I confess that I’ve never been to Haiti, El Salvador, or any of the many countries in Africa, although I hope to one day. But I don’t have to have been there personally to know that these places are full of beautiful, diverse people made in the image of God. Beauty exists everywhere, even in, especially in, places where hardship is plentiful. We in the U.S. should know this as well as anyone.
It’s unequivocally evil to denigrate and devalue entire countries, continents, and peoples. That evil is compounded when it comes from the leaders (both those who speak and those who agree by their silence) of a country whose longstanding policies, actions, and attitudes have, and continue to, directly contribute to the hardships of these very people.
To my friends around the globe who live in, grew up in, love someone in, have ancestry in, have cherished memories in these beautiful places, I am so, so sorry that a vocal portion of our country places so little value on the people and places you love. It is wrong. Please know that you are not alone as you hope for and work for a country and a world that is a welcoming and grace-filled place for everyone.
I am committed to calling out, voting out, actioning out the people and policies that let racism and other forms of evil flourish. I am committed to truthing out and loving out these same evils in my own heart and in my community.
These are hard words to write because I know that my words and actions will never be enough. There is always more that I could be doing, that someone else *thinks* I should be doing. (Often that someone else is me.)
Does that mean I will write an impassioned social media post every time the news reports someone doing or saying something awful? No. I don’t even think I should.
Will I attend every rally, march and meeting across the city where people are working hard to overcome racism, xenophobia, and other systemic evils? No. I couldn’t possibly.
But I can do *something* every day. Something to promote love and inclusion. Something to fight against hate. Some of my actions will be flawed. Some of them will fail. And I have to believe that’s okay.
I confess that when I know I am going to do something imperfectly, my strongest tendency is just not to take any action at all. But this is too important to stay silent. It’s too important to not do anything. When hate is loud, love must be louder. We have to go forward, imperfectly peacemaking because the alternative is perfect acquiescence to evil.
Today my peacemaking actions reflecting on the challenging words of Martin Luther King, Jr., updating my voter registration, and (re)reading another chapter of Osheta Moore’s beautiful book Shalom Sistas to be reminded of the peacemaking steps I can take on the path of my ordinary life.
What are your peacemaking actions for today? Let’s cheer each other on.
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