I Am Tired of Gray

It has been a difficult month in the news. And while there is no denying that such events touch people in different ways it can get to the point where a person begins to just feel numb. The ability to process negatives and seemingly unexplainable events overwhelm our spirit’s resources and we feel ourselves shut down as a means of self-defense.

Others see this and think we care not about this group, or that event. When in truth we care too much. We may not identify with a specific gender, race or other qualifier but as cliché as it may sound – our spirit has responded to the disturbance in the “force” or the life force in all of us.

I have read several social media postings today urging peace, using hashtags, or taking a political position. And if that makes the author feel better I am not going to say they are wrong. What they believe is as valid as what I believe.

The difference is that what I believe does not teach me to kill those who do not agree with my beliefs. What my beliefs DO tell me is that there is dignity in ALL other people as God’s creation. What I believe is:

•  There is ONE God, ONE Redeemer and ONE Holy Spirit.
  
  
•  I acknowledge that no group of people has ever acted perfectly and is without sin. The Crusaders acted in a way that would not be tolerated today. Various civilizations throughout history have enslaved, tortured and targeted entire groups of people for elimination. Wars, conquests and atrocities have been committed in the name of Kings, Queens, Gods and Ideologies. Chinese, Muslims, Germans, Aztecs, American Indians, Romans, Goths, Celts – all have had moments in their history where they felt themselves better than those they encountered. And yet humans still survive as a species on this speck in the universe.  
  
  
• Being born Black, White, Female, Blond, missing chromosomes, having a physical abnormality or being born into a culture I cannot support is not permission for others to seek to hurt you.
  
  
• While I consider heterosexuality to be God’s ultimate design for human sexuality I do not hate people simply because they express their sexuality differently. It also means I do not have to support their lifestyle, I can leave the decision about the right or wrong of their actions to a much wiser, higher power.
  
  
•  Guns are not the problem. There are cheaper ways to kill people if murder is your goal. Just like a car, a computer or a hammer – they are just objects. Cars kill far more people every year but they do not carry the stigma a firearm does.
  
  
• The police are not the problem. If, as some commentators have suggested, every police officer in this country was as blood-thirsty and filled with hate as claimed – wouldn’t that mean everyone should stay in their house and never leave for the store, work, or errands?  Yet there are peaceful traffic stops, arrests that do not involve beatings or shootings, police manage to direct traffic and escort funeral processions without drawing their weapons or taking pot shots.

Unfortunately people seem to have forgotten that for all their training, police officers are still just people. And they are stressed and feeling threatened as many other citizens are as well. I am not making excuses for the actions of any one officer, but I know it is a job I would not do. We would like to believe that the cops are always able to rise above personal feelings or stress – but no one can do that all of the time. And I am not so certain that the accounts the media forces upon us of how every person shot by an officer was a “nice boy”, “upstanding citizen”, “never would hurt anyone” is even close to the truth about half the time.  Hell, I am not sure a lot of people under the age of 30 even know how to speak respectfully to anyone – even their own grandparents.

·        And while it does seem that a disproportionate number of confrontations happen between non-white civilians and non-black officers – it is not accurate or fair to claim that the recent spate of violence is only racial in nature.

What I believe is that a lot of the root cause for the violence, intolerance and denigration of other people is a SPIRITUAL matter – not a political one. There are contributory factors in a lot of prior political decisions and initiatives: Welfare, Housing, Food Stamps etc. But I feel as if they are merely symptoms of the larger lack of moral balance.

I think we have had almost two generations of parents who only recognize the word as a noun and not a verb. It takes more than depositing sperm, or becoming pregnant, to make you a parent. As witnessed by the self-congratulatory, what’s-in-it-for-me, when-do-i-get-stock and what-do-you-mean-i-cannot-ripped-jeans-and-and-cropped-tops-into-the-office candidates I see come through here. I see a lack of manners, etiquette, respect for other’s time, and a lax work ethic. People who care more about how their lunch looks on Instagram than being able to hold a conversation with those at the table.

I don’t see young people being taught how to think and reason – only how to pass tests so their teachers don’t get fired. I see too many kids with no boundaries on their behavior. I have been cussed at and called foul names in my own neighborhood by spawn who clearly have never been taught anything different – because if daddy IS around he probably says the same things to mommy.

But mostly I see a society that has turned away from God and His teachings. Where life is being treated as cheaper by the year and wanting something you see your neighbor with doesn’t make you work harder to get your own – instead you try to take it by force.  There seems to be no sense of consequences for your actions anymore either. And when you get caught doing something wrong – no one seems to take responsibility for themselves. It is always “someone else’s” fault.

·        The schools for not teaching you – even though you skipped most of your classes to hang out with friends and smoke

• You have no job skills – even though there are many programs available for free to train you for work. Or you can join any branch of the military and they will train you.
  
  
•  It’s the government’s fault for not giving you free housing, clothes, cell phones, cars, cable, vacations or spending cash just because you are Navajo/Black/Latino/Illegal Alien/Druid etc.
  
  
• It’s the media’s fault for telling me that everyone must have A, B or C and that I am entitled to whatever I want even if I don’t work for it and cannot afford it.

Isn’t it past time we stopped putting  up with this behavior and started as a society practicing some Tough Love? And how about we, and here I mean especially Christians, stop apologizing for what we believe. Stop being silent for fear of being labeled a hater or racist. Stop doing the politically correct dance and start calling sin a sin, and that there is black and white in a society that only wants to see gray.

Start by standing up for what you believe – and think – and know in your heart to be the Truth. Other groups have no problem getting in our face and yelling their beliefs at us. Why do we duck our head and turn away? Why do we shy away from posting scripture onto our social media pages? Or religious icons and symbols?

I am tired of being part of the silent, spineless millions who would rather keep quiet rather than risk offending anyone. You know what? Christ was confrontational, as were the Apostles and the early Popes. To follow Christ required real backbone in the early days. If our ancestors were willing to risk being mauled by lions then why are we afraid of words on a screen?