Unity

In the same month we celebrate the freedom we experience together, our country unravels in division.  It would appear that much of the freedom and justice we proclaim is only on the surface.

There are many sides to the story, but at the root of it all is the philosophy, deeply rooted in scripture, that founded our country: all lives matter. No matter where you land with your angst, anger, grief, or feeling of injustice, one cannot deny that at the root of every life is something more precious than our justification to steal it.  Whichever side you take regarding everything facing our country you do so in defense of life.

It was stated so well by a sign of a protestor: “Yes, all lives matter, but we are focused on the black ones right now, ok?” It is apparent that all lives cannot matter unless black lives also matter. It is just how it works. So, we cannot stand on the fact that all lives matter unless we also stand on the fact that black lives also matter. We also cannot say that policemen lives do not matter without denying the very premise we stand on.

Now the issue of division and injustice are even much bigger issues than they seem. Injustice does point to corrupt systems, but more importantly injustice points to a broken humanity. Division is an indication that we cannot see each other as a person but only as a representative of a system. It quickly moves from all lives matter to my life matters. It cannot be better said than from an eye witness of the shootings in Dallas (Huffington Post).

Unity will come with a greater connection to each other. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s I have a Dream speech reveals just this. At the end of his speech, Dr King references the need of our perspective of each other to be unified in the only one who can give us a greater perspective than ourselves: God. When we miss that fighting for justice was first God’s priority, we lose the foundation for which to fight. It can be our dream only because it was first God’s dream.

The epidemic facing our country is not necessarily one of race (although it is very evident on how we respond to race). It is whether we will stand for something greater than ourselves and whether we will fight for the marginalized, or whether will will fight simply for ourselves. If we cannot see the beauty of life, then we have lost the battle already. If we cannot listen and stand with those who are marginalized right now, we have lost the ability to be fully human.

If we are truly secure on the foundation that all lives matter, then we must hear and support the voice that black lives matter.