I cannot get her face out of my mind. I have never met her.
I haven’t even seen her. Her mother died in the fire in Dhaka, Bangladesh along
with 800 others. Her mother died making cheap clothes for me. She is devastated.
Yes, I know that their government needs to have better laws.
Yes, I know corporations have a responsibility. Yes, I know this may be the
only work available. I also know the power of a mother to find any way
whatsoever to make a better life for her children. A parent’s love makes life
risky.
And I also know that I demand
cheap clothes and lots of them. I drive the train that leads to the destruction
of another child of God. I am sorry. I
repent.
God made this mother’s life. God knew that the world needed
her and her unique mix of gifts and love and quirkiness (which we all share.)
God gave a lot of thought and love into creating her. I should match God’s thought
and love. No human is here to be a prop of the life of another. Including mine.
At baptism, I promise to respect the dignity of every human
being and to seek and serve Christ in all persons. I failed miserably.
My spiritual discipline today is to learn more about the
other 5 billion people on this planet (who are my sisters and brothers) and to seek
to purchase items that honor the lives of those in the line of my purchases.
