Susan LaffertyWe heard it repeated. Often. “Being in the center of God’s will is the safest place to be.”
Well, yes.
But safest can be interpreted in different ways.
We were living in a city where Taliban congregated and proliferated.
One political party’s slogan read “Sell your televisions and buy guns.” As they sought to overthrow the ruling party by force.
Safest was not the first word that came to mind.
Sun beat down on flat roofs in long Karachi summers.
Electricity failed. Lines melted. Disconnecting and falling in the street.
The interior of our home was an oven. Climbing over 100 degrees at times.
We read of people dying in Chicago one summer. Why? Fans combined with heat above a certain temperature in their apartments turned those spaces into convection ovens.
Oh. We were getting cooked.
“What’s your name?” I ask. And the man stumbles over his answer.
Gives me one response. Then another.
At first I think it’s miscommunication. I’m still learning culture and language, after all.
But soon I hear the story behind the struggle.
His story.
