what is going on in the arab world? i'll be honest- i'm ignorant about the roots about what's happening over there- i also don't have a TV so i'm lacking the many options and updates- i've been reading CNN and the New York Times- but i feel like they just touch the surface- i need more substance. i want to wrap my mind around it.
and in my mind i've been living near there. i just finished reading 'a thousand splendid suns'- i loved it- but it was really depressing- and shocking- and made me feel very, very small. my problems withered and i realized how lucky i am- how deep is the suffering of others. how love can have many faces- how sacrifice is an unbelievable gift.
the two main characters are afghan women- the older one born illegitimately with a broken self esteem- and a broken heart- the young one born into a world of hope and education. their stories begin separately, but they share- fathers who love them (one daily, one from a far) and mothers who don't value them. the young one knows love- the love of her childhood- who flees kabul with his parents but not before a moment that will stay with her forever- a moment of forbidden passion- years of yearning- satisfied- and she is given a daughter. after much loss-these two women's lives are woven together as they end up married to the same man- an awful abusive man- an unhappy-jealous-man. their friendship becomes their lifeline as they survive in a world of war and death and violence. but they find themselves bettered by the other- they grow through what the other brings and there is healing even it the trauma. then the lover returns- and the husbands wrath ensues and after pages of abuse- as he is about to kill the young one- the older woman ends his life. it is her moment of self- actualization, her moment of empowerment, but it's still murder, it is self-defense. the lover and the young one flee with the children and marry, and the old one stays to take the full blame- to die for her deed- to sacrifice herself for them- all of them- her moment of purpose.
in reflection- leila the young one- describes her older friend 'like a rock in the riverbed, enduring with out complaint, her grace not sullied but shaped by the turbulence that washes over her.' leila and her family return to kabul- to give back- to teach- to face it- to pay homage to the loss- to this woman who gave up her life- to free leila.
that's a lot, to say that i love that description of miriam. her grace being sculpted by the rushing waters of life. these women lived through waterfalls of grief - but they still laugh and smile and drink tea. they each find their place to give. and i love the image of the stream- the smoothness of the rocks in the riverbed. i can hear it- it's endless movement- the sun catching in the water- a sparkle.
may my life be grace. may i be gracious. may i allow the rushing and the harshness and the pain to wash and shape me- to bring transformation and then betterment to the lives of others.
because we all live under the same moon.
and in my mind i've been living near there. i just finished reading 'a thousand splendid suns'- i loved it- but it was really depressing- and shocking- and made me feel very, very small. my problems withered and i realized how lucky i am- how deep is the suffering of others. how love can have many faces- how sacrifice is an unbelievable gift.
the two main characters are afghan women- the older one born illegitimately with a broken self esteem- and a broken heart- the young one born into a world of hope and education. their stories begin separately, but they share- fathers who love them (one daily, one from a far) and mothers who don't value them. the young one knows love- the love of her childhood- who flees kabul with his parents but not before a moment that will stay with her forever- a moment of forbidden passion- years of yearning- satisfied- and she is given a daughter. after much loss-these two women's lives are woven together as they end up married to the same man- an awful abusive man- an unhappy-jealous-man. their friendship becomes their lifeline as they survive in a world of war and death and violence. but they find themselves bettered by the other- they grow through what the other brings and there is healing even it the trauma. then the lover returns- and the husbands wrath ensues and after pages of abuse- as he is about to kill the young one- the older woman ends his life. it is her moment of self- actualization, her moment of empowerment, but it's still murder, it is self-defense. the lover and the young one flee with the children and marry, and the old one stays to take the full blame- to die for her deed- to sacrifice herself for them- all of them- her moment of purpose.
in reflection- leila the young one- describes her older friend 'like a rock in the riverbed, enduring with out complaint, her grace not sullied but shaped by the turbulence that washes over her.' leila and her family return to kabul- to give back- to teach- to face it- to pay homage to the loss- to this woman who gave up her life- to free leila.
that's a lot, to say that i love that description of miriam. her grace being sculpted by the rushing waters of life. these women lived through waterfalls of grief - but they still laugh and smile and drink tea. they each find their place to give. and i love the image of the stream- the smoothness of the rocks in the riverbed. i can hear it- it's endless movement- the sun catching in the water- a sparkle.
may my life be grace. may i be gracious. may i allow the rushing and the harshness and the pain to wash and shape me- to bring transformation and then betterment to the lives of others.
because we all live under the same moon.
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