As I walked in, a picture caught my eye. The picture has been on my desk in the same spot for two years. It's of me and my friend Kahalah at a Clerk's conference. As I looked at that picture my heart hurt even more. I guess by today's standards and on paper we shouldn't be friends. Running down the list, she's a Democrat, I'm a Republican. She's from the city, I'm from the country. She's black, I'm white. Here's the thing though, when I see her, none of that matters and I'm certain that none of that matters from her perspective either. To me she's one of the most intelligent, God-fearing, determined women I've ever met. I trust her with things I wouldn't tell many. Our differences don't define us or our friendship.
I wondered if I wore a uniform to work everyday if I would be targeted simply because of my occupation like those officers were. I wondered why we are so divided against one another. I wondered how we got to where we are. The more questions that ran through my mind, the more obvious the answer became.
We've become so self involved that we've forgotten that it's not always about us. You don't matter because of your job, your gender, your race, your political party, or your religion. You matter because God made you. He made you just as he made every other person on this earth and each life matters. All lives matter.
Society and the media have led us astray. We're fed exactly what will draw the ratings. We're fed what will lead to more dynamic television. Dynamic focuses on the "me" of it all. When we turn on the tv at night, it's not the good things of the world that we're being shown, it's the worst. It makes martyrs out of those that commit these senseless acts.
Yet we continue to buy into all that we're fed. We've never questioned how one man could shoot up a club and kill so many for such a long period of time without anyone knowing or anyone attempting to stop him. We've just been told that guns are to blame. We continue to believe that guns are what kill people. Yet don't hold accountable the person that actually used the gun. A gun is no more responsible for a death than a car is for someone getting a DUI. People make choices. Choices that are centered on themselves, clearly without regard for the effect that it has on others. Just yesterday another tragedy struck when someone killed over seventy-five people with a truck. Yet there's not a huge push by any political figure to take away our cars. Why? Because the truck didn't kill the people, a person killed people.
We're becoming sheep. We believe what we're told. We glamorize the violent protests yet don't show the peaceful ones. We've been led to believe that black and white can't live in peace. Our leaders and our media are dividing us. This isn't exclusive to white police brutalizing black people. Those acts are irreprehensible. Those officers should be held accountable, however, not all cops are bad. Yet again the media only shows us the bad, not the thousands that do good.
Our President has the opportunity to unite us as a country. He could choose to call for peace, to support law enforcement in their capacity, to acknowledge that not only gay, and black lives matter, but ALL lives matter. He's called to ban guns from those that can legally obtain them because guns kill people. Prohibition was to keep us as a country from consuming alcohol. It didn't work. Those that wanted it, still found a way to get it illegally. The same holds true for guns. If a criminal wants them bad enough, he'll get them, Chicago is a prime example. As a country, we've failed to hold our President accountable as our leader. Our media doesn't hold him accountable either. It all plays hand in hand as to how we've allowed ourselves to be led astray.
We've become accustom to the it feels good and I'm all that matters. We've put on blinders and never questioned how we ended up more divided than we've been in decades. The answer is this, we've been led astray and have become self absorbed. We've turned away from the principles that our country was founded on. We've cut God from our lives, we've chosen to believe all that's put on the television, we've stopped questioning those that lead us. We've become lackadaisical. We've lost sight that all life is important, not just our own.
Somewhere along the way we've forgotten that we are to love one another. We've forgotten that hate divides and defeats. Only love can unite and conquer. We may not agree with each other, but we should respect each other. We should honor the gift of life, not shatter it.
It's time. It's time for us to stop being led astray. Stand up. Ask question. Unite. Love.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13: 34
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