The Color Of Friendship

"When the dollar made with blood is spent. When an enemy can’t become a friend. When the better man won’t lend a hand, Baby, this is how the world will end. When a day of hope is a rarity. Or a diplomat hasn’t time to see that a child lost is a true offense, Baby, this is how the world will end…” – The Elms, This Is How The World Will End

Hello Dear Friend,

Can I just say life is so much simpler when you are little? Seriously, when you are young you don’t care so much about what your friends look like. You’re all just a group of kids at the playground taking turns on the monkey bars, competing over who can swing the highest or last the longest on the whirligig and you're bonding over your favorite flavor of ice-cream while you stand in line for the big slide.

Ever since I was a kid I never remembered caring about what a person looked like or where they came from before deciding if we could be friends or not. It’s a child’s innocence, I guess, that allows them to see that the true color of friendship is love. I was never taught to view others by color and race or shape and size. Their style preferences, the way they'd wear their hair and how they'd walk and talk weren't the deciding factors of our friendship. I didn't separate they based on their religious values or to judge them because of where they came from. I was taught to be respectful, show compassion, offer forgiveness, make sacrifices and most importantly, I was taught to love everyone. Those values were instilled in me pretty early in my childhood and I have always carried them with me.

I still recall having when I was seventeen and having a conversation with my dad about my coworkers. I had just started a job as a hostess at a restaurant and I was telling him how shocked they all seemed to be when they found out how drastically different my life style was from theirs. One of the main reasons for their shock was somehow linked to word getting out that I was still a virgin (by choice) which seemed to be a foreign concept for most of them. Anyway, that’s not the point and I've gotten off track. As my dad and I were talking I can remember him replying to all I was telling him with a response that surprised me. The response he gave me was a life lesson that I’ve never forgotten,

"For some, you are the only Jesus that they will ever see.”

Sad concept but it's true. I look at the world today and Jesus is far away from the hearts and minds of many as hate seems to be drowning out the love. The U.S. Presidency campaign, Covid-19 and Global pandemic have taken a back seat for the moment due to current racial events. City after city and town after town more and more protesters are rising up holding their signs in a desperate plea to be heard. More live in fear as some groups are more violent than others revealing hardened hearts full of hatred as they take cheap shots by using the traumatic current events and hate crimes as a tool for their own agenda as riots break out and looters roam free all the while adding to the damage and affecting innocent lives in a claim to seek justice in the name of those who have fallen. In the end I wonder how many actually remember what they are fighting for and why they started acting out to begin with.

Now don’t get me wrong, everyone has a right to freedom of speech and for their voice to be heard. I just think that there is a right and wrong way to go about it and sadly we are seeing and hearing more and more about the wrong approach. Black lives matter, we were all created equal when fashioned in our mother’s wombs by the Creator of this universe and not enough people get that. Should there be a rise for justice, absolutely. Should justice be carried out at the cost of hurting even more lives innocent or otherwise, definitely not.

Here is how I see it. We are history makers and this is a power shift. The course of our upcoming actions will determine what is written and later read about in the history books for years to come. What do you want to be known for? No seriously, what kind of movement do you want to be a part of? Because it’s coming dear friend, its coming. I believe we are in the beginning stage of a major revolution. What course do you want it to take? When its all said and done want kind of revolution do you want those history books to reveal? When all the generations to come look back on this time period what kind of legacy do you want to have left behind?

Do you want them to look back and see a generation that was confused and so consumed by their hatred that they never got over their anger? Or even worse, a generation that left the following generation caught in the wake of the storm and confusion that they created?

I don’t. I want the following generations to look back on these years and this period in time and see a generation that took a stand for the greater good. Instead of spewing hate I want them to see that we were a rising generation of people that loved our neighbors and showed compassion to our brothers regardless of the color of their skin or past family rivals, or what side of the tracks they grew up on, or their chosen religion. Instead we chose to set aside our differences and stood shoulder to shoulder to fight together and carried one another all in the shared hope for a better tomorrow. I want them to see a generation that laid down the sword of retribution and instead was filled with forgiveness and healing. I want them to see that we fought for them so that they and their children wouldn’t have to witness our shortcomings or be held hostage to the same hatred and darkness we faced. I want them to know that love has no bounds and carries with it the power that conquers all.

Love is love, it carries out the same message no matter what color you are or what privileges your ancestors poured their blood, sweat, and tears into just in the hope that your life and the opportunities set before you would be better than what was offered to them. It’s the same love that bound a sinless Jew to a tree. It was love that kept the Son of God on that tree and it was the act of sacrificial love that offered the same measure of forgiveness to all. Love was the reason Jesus died for the white, the black, the brown, the yellow, the red and all in between. Stature and privilege didn’t matter. His sacrifice wasn’t for those who had the “right” color of skin, or the right job title, or lived in the “better” neighborhood. His sacrifice wasn’t for those who deserved it because none of us did. He took the cup and poured out His love and forgiveness for all regardless of who we are or where we come from.

In an ever changing world that is always caught up in chaos and confusion be a pillar and beacon of light shining strong in the darkness. Be someone that is trusted be someone that others can count on to hold them up when they lack the strength to do so on their own. Be someone that's trusted to look to for guidance when the negativity weighs heavy on their souls. Listen without casting judgment. Regardless of the color of their skin, the mistakes that they made in the past, their current struggles and for the things that they can’t control – be the one to show them that you care and wear love wherever you go. Be a encourager. Be a light. Be the Jesus that the world needs to see.

With love,

a Poetic Soul