Darkness and light grow together — at least on this planet. They even intensify and help to shape each other. But, is this the eternal, default reality?
In these current times of tangled and frightening darkness, it’s easy to forget (or not see at all) how far we have come in the progression of goodness and light.
Our Creator is still pulsing throughout his creation to bring forth more fully new and emerging facets of what life was intended to be on this earth. “Points of light” will illuminate areas of divine-human cooperation where truly wondrous advances have happened and are happening still, despite the need for major, ongoing improvement.
The first of these is slavery. From time immemorial, some human beings have sought to “own” their enemies — or their neighbors — and use them for particular, self-centered purposes.
Whether it’s the backbreaking, mud-slogging work of fashioning blocks to build the Egyptian pyramids; the 16th century Portuguese slave traders caging and cramming Asian and African peoples onto slave ships to transport and sell in foreign markets; or Africans enslaving their fellow Africans before and after any commercial vessels carried them to the Americas — slavery has stolen the best years, sometimes the only years, of human lives.
However, in Britain, the heartbeat of God coursed through William Wilberforce, a member of the English Parliament and John Newton, a former slave dealer and author of the song “Amazing Grace,” with others, to bring this life-thieving hemorrhage to an end. This was remarkable given that Wilberforce suffered serious health afflictions all his adult life. His crowning achievement occurred in 1833, when Britain granted liberty to all slaves in its global empire.
Soon the stemming of the flow from these carnal arteries reached the American shores as well with the God listeners — Harriett Beecher Stowe, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman — and many others through their speaking, publications and activism.
The final tourniquet to this predatory blood-letting came in 1865 with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted freedom to the millions of slaves nationwide.
Already many European countries had begun the banning of slavery decades earlier, but established its legal, decisive end throughout their extensive colonies in the 1800s.
South America also had those who channeled God’s Spirit during the 1800s to bring a transfusion of compassion and light to the darkness of bondage on that continent. Brazil, where slaveholding was deeply entrenched, tightened the final ligature in 1888, becoming the last major power to abolish slavery.
Nowadays, this fight is more unveiled and universal: Organizations like the International Justice Mission (IJM) in Washington D.C. — the world’s largest international antislavery organization — work alongside national governments, local law enforcement, partner organizations, the courts, community leaders, social workers and former victims to support rescue operations, establish compassionate, native-run aftercare programs, and ensure predators are brought to justice.
On several continents, their staff trains police, prosecutors, judges and other officials to recognize and respond to violence. In the first six months of last year, that number exceeded 10,000 lawyers and judges who were trained.
While IJM focuses on either kind of slavery (i.e. labor or sex trafficking), a multiple of groups are working to rescue and heal the horrific wounds of sex trafficking — the illegal, but lucrative, activity ($236 billion garnered annually) in all parts of the world. When laws are not enforced, persons become commodities; even children as young as 2 years old are being sold because traffickers are banking on most people turning a blind eye (IJM.org/truths).
However, this heinous crime is now being brought into the open and multivarious efforts made to eradicate it. This scale of resistance to sex trafficking is unprecedented in human history and has given rise to two recent motion pictures — “The Trade of Innocents” and “The Sound of Freedom” — to elucidate before audiences worldwide this detestable industry.
The motto of the IJM is “Until All are Free,” and represents the passionate cry of the human heart for this point of light.
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world …” and this “... light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (RSV).
This column may include both fiction and nonfiction, and views expressed do not necessarily represent those of The SUN. Submissions can be sent to editor@pagosasun.com.
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