Colombia

I heard a story today about Colombian soldiers who are killing civilians and dressing them up in guerrilla clothing to increase quota numbers for the government. It was on NPR, and I can't seem to find any other articles online to support the story.

Instead, I found information about displaced civilians, civilian casualities due to guerrilla landmines, and civilians who collaborate or sympathize with the "enemy." Given that it's a civil war that has lasted decades, my guess is the definition of enemy has become harder and harder to nail down.

I think it's easy to forget about all the displaced citizens affected by war in so many parts of the world. We are keenly aware of our own sacrifices and losses (and I don't mean to imply at all that we shouldn't be), but sometimes it's perhaps too difficult or too overwhelming or too distant to hold in one's head/heart all the suffering experienced by those locked in different conflicts across the globe.

I often wish there was a way to make every human being known to every other human being on the planet. I'm not sure what that would be - something more than a picture, or an email address. Some kind of information that would reveal each person's frailty... each person's uniqueness and unversality at the same time. Because even if we couldn't agree we all are, in fact, divine... maybe we could at least all realize on a level deeper than rational understanding we are all human... all linked by the same DNA in a very basic, scientific and potentially miraculous way.

Millions of us just breathed.
Just blinked.
Waited.
Coughed.
Bled.
Laughed.
Sighed.
Looked quizzical.
Touched someone.
Prayed.
Listened.
Changed.