Welcome friends,
For those of you that follow the news (or don’t live under a rock), it’s pretty obvious that this isn’t really the best year for humanity. In the past few months alone: Nice, Orlando, Turkey, Baghdad, Dallas… The list goes on, and on— another event being added with every couple of days. It’s bleak and certainly not easy to accept, but this seems to be the direction that the world is moving.
But, anyway, why bring up such a depressing topic? What does any of that have to do with us, as high schoolers, as college students, as human beings, as future HT, as current HT? How do these moments change the way we see ourselves, and the world around us?
Well, the truth is… it sometimes doesn’t.
For most of us, we turn on the TV or browse Facebook in wake of these tragedies, and our natural responses range between fear, anger, and sadness. Typically, our hearts reach out to the families of those affected; we might think of saying a few prayers; some of us actually end up saying them... Then we talk about it for a few days:
However, our grief is short-lived. It’s difficult to admit, sure. But, we eventually move on with our lives, whether that be a conscious choice or by chance, and forget that these things ever happened in the first place.
I find the words of Jon Stewart, former host of the Daily Show, to be especially insightful. He says:
“By acknowledging it, by staring into that and seeing it for what it is, we still won’t do jackshit. Yeah, that’s us. That’s the part that blows my mind.”
All the news coverage in the world can’t change the fact that we, as human beings, are becoming increasingly apathetic, we care less and less. Social injustice occurs even in our own country, the first world— injustice that preys upon the poor, the gays, the minorities— but we won’t do a thing to stop it. What does that say about who we are as Christians?
The Bible teaches that all human beings have the potential to do good, but at the same time we are not necessarily born righteous. Listening to Jesus’ vision for us doesn’t come naturally, it’s hard, I know. Think back to the Gospel from a few weeks ago. Jesus says:
“You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart,with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself" (Luke 10:30-35).
We all have the capacity for love, but we are selective with who we love. We find difficulty loving the homeless man that asks us for money outside the 7-11 in the same way that we love our families. Although we might not see the presence of God in his eyes, He is there. They are all our neighbors.
Jesus did not tell us to “love thy neighbor...unless they’re black, gay, or disgusting”. He uses the absolute statement without exception, with faults included. Prejudice, racism and homophobia are what we have created out of hate for each other, not love.
Love must be unconditional.
If we were able to live by that instruction, would these tragic moments still occur? If we were able to love each other as neighbors, as shared inhabitants of this beautiful world that God gave us?
Would we intentionally hurt the man/woman we love?
Would we kill a child, if they were our own?
Would we steal money from the poor, if they were our parents?
Love every human being like they are you(rs).
I’m not saying that all of us have to go travel the world, preaching love and kumbaya...
Instead, we should learn and teach this love by our good work. Let tragedy remind you of this.
When you find one of the kids annoying or weird, love them anyway.
When your colleagues don’t appreciate you, love them anyway.
Someday, they will return that love to others, if not to you.
And, with this I will leave you with a beautiful quote from Kurt Vonnegut:
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It’s hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It’s round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you’ve got a hundred years here. There’s only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you’ve got to be kind.” –God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater
Sincerely, Anh Peter
