Our beautiful nation is experiencing so much unnecessary heartbreak.
From the shooting in Orlando, Fla., to the current police brutality crisis, our country is in a horrifying place. In the blink of an eye, children who were laughing last week are fatherless. Wives who were loving last week are widows. Mothers who were caring last week are empty. Friends who were supporting last week are lost. Black mothers are forbidding their children to leave the house in fear that they won't return. Mothers of officers are urging their children to avoid putting on their uniform and going to work. Innocent men and women have had their futures taken. They have had their lives senselessly taken.
What are we supposed to do as a nation when our country is dividing at a rapid pace? What are we supposed to do as individuals? We are constantly watching people who are loved be taken from those who love them. Hate of difference is dwelling in this country. Whether the difference is race, sexual orientation, career choice or gender identity, it does not matter. It is infuriating to see innocent people lose their lives because they are different. It's hard to understand how someone can have so much hate in their heart for a person, simply because they are different. People are being murdered because their lives deviate from their murderers' lives. It seems hopeless to see these events continue without a solution in sight.
Watching these terrifying events happen in our home is heart-rending, but in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., "Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
"And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than this." — Mark 12:31
We have to comfort our fellow Americans in this time of great stress in our country. We have to embrace differences. We have to accept changes. We have to put our hate aside to love the people who have different opinions than us. This country will not see positive outcomes from these horrific events if we retaliate with even more violence and hate.
Pray for your nation. Pray for people who are different than you. Pray this country can be somewhere we all feel safe. Pray our fellow Americans do not have to feel targeted because of their differences.
Pray for the families of the innocent lives lost over the last few months. Hold your own families close, and be thankful for their presence.
