I have known about this happening in parts of the world, but I didn’t know the numbers, until I saw this:

India’s Deadly Secret (please watch this before reading on)

For a while, I have no words, only tears.

But a word finally comes.

You see, I was born there, in that country in the video, on the other side of the world. Even though I live in the U.S. and grew up here, and am a U.S. citizen, I was born there; my parents are from there.

And one thing I know is this, the two words that God gives me in the light of this tragedy:  hope exists.

It does.

Somehow, I, born in a dusty, small town in northwest India, ill as an infant… found something I needed: Hope. Or shall I say… Hope found me.

Hope first came to me in an American hospital in India… through the medical care I received there as an infant.

Years later, Hope showed up in other forms. In words from others. In visits to church. In the words read from a book that are said to be “alive”. In solitary moments where only tears are spoken to a God who listens.

I found the person of hope; the one born in a lonely, smelly feedbox, in a stable, under the light of a heavenly star.

There is hope for a world full of atrocity.

If you hear of atrocity, or experience it personally, or don’t know what to do with its existence… walk to the manger and peek in. Look into the face of Love, the God-baby come to earth as a man.

See him, the person of hope, the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

Now, walk a little further in his footsteps… to the cross.

See where he died… and know why he came.

And find hope there.

Because it can’t be found anywhere else.

Even with the heartaches of this world — whether they be faraway, or closer to home… I celebrate. I celebrate hope.

I celebrate the hope of Him… that he is come, that he is alive, seated at the right hand of God. I celebrate who he is, anticipate his redemptive work, his plan, his peace, and his mercy that covers the darkness in the world and the darkness in hearts.

My soul rejoices in the G0d-baby born… and I know that any bad news is not really the end of the story… because Hope lives.

***

Sharing with Emily

and Ann