You want to know me? You want to see my face?

I do not age with time. I do not fit into a space.

I transcend the capacity of your eye, so who am I?

That is the question of the moment; it is the question for all time.

I am you and you are mine.

God Is ~ Danielle Rose

A lot of times when I'm driving around and no one is in the car with me I listen to NPR... either that or I use the time to reflect in silence. This morning was an NPR morning. As I was listening to the news, a story came on about a new law in Afghanistan. It is a law that would place all women's shelters (including homes for battered women) under the auspices of the Ministry of Women's Affairs. That doesn't sound bad at first. However, it is much worse than what one might imagine.

Check out the story at this link: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/21/133865996/kabul-seeks-control-of-womens-shelters

I don't necessarily want to retell the story here on this website. I'm not really a journalist. However, I would like to share with you my initial reaction to this story...

About mid-way through the story I said to myself (actually, outloud... I was alone, you know): "I can't do this. It's too difficult." And I promptly turned the radio off. Here I am... with freedom to drive a car, go to the gym, live an unmarried vowed life... I've never been tortured or beaten. I've never even been in a fight. And yet this was "too difficult." I chose ignorance rather than to be challenged, hurt, or perhaps changed.

How often do I choose not to listen? To ignore the voice of God in the life of another because truly entering another person's chaos is too much for me?

It made me think of the song I quoted above. If you've never heard this song I encourage you to listen to it: http://s0.ilike.com/play#Danielle+Rose:God+Is:5573642:s45253831.11662740.21431876.0.2.64%2Cstd_ff1b5863d28441bc86fe0b855fdb8bcc

These women in Afghanistan... or El Salvador... or Egypt... or at the numerous shelters of Dayton, Ohio... are Christ. "Whatever you have done to these least ones, you have done for me." And what might be even more difficult to grasp... not only are these women Christ in our world today, so are those who oppress them. That's the more difficult thing to recognize.

I have sinsc finished listening to - and reading - the story on line. As I imagined, it wasn't easy. However, chosing ignorance is not the call.

Abundant blessings to all who read this,

Sr. N