Baton Rouge

We're in a crazy time. I can't remember the world ever seeming this dark, or hateful. My heart is so heavy. I feel the weight, again, of these few days. More death. More killing. More brokenness. I have so many thoughts. So many things in my head. So here's some of my thoughts for the day. 

How many officer lives will be enough? What's the magic number when the injustices they're accused of will be "paid back." How many lives? Give me a number, so we can even the score. Will that bring peace? No. It won't. Innocent people will still be dead. No one will be brought back, justice won't be served. Stop celebrating that people have died. This is tragic, period. 

BLM, we need you to speak up. You can't scream about one unwarranted death because it fits your cause and ignore another because it doesn't. Your silence is deafening. Yikes. I'm sorry to be so blunt. 

But you should know that most often silence is interpreted as agreement. So in your silence, you should know it's taken as agreement. That you agree with these brutal, pre-meditated attacks and murder of police. And if I can be so bold, I know you don't agree with what happened today. 

Forgive me, because the police matter to me in a very personal way. I'm married to one, you see. 

So please, society as a whole: Don't celebrate what happened in Baton Rouge today. This is not victory, this is not justice. This is an atrocity. Again. 

This is not to say that you (or ANYONE) should suffer injustice at the hands of police or anyone else. You should not. Your life is literally invaluable. Black lives matter. So very much, they matter. But it also means you need to help balance the scale.

Because extremism is always wrong. On any side of the scale. Extremism creates a void of understanding, of morals, and often law-abiding behavior and common sense. Extremism always divides and never unifies. It's incapable of unity. It never accomplishes the goal. It doesn't bring equality, it can't. Extremism is often a knee-jerk reaction because something has to be done NOW. That doesn't mean it's right or helpful. 

Extremism in its most basic definition means "the furthest most point from the center." 

So when we swing so far one direction, when we focus so heavily on one side, it's extremism. And it will only divide. It will never bring unity. 

And you know what? I genuinely believe that the heart of most people is not to be extreme. I believe that most people's heart and intentions are pure. But we can't ignore that extremism is still the result. And the further we go, the more extreme it gets because it polarizes people. But I digress. 

As someone who follows Jesus, I gotta tell you: The church in its best function is not an either or mentality. The church is not either or, it's both! It's not black lives or police lives, it's BOTH. It's not you or me, it's BOTH. 

We MUST hold the scale in balance. God is balance. I'm learning this more and more in my life. 

It's great to support the BLM movement. But please, support the police too. It's great to support the police, but please, support black lives too. Be equally vocal. 

This is unity. It's saying it's not either or, it's BOTH. 

Again. I'm reminded deeply of the scripture in Galatians 5:14 "For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself."

We have to LOVE each other. It's the ONE thing that sums up all the rest. We have to LOVE each other, weep with each other, honor each other, prefer each other, the list goes on and on and on.  

We gotta change, folks. I'll start with me.