It’s been a week of tragedies.
News of rape and murder has been all over the media this week. It began when a California woman's letter to her rapist when viral and started a debate about our flawed justice system. Then, this weekend, news circulated about singer Christina Grimmie, who was shot and killed on Friday night at the age of 22. And in the early hours of Sunday, at a gay club in Orlando, 53 people were shot and killed by an anti-gay shooter. 50 others have been injured. It is considered to be one of the worst mass shootings in US history.
Here we are, a country of 300 million, confronted with events that are nothing short of heart-breaking. What are we to do in the aftermath of murder and rape? How do we move on when it’s so close to home and so painfully present on TV screens and social media?
The way I see it, we have a choice. We can let our hearts be overwhelmed by fear and hatred, we can push all uncomfortable feelings away, or we can choose to sit with the sadness - to turn to love in the very midst of tragedy.
We learned a year ago this month that love wins. After years of fighting for LGBT+ equality, a milestone was made on June 26th when gay marriage was legalized in the United States. "Love Wins," we said. Can we still believe that?
I think that we can. Now more than ever, it is time to cling steadfastly to the love that has advanced equality in this country so far and so beautifully. It is clear that our battle is not through yet; women, people of color, and queer folks, among others, are systemically viewed as inferior. When these social disparities become tragic realities, it’s a wake up call that we need to address deep-rooted, societal issues.
There are no easy answers to the tragedies of the world. There is no off switch to the pain and sorrow that millions are facing today. But there is a place we can go to, a place that we call love, where human beings from every walk of life come together as one.
Love is not the mentality that breeds hatred or misogyny or homophobia. It is not the mentality that causes a person to pick up a rifle and murder 53 human beings.
Love is the mentality that breaks down barriers, that respects differences, that creates a peaceful society. Love, love, love is what we need right now, more than anything else in the world.
I ask you today, wherever you may be, to choose love. Choose love when you go to work this morning, and when you buy dinner tonight. Choose love when you speak to strangers and choose love when you speak to best friends. Choose love in the large and small parts of life, and wherever it shows up for you.
If we can practice love a little more, if we can elevate each other to a place of equality, we have a chance to help create a better, brighter world.
That’s a world I can believe in, and a world that love can thrive in. That’s a world where love will always, always win.
