I was always treated with the utmost respect and hospitality. Even in Muslim heavy areas such as Dubai, and Jerusalem, during Ramadan, the muslim month of fasting, I was given clean, cold water and juice after walking into a store from the incredibly hot world outside. They asked for nothing in return. On the occasion I fast I don't offer food or drink to others as it causes a small amount of discomfort to me as I watch them partake of what I am temporarily giving up. I cannot stress this enough, please do not judge a religion, or a culture based on the extreme few. When did we become a country that lived in fear?   We cannot change the world is a load of crap, we all have influence on those around us, use that influence for promoting peace, not biased opinions of hate.