We know how this story ends. The burdens of our world are great. Movements for peace and reconciliation in Northern Ireland are stalled. Slavery still exists. AIDS has been called a modern plague.
Civil wars flare and simmer in the Balkans because of racism.
Israel and her neighbours struggle to find peace. In the last few weeks we've had to hear again about Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka, and again we are reminded that there is truly something called evil in the world. This is a burden like a boulder upon the shoulders of humanity. There is a people called Christian who can endure what seems like a never-ending story of suffering, because they know this story has an end. There is another kind of burden - the inner struggle.