I know that we are all trying to spread a little bit of positivity in a time of absurd violence, but I just have to be completely candid about how we are having a bit of a hard time practicing what we are preaching.
The world is filled with things that will make your heart hard, but it’s important to find a balance between a tender heart of compassion, and a heart hardened with strength. One of my favorite Bible verse quotes: Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. (Matthew 10:16NIV).
What we need right now is something that brings together our differences --regardless of what they may be.
After spending a night listening to Brene Brown in person, she made a comment about how the first responders during the hurricane devastation in Texas did not ask about the beliefs of the person they were helping or saving; they didn’t ask who they voted for and leave them for dead if they disagreed. They helped regardless of the contrasts staring them in the eyes.
What we need are predictable hearts in unpredictable times.
And on top of that, it should be worth noting that apathy is becoming the death of us. As individuals, as communities, and as a nation. Our public and social cynicism is what separates us as people, as social creatures, and it is what keeps us from taking action or making changes, or worse both.
So why do we side with apathy? And why do we give it so much power?
It is unnecessary to side with apathy when it is very obvious that it is crucial for us to side with empathy. In a time where violence is high and we are becoming more segregated from one another, and it totally blows.
For the sake of the society we have built, we are continuing to build, and for one which we are responsible for, it is essential for us to build a mutual sense of belonging to everyone who so clearly has a deliberate path in this remarkable world.
I know that I say a lot of the best things that have happened to me have happened by accident --but maybe it is an accident which is a deliberate accident. A beautifully deliberate one at that.
However, apathy is not an accident. It is a conscious choice that many of us have so clearly cultivated from a world once created by careful hands and an empathetic heart.
We may not always have a ton of choices in this life, but we can be responsible for this one. So which side are you on?