The Movement

I have not had a chance to say much of anything through all of this. Please don’t take my silence as some form of complicity. The truth is I haven’t had a moment to collect my thoughts. I’ve been working my ass off trying to make up for lost wages from the Covid shutdown and while I’m grateful to have such wonderful, loyal clients, it’s been very difficult for me to come to terms with what’s going on right now. 

See I am of the spiritual belief that we are all connected. That every living thing, no matter how seemingly despicable, shares some part of the same spirit that is life. We share and are a part of all life together. And while that may seem wishy washy to some folks, you have to admit that no one and nothing exists in a vacuum. Everything we do has ripples that spread out and affect others. We all affect each other directly or indirectly at levels we sometimes can’t even perceive. 

And sometimes something so terrible happens that instead of ripples you get massive waves and if they aren’t properly directed they crash up against things causing back lashes of waves in other directions until the whole sea of what we are is in a state of chaos and destruction. Sometimes destruction is a necessary part of change. I honestly don’t know when the appropriate time is for that because I’m so used to thinking first. I will never make the first move to violence or destruction but I’ve also never been forced into a position where I couldn’t see another way. I have been privileged and blessed to not be forced into a position of violence so I will not sit in judgement on those who have... unless I am called to by a jury of our peers and supplied with every possible piece of evidence and even then errors can still be made. I can still be wrong. 

It wouldn’t hurt for us to take some time to attempt to understand the emotions and motivations of those around us with less judgment. When we attempt to understand these things about our percieved enemies, more often than not we find that we are motivated by the same hopes and fears and that the people we think are enemies are really only dangerous because they’re acting out of fear. Everyone wants to feel secure but fear makes us think that security has to come at the expense of others. 

What happened to that man, what’s been happening... (because it’s definitely not anything new) if it doesn’t move you then I don’t know what could. I have never been an advocate for violence or kneejerk reactions because those things cause the types of waves that make back lash and feed chaos. But if there is no other way then what are we left with? This can’t stand. 

The only thing I would ask is that we try to think about who really benefits and who really loses when we burn our own neighborhoods and businesses down. 

Is it possible that something larger and more nefarious than we’re aware of is at play? Is it possible that those who seek to own the whole world benefit from keeping the rest of us at each other’s throats? 

I think one of the things that’s most disturbing about this period in time is that there are people who weren’t moved by the murder of George Floyd or that of Breonna Taylor. There are people who genuinely do not feel connected to their own countrymen and women that are being affected by these abuses of authority, authorized by a system that we’ve all allowed to continue unchanged for decades. 

So what moves those people, the ones who feel so disconnected from other human lives that this doesn’t bother them? What gets those people angry and agitated and ready to fight back? 

Flags.

They’re moved by flags burning and people taking a knee when they should be standing for a flag. 

If you believe that burning or disrespecting a flag is worse than murdering a human being I beseech you to ask yourself a few questions. 

Where does the worth of a flag come from? Isn’t a flag only as good as the people it represents? 

People don’t weep for flags they weep for the lives lost in honor of it. Flags don’t protect people, they don’t tuck you in at night. They can’t save us from ourselves. They don’t make a society great. That’s our job... and if we can’t do that then our flag is not worth the Chinese polyester it’s printed on. 

That being said... it is time for us to stop thinking of each other as them.  

If we are a country that deserves a flag we have to prove it by honoring and respecting the inalienable rights that flag was designed to represent. And it’s not just our job to honor the rights of our neighbors and fellow countrymen of all races and creeds that live under that flag. If a symbol is to mean anything it has to be universal. As Americans, we have to honor those same principles in our interactions with everyone, foreign and domestic. 

Now is the time for us to come together. 

Stop allowing nefarious elements to plant seeds of division between the lower financial classes which is approximately all of us. We, the poor and dwindling middle class of America are together the majority and together we will overcome. 

That is the real truth. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. There are most assuredly forces benefiting from our failure to unite and support one another and so far they haven’t had to work hard to keep us divided. We do that to ourselves. 

First they came for George Floyd and you did nothing because you thought you were not George Floyd... but you are. If we are a country then we are all George Floyd. 

“Whatsoever you do unto the least of my brothers, you do unto me.”

Matthew 25:40

Let us now focus our intent in order to make meaningful changes and move forward as one people. 

Let us also educate ourselves on the history of revolutions so that we may proceed with wisdom and a clear vision in our hearts.