Friday, May 06, 2005

can't get this quote out of my head

As you may know, for my "pleasure" reading I have been spending time in Rwanda (and Bosnia, Armenia, Cambodia, etc.) with a host of writers attempting to understand genocide. Presently, I working through Gen. Romeo Dallaire's Shake Hands With the Devil. Dallaire (played by Nick Nolte in Hotel Rwanda) was the Canadian General and head of the Peacekeepers for the UN. He was witness to the genocide and the murder of 14 of his soldiers.

Throughout the 100 days, Dallaire called on the nations of the UN and the rest of the west to intervene, which we know never happened. You may know that upon returning to Canada he was suicidal and is the highest ranking officer to publicly suffer with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. He had to retire (after a distinguished 35+ year career) and has been recovering for 10 years.

In this book, the haunting quote that I cannot shake is...

"After one of my many presentations following my return from Rwanda, a
Canadian Forces padre asked me how, after all I had seen and experienced, I
could still believe in God. I answered that I know there is a God because in
Rwanda I shook hands with the devil. I have seen him, I have smelled him and I
have touched him. I know the devil exists, and therefore I know there is a
God."

1 comment:

Ryan Lee Sharp said...

Even if I was half as cool as you, I still would not make time to read all the books you read.

Tell me, friend, how do you do it?