When did this all become such a jumbled mess? How has this become a political issue instead of a human rights issue? Words like "refugee", "terrorist", "ISIS" and "civil war" come to mind. Each and every day we make the decision to turn on the news. What do we see? We see more death, more destruction, and more terror than every before. Why then, do we just accept it? We shed tears over images of Syrian children who are terrified, and completely rocked by this atrocious civil war... but then we do nothing.

When did being better stop coming as a result of doing better? This isn't a political issue. This isn't an issue of whether or not the United States, or Europe, or anywhere else should allow Syrian refugees inside their borders. Life and death issues are not a political campaign. This is an issue that all of humanity should be taking on. How many times do we wipe our eyes after watching the news and then just continue on as if nothing happened? We go back to our seemingly perfect lives, and our white picket fences, and making dinner, and doing homework, and getting "A's" before we even realize what we've lost. How many times do we say that we are going to pray for such issues? Then, instead of doing so, we sit back and we do nothing. Again I will say it, if we want to be better we must DO better.

Until we actually get a grasp on the magnitude what's going on, and let it shake us from down deep and within, nothing is going to change. Good intentions don't change lives. Prayers change lives. Missionaries change lives. LOVE changes lives. But seeing a sad video on your television screens before heading out to start your day and then forgetting about it? That's worse than doing nothing at all. If we see the pain, horror, and senseless murder, and then don't even take 5 minutes out of our day to say a prayer, what kind of people are we?

We certainly aren't the kind of people that we are capable of being. Let's stop being lazy. Let's stop being comfortable. Let's actually get out of our comfort zones and DO SOMETHING for once. This bloody war has been going on for far too long. If we aren't going to allow these people to come and have a place here, the very least we should be doing is praying without ceasing, taking up an offering, going out into their world and being a light.

It's time we quit talking about being a light and actually be one.

Dear Syria, I'm so sorry.