Unfriend Me
It saddens me that it's come to this. I live for a good debate and like thoughtful dialogue and disagreements. I think we all stand to learn more by surrounding ourselves with as many dissenters as agreers. It stretches our brains - and our hearts.
And that's where I'm stuck. Yesterday my wall was all about #neverforget and platitudes about the days that followed 9/11/01. How Americans were so united, so joined, so supportive of one another. 24/7 love.
Stories of heroism. Stories of humanism. Regardless of race, religion, sexuality, physical ability, financial stability, or even humility. Kindness. Generosity. Hope.
Yet the day before, and today, it's back to screaming hateful messages at the President for agreeing to shelter 10,000 refugees. Screeching. Spitting. Hate.
If you were first-world fortunate enough to be sitting on a beach somewhere in the U.S.A. this past holiday weekend and a boat full of refugees crash landed on your shore - would you drown them? Kick them? Shove them back in the water? Could you look directly in the faces of the scared and the broken -- the children, the elderly and every age in between and say no? Really?
Unfriend me.
I get the fear thing. Maybe you're just afraid. Terrified even that by giving to others there won't be enough for you. Imagine the fear in the hearts of the refugees? You can look the other way?
Unfriend me.
Reading a post from the glorious Glennon Melton, this stuck with me hard:
“The Gospel says: Do not be afraid. Re-member. Re-member is the opposite of dis-member. When we shut our doors to our own family: when we are afraid of each other - we are dismembered. The kingdom of God comes when we treat each other like KIN. Like family. When we RE-MEMBER.”
It's easy to be a jerk from a distance. To sit at home, hiding behind Wi-Fi signals, pressing buttons and pointing fingers. Calling people terrorists...because you can and you think you should.
What are you doing while you blame others for everything or ramble on about how awful things are? Are you feeding the homeless? Taking in foster kids or battered women? Donating blood? Creating jobs? Fighting gangbangers? Volunteering at your church? Paying it forward?
Doubtful.
You're just being lousy. Hurtful. Hateful. Inhuman.
If you believe that we attract people who vibrate at the same frequency, you'll understand why I can't tune in to your 'station' anymore. I don't want to attract fear and hate.
I won't push anyone back in the water. And I won't stand with anyone who will.
#JustBeKind #WeBelongtoEachOther
Reading a post from the glorious Glennon Melton, this stuck with me hard:
“The Gospel says: Do not be afraid. Re-member. Re-member is the opposite of dis-member. When we shut our doors to our own family: when we are afraid of each other - we are dismembered. The kingdom of God comes when we treat each other like KIN. Like family. When we RE-MEMBER.”
It's easy to be a jerk from a distance. To sit at home, hiding behind Wi-Fi signals, pressing buttons and pointing fingers. Calling people terrorists...because you can and you think you should.
What are you doing while you blame others for everything or ramble on about how awful things are? Are you feeding the homeless? Taking in foster kids or battered women? Donating blood? Creating jobs? Fighting gangbangers? Volunteering at your church? Paying it forward?
Doubtful.
You're just being lousy. Hurtful. Hateful. Inhuman.
If you believe that we attract people who vibrate at the same frequency, you'll understand why I can't tune in to your 'station' anymore. I don't want to attract fear and hate.
I won't push anyone back in the water. And I won't stand with anyone who will.
#JustBeKind #WeBelongtoEachOther