A Thousand Splendid Suns

I recently finished reading A Thousand Splendid Suns. It was such a beautifully written novel of two women who grew up in Afghanistan. I found some profound truths about myself and the world within it's pages. It is a masterful author who can take me inside the heart of a fictional character and teach me about their country without me realizing I am being taught. It reminds me of what C.S. Lewis once said about needing less Christians who wrote about Christianity and more Christians who wrote about people who were Christian. It was like a history lesson given through watching how the history of Afghanistan impacted two people's lives. It was incredibly powerful and moving. I felt many emotions when I read A Thousand Splendid Suns. I felt invested in the success of the Afghani's. I felt duty and obligation stir within me. I felt grateful to have a husband who sees humanity when he looks into the face of an Afghani. He has seen that humanity from the moment he began to study middle eastern cultures. I felt reminded that life was not all about me and my needs and what makes me happy. I realized that what I am giving up in a husband and what my children are giving up in their father is blessing the lives of those who have suffered horribly at the hands of many different militant factions. The Afghani's have suffered in ways that make me shudder, turn away, bury my head and weep. Ways that as an American woman, I will never fully understand. That I could have been so preoccupied by my own families needs, when we are so very blessed, materially, spiritually and culturally, made me cry and repent. There are times in my life when my eyes have become open to my own blindness. This way one of those times. I have brothers and sisters across the world who stand in need of a stabilizing force so that they can feel safe walking the streets. I have sisters who long to be educated and contribute and rebuild their communities and their culture. The taliban prevented that for far too long. If my small contribution to their success is supporting my husband as he goes and serves there, I will do it cheerfully, for I have been rebuked, by the Father of us all, through the hands of a writer. Our Father never forgets his children. May I stand with Him and remember all of those who stand in need and do my part. This is my prayer.