Reality?

Sometimes I think we get so caught up in details that we forget about reality. Or we get so caught up in our reality that we forget about other people.

I've been really caught up lately with my own reality of moving, getting a bunny, buying a scooter, and recovering from the school year. It's all reality, but it's very minor details of reality.
How do I forget about friends who have been raped or those who have eating disorders? Their life is no more or less real than mine, but it isn't my place to get so caught up in my life that I forget about others'.

I came across some things today that reminded me that reality is even more than these things and my friends.

I checked the news in Uganda. The main opposition leader was arrested and held at a prison a mile from my old home on charges of preparing for protests that would involve burning vehicles. This is the kind of thing that could easily turn into deadly riots and tumult in a country. Especially in Uganda.

The Ugandan government is working with the World Food Program to help north-eastern Uganda, a drought riddled area where children die daily from malnutrition. There's an abrupt reality check.

Another headline was about a house boy defiling and strangling a 5th grade girl.

Finally, here's the kicker, in Darfur the government is continuing their mass murder, burning of villages, and extensive rape of all women who are Salamat, or of a different race than the government. This horrific aspect gets blown over in the news. Read more about it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/25/opinion/kristof-a-policy-of-rape-continues.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&smid=pl-share&adxnnlx=1374789708-+8CHN3VgxciDFPHeZSGeyA

So what makes things reality? The joy and the pain, the suffering and the forgiveness, and the stories that move us to tears. This is what makes us human and aware of reality.

Reality is  not focusing constantly on negatives. It is not trying to sort out detail. It is compassion that involves interdependence among us all. It is the true parts of being human, the true things that let us know we're alive.