November 13, 2016
This is not a political statement. This is a message of radical love.
This world is broken. So incredibly and devastatingly broken.
And because of this brokenness, there are people who are scared and worried about their futures.
There are Black people who feel invalidated in a society that still clings to white supremacy, even as it declares all people are created equal.
There are people who are a religious minority who feel like our country is no longer one of inclusiveness and unity.
There are people who are part of the LGBTQ community who feel heartbreakingly unsafe in their own communities because people are holding tight to the old status quo for comfort.
There are people who have been sexually assaulted and are laying in bed at night crying, remembering why they never reported it or maybe remembering the heartache because they never saw justice for their perpetrator.
There are women all over this country who are working diligently in a male-dominated field who feel crushed because we’re beginning to think that glass ceiling is even higher and thicker than we originally thought.
In the aftermath of this election, we are shocked, horrified, scared, hurting, and feeling unloved and unlovable. Listen to us. Don’t silence us with pleas of unity, because the oppressed are not required to join with our oppressors.
And I get it.
Fear is everywhere. It works its way into all of the spaces of our lives, even the hidden ones we claim do not exist. It’s crippling and we know we are not called to live in a spirit of fear, but it grabs ahold of our minds and ends up in our hearts. We must fight it.
This world is filled with hate. Extreme and all-consuming hate which manifests inself in utter disregard for priceless human life.
And this hate has led to a war I cannot even pretend to understand. This is a war on life, love, hope, faith, joy, peace, home – this is a war on humanity. This is a war designed to tear us apart and pit us against one another, to breed in us fear and hate and selfishness. This is a war which seems impossible to fight.
It’s easy to get caught up in the bad, the unthinkable events taking place all around us. It’s easy to forget how to be compassionate. It’s easy to take up arms and declare war. It’s easy to build walls meant to protect us but which ultimately divide us.
It’s easy to allow our hearts to be hardened.
It’s easy to give up hope.
But, in a world at war, in the midst of horrendous loss, there has to be more . . . To choose compassion? To choose to see past our differences? To rally together as one people? To choose love? To continue on?
That’s incredibly difficult. And yet it may just be part of the solution we’ve been searching for.
This is a call to love. Not a pacifistic, apathetic love which allows us to be mown down, but a magnificent love that leads to justice.
This is a call to action. Love openly. Love deeply. Love indiscriminately. Love freely. Love passionately. Love unabashedly.
Love and love and love some more.
And maybe, just maybe, we’ll surprise ourselves and, against all odds, crash across the finish line, arm in arm, singing praises to the One who covers us in grace and gives us the strength to continue forward.
Bailey Welch-Pomerantz 