Walls

I was all set to write a blog tonight about being busy but not productive (my life this past week) or even the hazards of living in a tropical climate where mosquitoes are rampant in the morning (here's a sneak peek: I love the smell of poison in the morning... Usually on a Sunday morning you hear the low hum of a motor mowing the grass, not a motor blowing gas. Instead of cutting lawns, León is in full mosquito elimination mode. With cases of malaria, dengue, and chikungunya in the western zone of Nicaragua, they fumigated in our house yesterday, and they drove through the streets spewing poisoned smoke from the back of a truck. Yup, I'm wearing mosquito repellent, but recently I've considered the need for a gas mask, too.) But then I saw Google's celebratory icon for the day. Today is the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I was in Berlin a year and a half ago, and I saw that wall. It was incredible. We saw where people were contained within a city, the supposed symbols of power that looked like desperate attempts to keep control, the artful expressions of protest.

 The radio tower in Berlin that the Eastern block raised in an attempt to compete with the west.

 I'm standing at Checkpoint Charlie, one of the openings in the wall where people could pass through for official business

The line of the Berlin wall, and my feet on either side of it!

 Pieces of the wall with dictator's faces painted on it.

 My Dutch brother and I in front of the wall that remains standing.

 A sniper tower that was used to shoot people who attempted to cross the wall.

 The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin

 We went to an exhibit that showed other walls around the world that have been built to keep one side separated from the other. It was a powerful reminder of the injustices that continue in this world.

 I took pictures of some of my favorite parts of the artwork on the remnants of the wall.

 Another favorite

Seeing the wall, and the beauty of it coming down, was something that inspired me. May the walls of language and culture, ethnicity and economy, religion and politics, continue to come down. Christ, through his death and resurrection, is breaking down the walls. I want to be part of it. Let's dance together to be free.