A day or so before coming to Washington I was taking to my friend. Although much younger than me, this friend has been more of a social activist than I. My sense was that I was headed on a Vigil, but I mentioned that I didn't really know what Vigil meant.
My friend said that vigil was like what a mother did when a child was sick; and that a vigil is what people do over a dead person. To this I said, I like the first one, but not the one about the dead person.
Well, what I am doing is somewhere in between. I am vigiling over the people in Darfur, and they are dying. We can save them, but so far, we are not. They are dying - not for lack of words, bills, resolutions, trips, blogs, news.... but for lack of action; for lack of people standing WITH Darfur.
But also, I am Vigiling over my fellow man, primarily in the US. In this case, it is like I am vigiling over someone in a coma. This is not unlike the theme in Gandhi's Bible, "The Kingdom of God is Within You," by Leo Tolstoy.
It is unlikely that someone will awake from a coma, but miracles happen. I believe in Miracles. A Miracle is what it will take to Rescue and Restore Darfur.
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