It’s a Black and White Issue

I haven’t posted a blog in several months because my family has had quite a lot going on during this time. But after the events that have unfolded this week in my beloved country, beloved state, and beloved city, I cannot stay silent.  I am grief-stricken, and I am compelled to give voice to the silent cries of my heart.

Last night I sat with my 12-year-old son, Landry, and watched the news coverage of the week’s events – the police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana, the protests that followed, and the ambush of police at one of those protests in Dallas, Texas.

Landry had questions about all that had transpired.  I did my best to explain the events to him, but how can one really explain such things?

The week’s events were troubling, and the one in Dallas especially hit close to home.  My husband and I have spent most of our adult lives in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex, and it has been Landry’s home all of his life.

Landry remarked how awful it was that the tragedy of the assassination of President Kennedy happened in downtown Dallas and now this police ambush and resulting casualties (the worst since 9/11) had happened in downtown Dallas also, and that neither event even had anything to do with the city.

Insightful words from a child.  I couldn’t help thinking how both tragic events were fueled by race issues, and I wondered, how are we at this point now?  How have we made so much progress and yet so little progress in the last 50 years?  Has history taught us nothing?  Is history destined to repeat itself?

It is if we don’t take a stand, and stand united.

More than a century ago, another great fighter for this cause, Abraham Lincoln, said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.”

True words indeed.  If we don’t stand united, we will fall.

And I’m not just talking about race issues.  I’m talking about everything that seeks to divide us.  Terrorism of all sorts.  Race, religion, gender, politics.  Attacks on our constitutional rights.  Attacks on our values and morals.  Attacks on our humanity.

They say it’s complicated, that there is no easy answer.  Really?  I say the answer is staring us in the face.  It’s black and white.  Simple.  Elementary even.

It’s the golden rule.  Treat others as you would want to be treated.

Jesus himself said, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Jesus also said to love our neighbors as ourselves.

If we want healing, if we want reconciliation, if we want restoration, if we want progress, we must choose to show love to one another.  Hate only begets hate, but love conquers all.

You don’t have to share the same opinion as someone to be their friend.  You don’t have to be the same skin color to be someone’s family.  You don’t have to worship at the same place to fellowship together.  You don’t have to have the same social status to sit at the same table.  You don’t have to have the same abilities to contribute to society.

God forbid if we were all the same.  Diversity is what makes us great and will propel us forward if we use its benefits to come together rather than allowing our differences to divide us.

I remember back to a time when my now 18-year-old daughter, Lexi, was in elementary school.  I was looking at one of Lexi’s class photos, and I was struck by the range of diversity of the students.  Black, white, and every color in between were represented.  I remember remarking to my husband about the level of diversity and how proud I was that our kids were growing up in this generation.

Just a few short years later, it doesn’t feel like that anymore.  I now worry about what kind of world both of my children will live in, and their children, and their children’s children.

What kind of world will it be for all of our children?

The choices we make will determine that.  And the most important choice is black and white.  Love or hate?

Which will you choose?

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” – 1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV)

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  – 1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV)