So that we are not changed

Yesterday I awoke and was gutted to discover the leader of the government along with the leader of France and the US had decided to send air missiles to Syria. Bombing never solves anything. And I can't get my head around a financial situation where there's apparently not enough money to give to nurses, or to schools, but at the drop of a hat millions can be found for war.
Some of my hope has been restored by being able to be part of a love flash mob, see Glennon Doyle 's Post below. Like her I love the story of the guy with a candle. Sometimes we have to do something not because it is guaranteed to change a situation, but because we need to ensure that we ourselves are not changed by it. I'm hoping that I can share that story today in church.

Glennon Doyle wrote :

I don’t know what to say tonight but Thank You. Thank you for what you did today.

What you did today is raise $355,072 in five and half hours. Every single penny of it will be on the ground in Syria -- transformed into food and medicine for our Syrian children and their families. We will keep you updated on all of those details as soon as humanly possible. We, at Together Rising- are undone by the way you show up relentlessly and by the way you love so ferociously. There is so much darkness but there is also LIGHT. Today and one so many days and in so many places around the world: YOU ARE THAT LIGHT.

One of my favorite stories is about a man who, during the Vietnam war, stood outside the White House with a single lit candle every night for years. Every night. One night, he was asked by a reporter: Why do you do this? Do you really think you and your one little candle this will change anything?

And he said: Oh, I don’t do this to change them. I do it so they don’t change me.

In the midst of fear, let’s love. In the midst of hate, let’s love. In the midst of hopelessness, let’s Never. Give. Up. And in the midst of loneliness- let’s stay together.

We are going to keep collecting your donations: We have this crazy hunch that we might be able to raise THREE MONTHS OF life-saving food and medicine for these babies. If you would like to give or know someone who would, please visit here:  http://momastery.com/blog/2018/04/14/emergency-love-flash-mob/

WE LOVE YOU. GO LOVE YOUR FAMILIES. HUG THEM EXTRA TIGHT FOR US.