Weight of the world

On Monday night David went to a presentation about human trafficking around the world. When he got back, we went for a walk around the neighborhood and he told me about it. The journalist giving the presentation had said that he was interested in knowing how the people involved in human trafficking think, so he spent time with brothel owners and pimps. He came to learn that they think of it as business and nothing more. They do it because it's profitable, and if something else were to become more profitable, they would do that instead. The real kicker for me was learning that brothel owners are frequently women.

Upon returning home from our walk, we saw a white van, the unmarked, shady sort with no windows, parked at the back of the complex. We saw an adult man with a child's bicycle. He opened the back, put the bike inside and drove off. It took me a few minutes to process what had just happened in front of my face, but David, who has a strong sense of right and wrong, had already written down the license plate number and called the police to report a suspicious vehicle and likely bike theft.

On Sunday I learned the sad details of why and how our former senior pastor left our church, and later this week I learned that my most favorite (and also most expensive) yoga clothes had been pilfered from our community laundry facilities. WHAT IS THIS PLACE THAT WE LIVE?

It's safe to say I've been feeling the weight of the world lately. It feels like...February.

I never look forward to February. As far as I can tell, it's the worst month of the year; the weather tends to be cold and gloomy, the freshness of the new year has worn off, there are no good holidays, and it has been not-summer for SUCH a long time now. February does have the decency to be the shortest month of the year, at least.

The season of Lent also begins this month, and February lends itself easily to the solemn occasion. The perfect precursor for the joyful Easter season, Lent is a time for reflection and repentance, moving toward God and away from evil and sin. For the past couple years I've found myself deeply enjoying Lent, feeling a particular need during this time to reflect on my own state as well as the state of the world. This sounds like it might be depressing, and it is a little bit, but sometimes we need to step back and see the world, see ourselves, as they really are. Especially having such a comfortable, privileged life, it's easy to try to avoid pain and discomfort, pretend it's not real. But it's only when seeing the reality of the world that the magnitude of the gospel can be understood, which makes Easter all the more sweet.