Who hath ears to hear, let him hear - by (me!) writeousmom
and during our picnic in Monterey, we briefly discussed current events
Robert shared his perspective -from the point of view of a white Christian man who nobly served 27+ years as a deputy sheriff in santa clara county
Jack mentioned having participated in a peaceful protest in Pleasanton
I mentioned how I recently blogged 'all lives matter' -and how I learned that someone with a public profile was FIRED for saying the same thing
?!?! "i'm sure glad I can't get fired from my blog.." I said with a smile, and the sign of the cross
and that's when my daughter said,
"do you know the rebuttal for that.. what the perspective is?"
"no.. share"
and she said, "it's not that only black lives matter, but more like, if you saw someone wearing a pink ribbon, you wouldn't say, "ALL CANCERS MATTER" -which in some way would discount or marginalize breast cancer
"thank you! very much for that," I told my daughter, -at least it offered me something to consider
and,
I've been doing just that...
and I thought, -of all the times ive seen a t-shirt, or pin, or bumper sticker with a symbol which was designed to create awareness about a given cause
what do I think/how do I feel when I see it...?
and, I feel just as I've written a million times now:
-that is your suffering and therefore your instructions
what I've said a million times is this:
we come to earth with instructions.
what we love to do instructs us on what we are here to do
what suffering we endure instructs us on who we are here to help
***
and, not once; EVER
have I felt -when a customer passes through with an awareness symbol
not once have I ever felt -mandated- that I should wear one too.. or else!
not once have I criticized, marginalized, discounted anyone for wearing one;
or not wearing one!
I only feel compassion
oh, that's your cause..
unfortunately, my personal experience is that there is a different, underlying, ugly, bully like vibe
associated with this current -cause
unless you support us... and there is some level of threat attached
and I don't experience that with any other cause.
I would repoint everyone to johanna ray vollhardts teachings
because, when I see purple, pink, blue ribbons for different causes
this seems to help remind us, US/ALL PEOPLE, suffer in some way;
suffering is a common denominator; shared, but different manifestations
but the black lives matter, seems to fall in the 'unique' to us, category
at least the way it is portrayed, and experienced by me personally
and johanna teaches that when we realize we all share in suffering of different types
this results in altruistic responses (inclusive victim consciousness)
and when we teach, there is a suffering/victimhood/injustice unique to you (your group)
this results in aggressive response.
I've never felt my job can be threatened by not supporting breast cancer
"if you don't wear this that means youre pro-cancer"
I've never disassociated myself with anyone who does not openly support
and help end human trafficking
although I've felt some peer pressure when the donation cup comes around for (one of the few causes) that is not an occurrence within my family/friend circle
-and speaking of..
in my family/friend circle our direct life experiences include
poverty
skin cancer
parkinsons
violence against women
domestic violence
autism
alzheimers
to name a few...
i'm going to jump around here a little bit,
I can't remember which comedian, but it is a black comedian
and, he is addressing gays in his audience, and all the heightened discrimination they were facing at the time of his show
and he light-heartedly jokes.. /I paraphrase here:
"i'd love to help you out, but look at my skin.. I've got my own problems to deal with"
it is the exact internal sentiment I have with todays current events
yes.. your life matters
you have a cause; it matters
I've got my own causes to work on and work out..
and i'm not going to force this issue of human trafficking down your throat
threaten you if you don't help out
or call you out in some negative way as being "pro human trafficking" for not wearing one of these:
if I may borrow and reuse my favorite colloquialism of the day
i'll do me.
you do you.
and if everyone is out there following their instructions
doing what you love, and
helping others in the same areas where you have suffered
it will only make the world a better place
for
everyone.
in Jesus name, amen.
posted by SHE @ 12:20 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home