Independence

Where the heck were we yesterday?  I don't even remember at this point, I'm just waking up and hopping on the bike and going wherever I'm supposed to go.  But today we biked through Independence, Missouri, to get to Kansas City, Kansas.  Nothing particularly interesting happened today except that we had a lot of hills to contend with again, and I'm definitely hoping that the rumors about Kansas' flatness are true. 

Independence is one of the few places on this trip that I purposely fit into the itinerary.  Obviously the name of the city is very symbolic for this country, and for this trip.  More than that, though, Independence was one of the launching points for the adventurous people embarking on the Oregon Trail.  Apparently it is also significant in President Harry Truman's life, because we saw lots of signs pointing to historical Harry S. Truman sites in Independence. 

For all these reasons Independence is meaningful for me on this trip.  While many in this country celebrate our glorious achievements of freedom and independence, 19,000 people are trafficked into this country every year.  19,000 new slaves trafficked into this country every single year.  That is an incredible number for a country proud of its independence. 

Think about how much risk there was when families left for Oregon from this area many years ago.  Over a thousand miles to travel across unknown land with unknown people and unknown dangers.  Of course, I like many kids loved playing the game Oregon Trail, and had fun seeing whether or not I could get my family safely to the Pacific.  Cholera and other diseases; horses breaking their legs; Native Americans attacking; food shortages; all the like threatened to kill my imaginary family as we trekked across the country. 

A similar battle faces us now.  The human trafficking trade is so well established and so well hidden that many of the facts are unknown.  Changing the attitudes of our children, friends and co-workers will take a lot of effort and disappointments.  Fighting the evil entrenched and ingrained so deeply in our society will be long and incredibly difficult.  True enough, but we must take the risk.  President Truman entered a world war knowing that many American lives would be lost, the risk was high, but justice must be done.  We must launch, knowing the risk, but determined to cross the vast unknown territory that will give us all a new life.