Walls

November 9th, 1989. A day that impacted the world.

It's really quite amazing.

24 hours earlier; no wall separating brothers and sisters, parents and childrens, friends and neighbors. 24 hours later; a concrete reminder that your life is controlled and limited.

West Berlin had 30 years of restoration and progress. Money from the Allies poured in.
East Berlin had 30 years of poverty and limitations, the affects that you can see to this day.
Seriously. You can take a bus or tram and see a visible change in the condition of the city when crossing from West to East.

Having walked around Berlin, I've stood where the wall once stood. I've been to Checkpoint Charlie, seen the remaining wall and have read some of the stories.

Did you know that some 5,000 people made it successfully across the wall, into West Berlin? However there were approximately 75,000 others who were caught, imprisoned, or killed.

When I went to Berlin, I did a 4 hour walking tour...best thing I've ever done when traveling. My group was surprised at one point to see a sign that said something to effect of "Bring back Communism!" Only did we realise that although the wall was down and communism was gone in Germany, those communist leaders are still around and some still in governmental positions. After all, this only happened 20 years ago.

Do you how the fall of the wall came to be? Evidently, in order to show more peace-like characteristics, East Germany announced that they would start giving exit visas to whomever wanted to visit West Berlin. The people misunderstood, believing that the East Germans were saying the border was open and rushed the guards, and started tearing the wall, a symbol of oppression. Interesting, huh? (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33587033/ns/news-picture_stories/displaymode/1247/?beginSlide=1)

Oppression is a funny thing. It has a way of cutting you off from those you love and limits what you can and cannot do. If the inhabitants had rushed the guards say 30 years earlier, think of how different their lives would have been. But in the midst of oppression, it is easy to feel like you cannot do anything. It binds your feet, makes you fearful, and keeps you captive for as long as possible. It's destructive and doesn't allow for you to progress. And yet, having a concrete wall in your life is not the end of the story...or at least, it doesn't have to be.

"Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." Hebrews 12:1-2