I Wished!

 By Pamela Chapman

As I followed a link that would take me to Susan Murphy Milano’s website, I was lead to another devastating story of our justice system failing three children. I took a deep breath. My heart sank. There seems to be no shortage of stories of mayhem, chaos, devastation, or destruction. Whether we’re looking at domestic destruction or natural destruction the stories are endless.

This morning on my usual walk with self and God I took in the panoramic views of the mountains, the hills, the trees and the skies. Everything around me appeared serene and calm. “Is this real?” I thought. Or, is this my personal phantom or illusion? How can all that I am now seeing appear to be so right, so peaceful and so perfectly aligned with God while there is, yet, another world filled with despair, pain, and devastation? A world where children’s lives are cut short, women are devalued, misogynist beliefs and views are alive and well and, what is wrong is accepted for right.  How can the systems of this world be so broken and twisted?

I began to wish and pray for a better world.  I wished that every child on this earth be able to lay their head down at night without danger, without worry, and without fear. I wished they would experience unconditional love and complete acceptance from their parents or guardians. I wished that every woman would feel and believe she is the apple of God’s eye, His center, and His pursuit. I wished that she would know, without a doubt, without a double-take that she was loved, cherished, and revered. I wished her self-esteem was healthy and her self-confidence strong while believing and knowing she was amazingly created and her God said, “It is good.” I wished she would experience the perfect square of life: health, wealth, love and perfect self-expression. I wished that if and when something went wrong and judgment had to be sought that judgment would be fair, unbiased, and sovereign—not based upon gender, politics, or dollar. I wished the lion and the sheep would be able to lay down with one another and there would be no need for the lion to show how strong or powerful he was. I wished this world would be a harmonious force, each [wo]man finding their way, their purpose and path painlessly.

It can be really easy to dismiss my wishes as hopeful or positive thinking but I won’t give up believing, hoping, praying and wishing. I won’t give up believing, hoping, praying and wishing that the work of my fellow humanitarians, the known and the unknown, will not be in vain and one day, “every tear will be wiped away, every tear from our eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4.

I wished, my sister and my brother that you be endowed with the strength, tenacity, and unconditional love necessary to bring about this great change.

I wished!