Living With Barriers

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and there have been many articles and documentaries on this infamous barrier that existed between 1961 and 1989 separating East Germany and West Germany.

Today I read an article on EWTN written by Ann Schneible. In that article, the Vatican Radio's director of German Language program was reflecting on the era of the Berlin Wall. Most importantly he highlighted that now so many of such 'barriers' are coming back up in different places and for
different reasons all over the world. 

Some of the obvious barriers are built along borders separating nations which most Governments claim to put in place for defense against threats to security, control illegal movement of goods and
persons, minimize smuggling, drug trafficking, crime, insurgency and so on and so forth.

While we think of all these 'bigger' walls, let us bring it home to our personal space. Think about the physical walls we put up around our homes, the psychological walls we put up that prevent us from 'seeing' the poor, the needy, the less privileged and the down trodden. How we feel the need to separate ourselves from the less privileged because of the 'harm' they can cause us.

As we mark the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall which was a symbol of separation, oppression and trampling on people's rights, let us also reflect on the walls we have put up and kept up for so many years, the walls we have helped and supported to stay up, and the walls we are building even now.

And let us remember, walls never were and never will be a solution to problems.