African Dream

This morning I woke up at a few minutes before 6 AM to a very disturbing dream. I dreamt that I was an older man living in an African country. I had a family, with children, namely a small and beautiful daughter who was about 11-13 years of age. I am not sure what happened before or after, but suddenly I was in a building that very much resembled a run down chapel with my daughter, another man, much older than I, and his entourage made up of family members and peers. Nothing was said in this dream, but I knew the situation I was in. My purpose of being in this chapel was to give my daughter away in marriage to this man many years her senior. Her eyes were a fierce red from crying and her face looked worn out from crying for many nights. The tears in her eyes screamed at me to stop this marriage from occuring, but I was tied. I had entered into an agreement with her future husband and it was the custom and tradition of this region. I was obligated to consent of this marriage but my heart was tattooed with the image of my distraught daughters face.
I woke up with the image of this beautiful, young girls face burned into the back of my eyes. I haven't seen such anguish in my life and even now as I write this, several hours later, my heart still feels the pain that I saw in her eyes. The worst part of this dream is: THIS IS HAPPENING. This situation is all too real in in the world. People being forced to do things against their will based on traditions or the evil wills of evil men. It breaks my heart.

"there is a such thing as a cultural difference and there is also such a thing as right and wrong and sometimes its hard to find the truth in between those two." - Chad Urmston

I feel compelled to ask myself; Who am I in all of this? I mean at this moment many of my brothers and sisters are being forced to be in situations that eliminate their ability to choose throughout this world. And I am just sitting here, typing small words into this blog. What can I do? I am just a small voice compared to the screams and cries of those in distress or in abuse situations. I wish I could be more. This is the reason why I support organizations like Calling all Crows and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. Increasing awareness and sharing love and truths with others is the only way to heal wounds caused by society and to right the wrongs done by those exercising unrighteous dominion of others. I feel like I have the choice to support such organizations and serve others or to live my life as though nothing is happening. When all is said and done it is my conscience and my God that I have to report to. What will I tell them?