outside my palace walls

i sat on the steps, facing the blank wall which went around the compounds of Kuala Lumpur Gospel Hall (KLGH). that wall was tall, tall enough so that i could not see what was on the other side even when i stood at the top of those steps.

it was like that wall separated two worlds: the peaceful church grounds and the broken world outside on the streets of KL.

i sat there reflecting for a bit on the things i’d been exposed to the past few days; the refugees, the poor, the homeless. i thought about how we found it so irksome that the water got cut off before we could finish washing up the dishes, when clean running water was something many who were poor had no access to. the irony.

i thought about how my life was so comfortable. the roof over my head, the love of family and friends, more than enough food on our tables, pocket money i did not have to slave for, gadgets, the list goes on. my comfortable palace.

that morning’s devotion was about Queen Esther and what Mordecai said to her, “Don’t think for a moment that you will escape there in the palace when all other Jews are killed.” (Esther 4:13)  it was a message from Mordecai to not be indifferent to what happened outside those walls because it would affect her too. it was about how Esther was in a place of comfort yet she still had a role to play in saving the people outside of her palace.

i am 21 years old. all my life i’ve been sheltered, loved and cared for, protected. i’ve never had to fight for food or runaway for my life. but i need to remember, ‘it could be me’.

i thought to myself how ignorant and indifferent i had been to everything around me. SWEEP really opened my eyes. the real world was a very broken one.

i sat on the steps, the high walls before me.

picture taken from http://weheartit.com/entry/11076207

have i built walls around me that keep the unpleasant things of the world out of sight? that cause me not to see, not to know the pain behind these walls?

Lord, tear down these walls I’ve built.
Take me outside of these palace walls.
Use me in this broken world,
to make a difference – one life at a time.

SWEEP : Social Work Exposure & Embracement Program 2011 (6th-19th June 2011)