The leaves of the tree...

While at Christ Church College, I came across a tree with this verse engraved around the base:

"On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruite every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations" - Revelation 22.2

This has become a very special verse to me over the years, but especially in college. As I've taken courses in the humanities, dealing with colonialism, racism, and oppression of all sorts, I've come to find so much hope in this verse. The truth is, we've royally messed things up. Our world is so broken. One of the saddest parts is that countries and people groups have committed horrible atrocities against one another: the African slave trade, the trail of tears, the holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, apartheid. Not only have people inflicted these tragic, inhuman acts on other people, we have found little or no healing. How do we as humans atone for the evil we have caused? In the words of Samwise Gamgee, "How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened?" The fact is, it can't go back to the way it was. We live in a fallen world and our methods of healing will never be successful. Money doesn't fix it. Guilt-trips don't make it all better. We need healing that we could never create for ourselves.

That is what the leaves are for. We will never be able to reverse the clock. We cannot make up for the pain we have caused. Individuals may be able to nobly forgive one another, but when whole people-groups are persecuted or destroyed, there seems to be little hope. But the leaves of the tree of life have power to heal that hurt. Part of our place as Christians is to discover what that looks like and appropriate that healing.

There is one place that I have gained a significant burden for over the last 3 years where I want to see those leaves bring healing: the Belgian Congo. This swath of Africa covers several modern states, but originally was a colony owned and cruelly ruled by Leopold II of Belgium. If you are not familiar with the atrocities associated with Leopold's colonization of the Congo, you should read up on it here. I first learned a lot about colonization there and other parts of Africa in a history class my freshman year called "History of 20th Century Europe" and then later read Joseph Conrad's incredible novel, Heart of Darkness. The Lord has given me such a burden for this area.

Fast-forward to today. I am staying with a friend's parents, the Whites, in Horsham, UK. There are 3 other girls here as well, a Selam is from Ethiopia and Alice and Leila are from Burundi. The Whites spent nearly 20 years in Horsham and so we've been talking about it a lot. Today I found out that Burundi was part of the Belgian Congo. My heart just about sunk. Then Leila started explaining the problems they are still facing and asking what we thought would be good solutions.

[the Oreo from left to right: Alice, 24; myself, 21; Selam, 15; and Leila, 23]

Burundi is the small darker area in Africa. According to the CIA World Factbook, Burundi's GDP is $300--the United States is $47,200.
Wikipedia says, "Burundi is one of the world's poorest countries, owing in part to its landlocked geography, poor legal system, lack of economic freedom, lack of access to education, and the proliferation of HIV/AIDS. Approximately 80% of Burundi's population lives in poverty."

Basically, these girls from Burundi have grown up in a country and culture completely opposite of the one I've grown up in.

Today blew me away. Nothing I've read, nothing I've studied could compare to actually talking to people living in this reality. Can I tell you how humbling it is to have someone ask you, "You're going to be the next leaders of the world, do you have ideas on how to make our country successful? Are you going to help us develop?"

The brunt of that question brought that verse flooding back to mind. After all the tragedies of colonization, after civil war--What can we do help countries like Burundi? How do we appropriate the healing from the leaves of the tree?

2 years ago, I bought a ring that is mother of pearl set in sterling silver in the shape of a leaf. I wear it every day. I love leaves and I love this ring. Today I saw a connection of what I love and the burdens I carry. Literature meets love meets life meets leaves... and I'm pondering what our generation's place is.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Practicals, theory, whatever. I'm still working this through and I'd love your comments.