Every morning around 3:30 am, my husband wakes up to begin his day. He walks to a bus stop, and then he takes that bus a mile to the train. He rides the train for a little over an hour, and from there, he hops on a shuttle for another hour until he arrives at the front door of the hospital he works at.
That’s a lot of miles he covers every day.
But besides the miles, he covers a lot more.
Tonight was my daughter’s Christmas show at school. I sat in the pew, watching she and her friends sing their little hearts out. My heart was so overcome with joy and happiness and peace.
These children that she was standing with are so kind. They are growing in families that respect their innocence and work to protect it. They are being taught compassion and justice and charity and respect. They are being taught to pray and to love. They are being taught to look outwards into the world and to seek out ways to make a difference in it.
But as I sat there watching them, I couldn’t help but think of the children left behind in the neighborhood my husband commutes home from every evening. They too can come from good families and many are taught to pray and to love. But they are living in a world that does not respect their innocence. Or their safety. Or their very right to grow up in a world where their life is valued.
It’s hard for me. Every time I feel blessed, I also grieve for the mamas who wish the same for their little girls but who can’t provide it because of circumstance, whatever that may be.
So tonight I am going to go to bed praying prayers of gratitude for the blessings bestowed upon me and my family. And I’m going to pray in petition for all those mamas who want the same for their children but who find it just out of reach. And I’ll pray that we find a way to bridge the gap, so that those who have more can lift out a hand to those who have less.
And we can all live in a world where we understand that the innocence of our children is the key to peace in our world.