hello, everyone! this is going to be a short one, but i had a thought and i thought i might record it. i have not been following the michael brown thing at all. not at all. which is strange because my brother lives in st. louis but i think i have been busily planning birthdays and things and just have not been paying attention. which is to my complete discredit. but this morning, as everyone has been talking about it, i have been thinking a bit more about it.
i certainly, as someone who knows almost none of the facts, don’t have a “side”. i didn’t even realize that in questions like this that there were “sides.” but there definitely seem to be. i simply want to be on the side of love. i want to everyone to know love and grace and hope. i want to love everyone in my community no matter what color they are and no matter whether they are “good kids” or not. i want to love people who keep us safe even if sometimes they make mistakes while doing so.
martin luther king jr. said “darkness cannot drive out darkness. only LIGHT can do that. hate cannot drive out hate. only LOVE can do that.” i know that to be true. and i want to be the light and the love in this dark situation so filled with emotion. so, here is my question. the one that i will be working out over the next few weeks/months/years/decades. what does love DO? what does light DO? how can i show people of color in my community that i love them? how do i love those who serve us? what does the light and love look like practically? because my temptation is to do nothing. to sit back and let the “sides” duke it out. but i KNOW that is not what light and love do. love and light act.
so i encourage you to work out with me what love and light can do in these situations. what would light and love do to counteract the long term effects of racism? how do i tell someone who is so frustrated with the world that they want to be act violently that i love them? what light and love can i show that will encourage those who sacrifice to protect me? what would light and love do to show anyone who is marginalized that they are important to me? that they are important to God? so many possible reactions just seem fraught with uncertainly. speaking loudly seems to invite argument. moving in any direction seems to imply “choosing a side”. but sitting still and not speaking seem like the coward’s way out. i know that if i seek the truth, i’ll find it, so when i come with anything, i’ll let you know! and you let me know too!
a strange mix of flavors 
Wow…wow. so well said Elizabeth. Like you, I too have not followed this story but am saddened that there are “sides” What can love and light do in these situations…Just the BE love and light. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? We humans are much more complicated and nothing is as simple as it sounds. But think about it if we are kind to everyone we meet, if we smile at the clerk in the store, the dry cleaners, the guy who cuts you off in traffic — when we are hurried, harried, and just plain tired, smile and be kind. How can that possible make a difference? We can look back at history, there are many examples of one person making a difference…Jesus, is our best example. Be we have scores of others, we have the right to vote thanks to Susan B. Anthony and the others women who spoke on our behalf for that right, Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, William Wilberforce. Nelson Mandala – and the list goes on and one..
It’s hard to be kind and love everyone but that’s the best place to start! If we start with our own little world then expand that circle of influence — just imagine..