Black Lives Matter

#blacklivesmatter

Ok. 

What is Life?

Is it just the condition of being alive?

Is it just the circumstance of not getting shot?

Black lives matter but every day we pass our neighbors by, knowing they need help or a word of encouragement or a listening ear and we do nothing. 

Black lives matter but we stay caught up on the latest scandalous drama only to bring that scandal into our own relationships. 

Black lives matter but we don't know half our history nor do we have any direction for our future. 

Black lives matter but we are still blaming dead white folks for our lack of vision and purpose. 

Black lives matter but we're mad at people for killing us when we act like we don't value our own lives. 

Black lives matter and we get mad but what will we do with our anger? Where will we direct it?

If black lives matter so much, then black people need to start LIVING like they matter! 

It's not just about the cops and their guns. 

It's not just about centuries of hate and oppression. 

It's not just about lies told to us throughout history. 

Our spirits are broken. 

Life is not in the body but in the spirit. 

The truth is that too many of us don't have a Life that matters or don't feel our Lives matter.  What vibes are you sending out into the world?  Bad vibes are like a beacon for chaos.  I'm not saying we deserve this and we brought his on ourselves but we must take some measure of responsibility for a system we, in some way, allowed to thrive. For too long we didn't stand up. For too long we played along and blamed "the man" when we had the power to do better.  Little by little, year by year, century by century, we let that power slip through our fingers. For too long we were guided by fear of man and not fear of God. Fear of God is a reverent fear that recognizes God's power, causes us to submit to it and thus empowers us to do more and greater things. Fear of man cripples. Anger disables. Fear of God empowers and enables. 

I won't fight. I won't march. And it's not because I don't care. It's because the fight isn't in the street. It isn't in protests. It isn't in press conferences. It isn't in banter. The fight is in our homes and neighborhoods. The tactics were so subtle...  Break up the family. Send the men away, or better yet, kill them. Show how they are not dependable. Oversexualize the woman. Make them believe sex is her only power. Don't teach the children. Starve them mentally, physically, socially and spiritually. We needed to fight! But little by little we gave up and we gave in. 

If black lives matter, they have to matter first to us. We have to live like they matter to us. Stop supporting the foolishness and start building ourselves up. This didn't happen overnight and it won't be fixed overnight. But change can come if we want it. 

So do we want change or do we just want something to vent about in Facebook comments? 

One of my favorite new quotes is this...

"If you want to change the world, go home and love your family."

Because black lives matter.