Speak out.

I know it sounds morbid, but one of my favorite museums was the Holocaust Museum.  It was the Museum I was most looking forward to, thus it was the first one we visited.

We spent three hours there people!  There were so many moments where I was truly brought to tears - so many people perished.  And for what?  It truly is a terrible time in our history, but even though it was all so tragic, it is a time we must never ever forget.  It is a time that we must learn from.

There is so much more I want to write in regards to this museum, the power of fear, and the manipulation of man, but that will have to wait for another day.

Today I want to leave you with this statement by Martin Niemöller, a German pastor and theologian born in Germany in 1892.  This statement refers to the "inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group."

First they came for the communists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

As I read this I am reminded of those who did speak out.  I am reminded of those who risked their lives on behalf of another.  And I am left to wonder...would I do that?  Would I risk my own live to save the life of another?  Would I speak out against injustice?

And the I wonder...What am I currently speaking out against?  And what should I be speaking out against?  And who am I speaking on behalf of?  And who should I be speaking on behalf of?

I would love to hear your answers to these questions...