Becoming Human

Slipping through the cracks. That’s how it feels. We’re living in a time with a lot of cracks and people are trying to hold on and not fall through. If there ever were safety nets, they’re long gone. Children may now fear going to a parade. Police firing sixty bullets to unarmed Jayland Walker shows just how unhinged we have become.

We’re not bound for glory, we’re hell-bent on self-destruction as if all has been preordained and our ability to choose is irrelevant. But I’m a believer in choice. And I know it is still within us to choose something better, something greater than we’re currently living. 

Lists can be made of all that is horribly and tragically wrong, but there is no time. I could join the chorus of gun control and mental health advocates and while I support those efforts, we miss the point if that’s all we see. I don’t expect everyone to agree with me and even fewer may understand; yet I know this is the moment to discover our inner strength. This is the moment to step beyond hope and prayers and step into our knowing. It is possible.

It’s possible that we can choose respect and kindness in the face of ignorance and hatred. It’s possible we can overcome. We’re not the first and we’ll not be the last who have had to fight to preserve our human dignity. But fight we must.

Let this be an awakening of our spirit. Let it be our time for a change, time for the lovers, the healers, for the broken.  Time to be human again.

We need to see the ugliness that has always been here in us and around us. But we must also find the strength and the courage to witness our Beauty. 

While there are no silver bullets to change the world, there are practical steps that can be made. This is one that I have chosen for the past fifty years. Practicing Peace.