Whether it is the pain we experience when we lose a family member, to the sadness of knowing that we have lost more than 100,000 fellow Americans, not to mention more than that around the world due to Covid-19 in just 3 months, to the unbelievable shock of watching someone getting murdered while gasping for air and the horror of looking at the person, who had committed to "serve and protect", show no emotion whatsoever while he was doing it.
It seems like we are living a nightmare that we can't wake up from. Watching a movie we cannot change the channel on. Living in perpetual grief waiting for the next shoe to drop and scared to see what comes next. After a brief period of healing at times, we are given reasons to continue crying over our sadness and pain.
Personally, I am losing my faith. My faith in humanity and how we treat one another. Not completely understanding how people could be so callous and cruel to one another. The salt on the wound comes from the comments from "those of faith" who on one hand offer prayer and appear to worry more about the loss of property than the loss of life and the injustice we are all seeing everywhere right before our own eyes.
I am losing my faith in America and the shared ideals and values of a nation who was once the shining beacon of the world, best described by the words of Thomas Paine in Common Sense:
"O ye that love mankind!
Ye that dare oppose not only the tyranny but the tyrant, stand forth!...
O receive the fugitive, and prepare in time an asylum for mankind."
To the words from Thomas Jefferson in his National Prayer:
"Bless our land with honorable industry, sound learning, and pure manners.
Save us from violence, discord and confusion, from pride and arrogance,
and from every evil way.
Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people
the multitude brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues."
To the plaque from the Statue of Liberty written by Emma Lazarus in 1883:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
To the words of Martin Luther King who during his March on Washington address in 1963 said:
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.....
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted,
every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain,
and the crooked places will be made straight,
and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together...
With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together,
to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together,
knowing that we will be free one day.
When I see how cruel and inhumane our elected officials are in the treatment of minorities and people of color I think of the words of Cornel West, an American author who said: "You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people if you won't serve the people."
The past days and weeks challenge everyone of us to reflect on what are clearly the injustices and inequalities all around us. While some of us are lucky and blessed to be able to work from the comfort and safety of our homes due to Covid-19, others are taking risks not just to go out to work but to protest over the senseless killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and countless others.
The Smithsonian magazine in an April 2018 article said that in the 10 days following King’s death, nearly 200 cities experienced looting, arson or sniper fire, and 54 of those cities saw more than $100,000 in property damage.
I do not condone or call for rioting and looting but we all have to come together to denounce the blatant racism and unfair treatment of people of color and minorities in general. This is not who we should be or can be and it is going to take every one of us to do something about it.We need to inspire hope, give love, and promote change for all of us. Not just a select few.
In Matthew, Chapter 18, in the Parable of the Lost Sheep, it says:
"See that you do not despise on one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.
What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray,
will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray?
And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost."
For those that like to say All Lives Matter, well if you are truly a follower of Jesus, it is time to acknowledge that Black Lives Matter.
Raised by my father who basically taught me to "Say what I Mean and Mean what I Say" and with a mother who's attitude was "don't be so mean", we need to stop being given reasons to cry.
I am right with you cousin Ralph
ReplyDelete. My father use to say “if you talk the talk you need to walk the walk”.
I have been crying for a couple of weeks too. I almost felt the need to see my doctor...but I finally started to feel the hope and faith a couple days ago. We are going to be the change our world needs. 😊
Thank you for your blog. I too saw the parable of the lost sheep in what we are living.
Thank you for giving me hope in our future.
You my dear cousin are AMAZING.