I arrived home in San Diego early this morning, back from a run of
shows up the coast with Switchfoot. The sun is setting over the
pacific and my hair is still wet from an evening surf. In the
distance I can hear the whistle of the Amtrak from LA heading south.
I'm grateful to be home, grateful to have a place to live, grateful
to have been given another breath alive on this planet.
But today my thoughts are divided, split between two worlds. As the
sun sets over California it begins to rise over Darfur. The same sun.
The same planet. Can it be possible that right now, two and a half
million people are waking up in camps and refugee camps having been
driven from their homes by violent means? Under the same sun, could
it be true that almost half a million people have died of starvation,
violence, and disease over the past six years in Darfur? Is this true?!
And if this is true, why has the media remained almost completely
silent on the issue? Why has our government maintained it's current
stance of inaction?
When presidential hopeful Obama was running for office he stated that
"We can't ignore the genocide in Darfur. The international community
can't turn a blind eye when children are being slaughtered and women
are being raped. We have to do everything in our power to make it
stop. We have to act. Now."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjSy_-yet9w&feature=player_embeddedNothing has happened.
And yet the sun is still rising over Darfur. And the sun still rises
over me. And the sun still rises over capital hill... the same sun.
Today we celebrate mother's day with our moms and grandmothers. My
thoughts drift overseas to the mother who is just now waking up,
wondering whether she'll be able to give her children anything to eat.
Tomorrow I begin a three day fast for Darfur. Why fast? Because quite
frankly, I can't think of a better idea. I reckon the best way to
enter into the suffering of a group of people halfway around the
world is to start with the basics. These folks are fasting without
alternative, for three days I will fast with them.
http://fastdarfur.org/?cat=39-Jon