Grateful for this country

 

This is the view outside my office window.  It is a building that was damaged in a fire and is now being demolished to make room for something new.  To me, it looks like the remains of a bombed out building, and every time I see it, I am reminded of how lucky I am that I don't live in a war zone.

I recently got hooked on a British TV drama series called Foyle's War, which is playing on Netflix. The show is set during (and shortly after) World War II and portrays a very realistic picture (I imagine) of what it is like to live in the middle of a war.  Bombing raids, air raid sirens, rationing, suspicion amongst neighbours are all part of the picture.

My trip to (former) east Germany this past summer reminded me of how recently war had been a part of that country.  Touring sites like the Jewish Holocaust Memorial and the former Buchenwald Concentration Camp were stark reminders of the horrors that occurred only 65 years earlier. 

In Berlin, we walked the streets that were divided by the concrete barrier of the Berlin Wall only 25 years ago.  And in Leipzig, we listened to a mother speak of what it was like to raise her children in an era of Communist rule, where students were expected to be members of the Communist youth.

And since then, how many countless numbers of people have seen their countries and their families devastated by war or armed conflicts of one kind or another.

So when I look out my office window and see the remains of a demolished building, I can only feel grateful.  Grateful for a country where demolition promises hope for the future, not devastation.