I’ve got to stop watching the news. It’s too hard to see the violence and hate. An argument over a Black Lives Matter vs. all lives matter ended in a woman being shot in the head—right here on the Canal Walk in Indianapolis. She was a mother with two small children, and whatever any of us thinks about her views, her murder is tragic.
Have we all gone stark raving mad? The other day, as thousands of peace marchers led by clergy crossed a bridge in New York City, they were attacked. One marcher said: ”We’ve come to tear down walls of injustice, to build bridges that unite people.” Meanwhile 132 people had been shot in New York in the past 10 days.
For those of us watching all of this, it’s hard to figure out who is who. Some say Black Lives Matter has been highjacked by white radicals who are using the organization to push the destruction of society. Some say, the group is just expressing its frustration over unfair treatment by over-zealous police. But for many, these violent confrontations seem to be less about race and more about a war between the ideologies of hate and love.
One urban pastor rolled his eyes at me and said, “MLK is rolling over in his grave right now.”
Corinthians 12:25 sums up a long treatise on the value of every person by saying, ..there should be no division in the body, but its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Last night we had the pleasure of having dinner with Jesse and his fiancé. For those who have followed this blog or our newsletters, you know that Jesse is black and he spent many years in prison. He is a great friend who has inspired much of our work at UNITE INDY. His lovely fiancé is white. The difference in skin color means less than nothing to them. Their bond goes far deeper than the superficiality of color. They have a shared history of childhood abuse.
Though life has been hard for both, throughout their lives they each continually looked past the hurt to find something good, to make the choice to love, and in doing so, they have made a better world for themselves and those around them. They have truly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in a world that offers a lot of defeat.
I know everyone is not so lucky. Everyone cannot put away their anger. But each of us finds ourselves asking this question: Where are we in all this? Are we to merely witness the war before us? Are we to take up the cross of Jesus and help to find peaceful solutions? Or filled with disgust over the maltreatment of George Floyd and others, do we take up pipes and bats and burn statues of The Virgin Mary?
A lot of people on that New York bridge were trying to show love. A lot of them had spent their entire lives helping others, and many of them were like Jesse—they were survivors who want to make a better world.
I have to stick with them,
Nancy
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