Tag: racial injustice

Truth vs. Evil

Evil has a way of blurring the lines of truth in every way.

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Today…I am unbelievably embarrassed to be an American! The range of emotions I am feeling today due to the despicable actions of my fellow Americans is keeping me very unsettled. The level of “in-your-face” bullying attitude that comes from our so-called President has successfully been imparted to nearly half of the voting population. Every person who participated in the horrendous violence to our beautiful capital building in Washington D.C. has just shown all of us how low and how vulnerable we are all willing to go, and our ability to fall prey to such an attitude coming from a leader. 

Our President’s inability or unwillingness to accept the truth of this election has reminded me of how evil strives to keep things stirred up to bring division. I have come to the conclusion that there is no longer a clear line of truth in our country. Taking into account the racial injustices, the inconsistency of our justice system and above all, the freedom our leader has to show hatred, strife, putrid self-pride, bullying, greed and a hatred for the truth itself. 

There is a constant battle of good vs. evil on a daily basis. We each have to come to a truth within us that is a pure truth. I’m sure Donald Trump and his followers would say that have a truth within them. Who am I to say they don’t, but in my understanding and logic, a pure truth would NEVER display such actions and behavior. Evil has a way of blurring the lines of truth in every way. Evil is cunning, manipulative, divisive and controlling.

As humankind, we don’t have a choice but to have evil with us. Our choice is whether we are going to partner with the characteristics of evil or will we partner with the pure truth, which in my life I will name GOD. Truth (God) is love!

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, love endures all things. Love never ends. (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

So I have to ask myself, what am I going to do with the feelings I have that makes me want to judge my fellowman because their radical behavior? I have to go back to that place of peace within myself that is settled in knowing that pure love brings me my peace, and the fact that my fellowmen were also a creation of true love. Truth and evil will always coexist because we are human. We are not perfect. We are not God. 

We will never all agree to or see things the same way. That’s the beauty of God’s creation. We are so diverse, but that does not mean we have to have division. We are all different, but created with the same life-blood and same love of our creator. 

I really don’t believe any of us like division, manipulation or deceit. We were created in the image of God and naturally there is an innate pull to truth and love. We all crave it! But what do we do with evil? Accept that it is always here, but know this, only love will change the world! 

It’s almost too much for our human minds to comprehend how ugly and destructive evil can be, but also how great and vast love is. Both are easy to fall in to. So, as humans, we have a choice. Are we going to fall for evil or for love?

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to fall…for LOVE! Won’t you join me? 

Someone to be the Greatest Love

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We all know how 2020 started! It started out with the promise! The slate had been cleared of all 2019’s mistakes and regrets. A new year always gives us fresh hope, new perspective, new goals and desires. At the end of that year we look back and we can see if we were successful with our goals, and if our perspective on life changed at all. Little did we know that the year 2020 would literally be “the year from hell”.

Now as we hit October 2020 we have seen this year our nation has been catapulted to a place we’ve never been before. I, as I’m sure you, can remember when COVID-19 hit. We watched it rapidly spread all over the world. We have had over a million deaths, but thank God, also several million recoveries. We have seen the world basically shut down. Businesses close, schools close, airlines grounded, unemployment skyrocketed, suicide rates have risen to an alarming amount, domestic abuse cases rose, teenagers going crazy at home being separated from friends and our essential workers exposed and taking great risk on a daily basis. We have had to set our personal opinions aside and follow the direction of our government leaders to help protect each one of us, while they navigated the murky waters of this virus.

Beyond the pandemic, we have seen more land burned in one year than any other year in history. As I write this, it stands at over 4 million acres. Our forests have continued to burn with more fires starting on a daily basis. Is it climate change or is it the failure of our federal and local governments to take care of our forests? It’s both!! Our firefighters are exhausted and we are tired of the destruction, tired of the loss of life. We are tired of the relentless smoky air that penetrates the lungs. The amount of lives, homes, businesses, and the beautiful wineries lost in the Napa Valley is devastating.

As if these were not bad enough, then we had the killing of George Floyd. This began the racial protests in cities around the country. The rise of violence increasing in these hot spots has our police on edge, because they are the ones being protested against. They have become the enemy instead of our protectors. Mothers and fathers have lost children, and children have lost fathers and mothers etc.

To top the year off, we have a presidential election happening. Oh my God, are you freaking serious? Need I say anymore?

Daily we ask ourselves, how much more can we take as people, and as a nation? The world is wracked with grief from this pandemic, and our nation is reeling from racial violence, social injustice, destructive wildfires, lockdowns and a presidential election in the midst of a reign of chaos.

What do we do? How do we become a conduit of change? How can we continue in this seemingly never-ending chaos?

I suggest we look at the bigger picture, but yet a more refined picture. We see the world and what is currently happening. How many of us, stop and look at ourselves? I don’t mean look at what suffering we are going through and what is against us, etc. But, let us look at what who we are!

Deep down, in our true being, beyond our surface and superficiality, we are resilient people. We are strong. We are fighters. We are determined. We have all been victims of something, but we are also survivors. We are passionate. We are compassionate. We are people that care. We are a benevolent people. We are a people that know how to rise from devastation. We are a people that can rise above the destruction, the lofty ideals of mans ego, and rise above the chaos and know that this, too, shall pass. Why? Because we were all born to love. Yes, we can love those that disagree with us. We can love those that cause the violence, devastation and destruction.

My heart breaks for this country. For my grandchildren! What is the world going to be like when they become adults? This is my greatest fear right now. Will they have the freedoms we have now? Will this nation succumb to control? Will this nation stop caring about the climate, our forests, our poor and homeless etc.? There is much to be done to leave this world to our grandchildren in a much better place than it is now.

The only way to begin again is…to love!

To end this, I leave you with a few words from a song by James Blunt, The Greatest. These words are for our children and their children after them. But also, those of us who are still alive and kicking, well, it’s for us as well!

Be the young, the brave, the powerful

‘Cause the world is standing waiting

For someone to come and change it

Be the young, the brave, the powerful

‘Cause we need a soul to save us

We need someone to be the greatest love