Today I had the experience to speak (with the help of an interpreter) to a young man who has come to America by himself. For privacy reasons I will call him Fazel. Fazel is a 15 year old boy-now-man who has undergone experiences and loss that I could never in a million years fully comprehend. It was a stark reminder of the true humanitarian nature of what we find ourselves in and how screwed up our own American priorities are. As I walked with this young man, I saw another, about the same age, driving what was probably his mother’s Audi. What a difference between the two. I watched as the Audi slid into a handicap parking spot, music blaring. Fazel looked on with a vacant stare in his eyes, possibly thinking about the last time he saw his parents; parents he has now lost just days ago. I know for a fact that in Fazel’s pocket was a broken cellular phone wrapped in his birth certificate. That is all. I am pressed to share this only to remind you all that tonight you need to hug your own children, be happy for what you have and be content for what you do not. If wearing a mask is bothering you right now, think about coming to a new world with nothing but the clothes on your back. When the drive-thru is a little slow, try to remember that my new friend almost wept when he was given a simple banana to eat. It is just a perspective shift I think we all need right now. It’s not a political thing, it is just a human thing. Quit bitching, pray a little instead - Not for yourself, but for the thousands that have so little in the middle of so much turmoil. If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at may change.
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