Free Burma

I've been keeping my eye on the protests in Burma for several weeks now, and actually almost blogged about it earlier this week. But then as providence would have it, today is the international blogging for Burma day. It seems like a very small and trivial thing to do, but it is something, I suppose.

One of my all time favorite U2 songs, Walk On, is actually written and dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the democratic movement in Burma who has been under house arrest as a political prisoner for almost 20 years. The song captures the difficulty and power of love and dedication in the face of overwhelming odds. It could speak to many people who press on day to day for the cause of justice. These people inspire me to stand up for what is right, even if you stand alone.

And love is not the easy thing
The only baggage you can bring
Is all that you can't leave behind

And if the darkness is to keep us apart
And if the daylight feels like it's a long way off
And if your glass heart should crack
And for a second you turn back
Oh no, be strong

Walk on, walk on
What you got they can’t steal it
No they can’t even feel it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight

You're packing a suitcase for a place none of us has been
A place that has to be believed to be seen
You could have flown away
A singing bird in an open cage
Who will only fly, only fly for freedom

Walk on, walk on
What you've got they can't deny it
Can’t sell it, can’t buy it
Walk on, walk on
Stay safe tonight

And I know it aches, and your heart it breaks
And you can only take so much
Walk on

Walk On, from All that You Can't Leave Behind, U2

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.

Isaiah 58:6-10