The Troubled Ones

Listen to the troubled ones.

During the Syrian civil war, some Canadian groups welcomed Syrian families to Canada. A friend of mine who had many troubles of her own said, “What about the millions of refugees stuck on the Syrian border, what can we do to help them?”. And then she proceeded to try to do just that.

Another friend with various emotional issues, including agoraphobia, walked most of the distance from Alberta to Ottawa to pitch a tent and to plead with the government to act on the climate crisis.

 

The classic example of all of this is a quote from Greta Thunberg. “I was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and selective mutism. That basically means that I only speak when I think it is necessary. Now is one of those moments”.

 

So, what is the lesson here? People with deep troubles of their own can often see more clearly the problems of others. On the other hand, we the more comfortable ones can easily reject the warnings of these "wounded prophets".

 

We need to listen to them and learn from them.