Turning on my television every day leads to nothing but disappointment. I can't stand to watch the news anymore, I can't stand to go on social media and I can't stand to scan the headlines of newspapers on my walk through the grocery store.
I am well aware of what's going on. I'm aware that our Earth is full of such hatred and violence, that most of us live everyday in fear - fear of the next attack, fear of being the next victim, fear of the future of our country.
I know I don't have control over the actions of our foreign enemies. Organizations and groups that breed hate can never see love. Individuals who have malice engraved in their hearts from what they are taught to practice and believe their entire existence will never experience or share peace. These ideologies are not something we can wish to stop or control.
But, what destroys me is that a majority of what I see being exponentially reported on mass media is not the violence and intolerance of our foreign enemies, but between our own people.
It is ever so prevalent to me that The United States of America is not as star-spangled amazing as we wish it to be. This country of ours has issues and problems that absolutely must be addressed and solved. But, are we going to continue down this road of violence (the same road of violence our enemies travel down) in order to address these issues?
"A house divided against itself cannot stand." - Abraham Lincoln
Is pinning different groups of Americans against one another going to solve these problems we are facing and have been facing for decades? Why can't we focus on the enemy sucker punching us from the back, rather than creating enemies out of one another? As our nation has proven throughout history - united we will stand, divided we will fall.
"Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problems, it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding, it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible." -Martin Luther King Jr.
No permanent peace will result from building hatred for your fellow American. This will send us down a path of destruction, a treacherous road we are heading towards. Take a look at our foreign enemies, destroying not only their own people but the masses in the name of vengeance and menace. Is this what we want to pursue? Throughout our country's history, millions of Americans have sacrificed and given their lives in order to spare our people of this hatred. If we are to continue down this dark valley of violence, the souls of the fallen will have been lost in vain.
"Therefore encourage and build one another up, just as you are already doing." - 1 Thessalonians 5:11
We can no longer be a people divided. Regardless of our qualities that make us different, together, we are one. We are Americans first. We are human beings first. Our differences can not destroy us. In light of the tragic world we are surrounded by, we need to find love. We need to find love within ourselves and within one another.
"Now, these three remain; faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:12
I pray for the day America will no longer be divided. We must have hope for a brighter future, and love one another until we reach it. Divided we are weak, and an easy target. Together, we are strong, and a force to be reckoned with. Unity and love will prevail.
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
I believe the only way for our country to resolve the issues we are currently faced with is through understanding and peace. If not, we are portraying a broken society to the rest of the free world, and we are left living in one as well. We are disgracing our ancestors who fought for this country, we are disgracing God, and we are disgracing ourselves.
