change

a few days ago, a professor on a history channel program was discussing this theory that every power for good is eventually corrupted. a ruling force, or emerging country, or government for instance, has a very limited time frame of peace and prosperity before it becomes oppressive once again. the time frames vary, but the general consensus is that there is a golden era, where the positive ideals are upheld and the wheel seems to be turning in the right direction before it eventually slows, stops, and turns the other way. i wondered why this might be. seems like an awfully bleak way to look at the world really.

with what's been going on in egypt for the past week, i've been having a lot of internal conflict, highs and lows, about the situation. on one hand, the people deserve more rights and freedoms. on the other, they need the rule of law and stability. mubarak's government gave them the latter. too much stability in fact, where many felt that the world was moving forward while they remained stagnant. rule of law was present, although it was harsh, oftentimes wrong, and not all encompassing, as some could bypass it by being members of the elite class or having inside connections. his government is/was oppressive. it oppressed fundamentalist islam (which many were thankful for) and likewise oppressed the christian minority. many have said that the sole reason for oppressing the copts was so that the people would not claim that the government was choosing sides. in a sense, the government wanted to be equally oppressive. but while this was a temporary solution to an ever-growing social problem, clearly it could not last forever. even if mubarak stays in power, he won't live forever. eventually we have to face our demons and realize that fatal problems exist not only in our ruling powers but also in ourselves. i've been praying every day this week that the revolution not only be one against the government, but be a revolution of our hearts. if freedom came to egypt, would our golden era last a week or a hundred years?

god created all of us. every single one of us was created in his image. his 'image' is our capacity for good. our love. it can be hard sometimes to look at someone who doesn’t share our beliefs and treat them as an equal. we all have this rotten feeling that 'others' were created from different soil.

please lord, i'm not going to pray for you to change the world. i'm praying for you to change me, to change us, so that we become the change we want to see in the world (gandhi put it best). lord, you're capable of anything. yet, you don't concern yourself with the rise and fall of empires and powerful men. you're only interested in our hearts turning to you and returning to the light once again. please jesus, let this week, and every week, be a revolution of our hearts. lord, i hope i'm not being naive in my request. you told us that with faith, nothing is impossible. please hold our hands as we take our first steps. you've never abandoned us before and i know you don't plan on it now, or ever.