“What happened?”

“I don’t know. Some kind of conflict…It’s really sad.”

“Yeah, a lot of people are dying.”

“I just can’t imagine. Another pancake?”

Aleppo… Photos. News Stories. Casualties.

That’s all it really means to many of us. Few know the facts- they only know what’s on their Facebook feed. It’s sad but we can’t know what it’s like. Unless you’ve experienced something like it, you truly cannot imagine.

My dad has been held at gunpoint by cartels in Mexico. My best friend was beaten to a pulp by corrupt cops. Some friends of mine wait out gunfights daily, laying flat on their bedroom floors. Kidnapping attempts are a common anecdote subject among many of my friends. I’ve been shot at myself. But even if I combine all of those things, I still can’t come close to imagining what Aleppo is like. I can’t imagine that fear being ever-present. I can’t imagine not having a single moment without the sound of artillery invading my thoughts. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be prepared to commit suicide at any moment to avoid rape.

The numbers are startling: casualties, rebels, civilians, rescue workers, etc. But eventually they fade into just that. They become nothing more than statistics.

But the pictures? And the stories of individuals? They hurt. They make my $7 salad turn bitter in my stomach. They make my single story of 22-caliber bullets zipping past my head trite. They leave me speechless….

I don’t know what we can do. I don’t know if there’s anything we can do but pray.

I asked a Muslim friend in the Middle East what she thought we could do for Aleppo. She said it was critical we pray, but also that we should learn more of the matter and share it with people "because the silence on what is happening now will destroy us all...[making] us criminals." If we watch a crime happen and tell no one, we are as guilty as the perpetrator. People need to know what's going on.

I urge you to seek out stories of Aleppo and share them. Let the world know what’s happening. Don’t let it be overrun by Christmas music and an abundance of food. It’s easy to disconnect and pretend everything’s all right by focusing on our comfortable surroundings. Don’t let that happen.

I know it is painful to see this but you may help indirectly people in Syria .. The pressure and the talk can help them ..they really need everything now ..pray for them and for our world because the silence on what is happening now will destroy us all and will make all of us criminals

Let yourself feel. Read. Watch. Suffer. Cry.

Pray.

Pray for Aleppo.

And may God have mercy….

To read first-hand Aleppo stories:

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/12/...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/30/stor...