These past few months have certainly been challenging. So many things to think and worry about while searching for hope. I have been thinking back to my youth when we faced very different yet similar challenges. I remember vividly the assassination of John Kennedy, the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, the civil rights movement, passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil unrest that followed, Bobby Kennedy’s assassination, the moon landing, the shootings at Kent State, and underlying these events was the tragedy of the Vietnam War. All of these moments helped to shape my life and my world view. So much needless, senseless death and suffering mixed with feelings of real joy and pride in what mankind can accomplish. Joy and sadness are part of life that we all get to experience, although not in equal measure.
To quote Richard Rohr, "God comes to you disguised as your life.... Christianity is not so much a belief system as a life-and-death system that shows you how to give away your life, how to give away your love, and eventually how to give away your death. Basically, how to give away and in so doing, to connect with all other creatures and with God."
So, how do we give away now when we can’t physically connect with others? How do we overcome the human tendency to be close when we can’t be close? How do we protect others and ourselves from an unseen unpredictable enemy? I believe it is done by being kind to one another. As Philo of Alexandria said, "Be kind, for everyone that you meet is fighting a great battle."
We must strive to be kind and we must strive to be just. We cannot look past social injustice and discrimination because it does not
seem
to affect us personally. Many in this country are suffering from poverty and institutional racism. It is easy to say that the problems are just too big and can’t be solved. It is easy to say that there is nothing one person can do. Well, John and Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. were individuals who paid the ultimate price to bend the arc of history toward justice. We are recipients of their courage in their quest to make this a better, more peaceful nation. A nation where everyone, regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual identity or color, has a chance to succeed and flourish. We need to ask for and trust in God’s guidance and strive for a kinder, more equitable society. A society in which all are given the opportunity to achieve our God given potential to be our best selves. We owe ourselves and God no less.
Stay safe and continue to look out for each other.
