Lately, I feel like everything I see on the news is negative. Officer involved shootings. Sexual predators being set free. Racial injustice. Political polarization. The refugee crisis. The list goes on and on.
And to be honest, it's really hard not to lose hope, especially when you feel like you have to pick one side or the other. Do you vote Democrat or Republican? Do you support the Black Lives Matter Movement, or the All Lives Matter Movement? Do you believe the U.S. should take in more refugees, or not take in any at all?
I heard a sermon this Sunday at a new church I recently started going to. In short, the pastor's main message was that you don't have to pick a side. You don't have to root for one side only. But what you do have to do is express love and empathy for all sides. Now, I'm not a police officer or a refugee or a young, black man living in America. I'm a nineteen year-old college student who is just trying to figure out how to respond to the multiple crises in our country. But, starting today, I'm done choosing sides.
I refuse to give into the political polarization in our country. I'm going to try and show that all sides deserve a chance to have their say, whether I agree with their opinions or not. So often I hear people (myself included) express their disappointment in our political system. It breaks my heart to see elected officials, individuals who represent the citizens of the United States, argue like petty school children when they don't get their way. What's the solution to this game of politics, this endless back-and-fourth? It's listening to each other-- really listening-- and deciding not who's idea is better, but how to combine ideas from all parties.
It's deeply upsetting to know that there is still racial injustice in our country. I will never be able to fully understand what goes through a police officer's mind when faced with uncertain situations. I will never be able to fully understand what an African-American has to face every day, just because their skin is a different color than mine. But what I do know, and understand, is the power of love. The power of acknowledging and accepting the broken world we live in. The power of love not letting hate and darkness and cruelty win.
Here's what happens when you don't pick a side: you get to express love and empathy to all parties. It's so hard not to automatically assume what a situation is and how you feel about it. It's hard to imagine yourself in the shoes of all of the people involved. But when you don't pick a side, you set an example for other people. You set the example that love always beats hate, acceptance always beats judgement and support always beats neglect.
Don't mind the gap. Stand in the gap.
