Every Friday we unite for five minutes. Only five minutes, that's all we get, that's all we have. And then, right where we are, no edits or second-thoughts, we publish those words. This week, we write on stay.
Go.
I stayed too quiet. I would be outraged for a few weeks. I would not move mountains. I am so sorry, I was wrong, I will look harder and deeper and closer to why and I will move mountains with you.
What if after a few weeks, we all get "tired" and move on. What if it all stays the same? What if we all go back to our lives? What happens in our communities? What happens to those that need us? Why would we ever stop listening? Why would we ever stop helping? Why would we ever stop change? Why would we ever stop fighting? Why would we stay right where we have always been? What is their world and what do they go back to?
We cannot let that happen. This is life and death. This is right and wrong. This is the time. I will not hide my children from the media. I will not allow them to be protected from this. They will hear my cry, they will stand with me. They will be told they are privileged and have a responsibility, as a human,
to kneel
to stand
to walk with
to listen to
to ask questions of themselves and their loved ones
to lose "friends" to challenge themselves and family
to be part of the solution
to demand change.
We cannot stay where we are. It is a matter of life/death, right/wrong.
This is my message to the black community, to people of color we have wronged and turned our back on...
You matter.
Your life deeply matters.
I see you.
I kneel with you.
I stand with you.
I walk with you.
I am listening to you.
And I am so sorry.
What a word of comfort and encouragement and honor. This is affirming to me as your sister in Christ and as a Black woman. Thank you for sharing the prayer of your heart...your questions and your responses with word and action. I love the dance between the Holy Spirit's move on our hearts and how we get to respond to Him, even when it feels like we are groping in the dark. Yet, He illuminates the power of the Word within us with the small and sometimes enlarged and momentous steps we take within our spheres of influence to the be the change, to be the activated Body of Christ. Blessings to you as you engage in the dance with Him and others in our victory that has overcome the world. (Your FMF neighbor this week #39)