Imagine all the people..

So, I've been reading a couple of books recently that really have made me think about, well, about...stuff. I'm not sure how to put it in words. I've read "The Book Thief" which dealt with WWII, but more how it was for German civilians. Then I read "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" which deals with culture clashes for the Hmong people in the USA. Now I'm reading "A Billion Lives", which is a report by Jan Egeland who was the UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, on all the wars/violence he's seen.

Reading all those different stories/experiences has really increased my awareness towards the challenges, heartaches and trials other people face. It's easy to sit down and think that my way of thinking is the right way of thinking. It's also easy to think that you're doing something good when you impose your worldview on someone else. Just today in Church a closing prayer included a blessing for "our soldiers" and their safety, and that they may succeed in bringing the freedoms we enjoy to those countries. I really struggled with that prayer after the things I've read. While I think freedom is an important principle, I realized that freedom can mean very different things to different people. The Hmong who came to the USA certainly in many ways felt less free here than they did before, and no one understands because few people bother to find out about other backgrounds. And then when we do, it often is with a mentality that no matter what, my worldview is the "true" one.
The other thing that bothered me about that prayer was the one-sidedness of it. While I sure wish for those deployed soldiers to survive and come home to their families, I wish the same for those people who's country is currently being destroyed by war.

The books I've read have just really made me aware of the huge price that's being paid when wars are fought in a country. It's not just a matter of survival. Often times, the survival may be harder to deal with than death as you see your loved ones killed, your country in shambles, being forced from your home, forced from traditions and beliefs, and often times it seems, experience violence and trauma none of us can ever really relate to. To think of the pain and anguish many people experience when war occurs, breaks my heart. Those books just made me feel very ignorant. Sure, I knew war is no fun, and many people die, but little did I think of the traumatic experiences people go through that often times haunt them for the rest of their lives. Little did I know what challenges refugees find when they come to another nation. We may feel like we're doing them a huge favor, but these people are now forced to make sense of a world that's completely foreign to them. It made me think of the responsibilities we take on when we get involved in a war. What rights to we have to impose those most traumatic experiences on other people? Do we have that right? How can we make restitution when we go and destroy a country in the name of principles we do not know for sure will be appreciated by the recipient.

Basically, I've just started thinking about how limited my way of thinking is at times. How little consideration I've given to the experiences other nations/people go through. I realized that no matter how much I thought I was open-minded and informed, there is still a lot I have to learn in regards to compassion and understanding of others differences/needs. Also, most certainly, I have to learn to change my views to something more humble that doesn't assume my worldview and lifestyle superior to others.