“Our Lives Begin To End The Day We Become Silent About Things That Matter.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Are we slowly dying or are our hearts and souls being rebirthed?

With all the death, disease and division going on in the world today, my thoughts have been fixed to the beautiful words spoken from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. where he said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

I don’t believe Dr. Martin Luther King meant that included destruction; inciting riots and pulling down monuments through decimation as a means to have our voices heard, but heard they have been. Personally, I’ve been blessed to have heard history and heritage I never knew.

I honestly have had to look at my own heart wondering what I really meant by “there is no race in mankind” as far as prejudice and discrimination. Though I may not see the color of a person as anything but an enhancement to the beauty and spice in the bunch, there is a lot to learn in how our black beloveds are perceived and received.

In sitting and chewing on every beautifully written word of “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,” my mind sat for hours wondering what I was letting die through my own silence.

My mind immediately went to my children and grandchildren and came to the conclusion real quick that they’re covered with loud proclamations of grace and extra grace.

But then my heart focused onto the oppressed, the abandoned and the rejected and how they must be feeling when no one is speaking up for their lives, the discrimination and the prejudices; for example, the incarcerated and the homeless.

With this COVID-19 spreading like wildfire in the Caifornia prisons alone, with an outbreak of over 3,400 infections that have brought death upon many, their lives have been silenced.

I understand we’re all tired, scared, judgmental and have become somewhat immobilized, but what happens when we try and express our beliefs through loving actions in lieu of loud proclamations?

I’m like everyone else, I’ve been entangled in webs of deception, evilness that prevails, and am constantly under attack because my faith walks out what God’s Great Love means. But isn’t pretending to love others just lip service in our Church today?

According to what I read in the Bible, loving others leads and moves us into action and change.

We can’t just pretend to love others.  We have to really love them!!!  Hate what is wrong.  Hold tightly to what is good (Romans 12:9).

Tweet

So after sitting with my thoughts for hours, I started playing around and made a short video to see if it could express something profound and make me think about my own vulnerabilities without boisterous demands speaking directly to open hearts.

I found taking a moment of silence illustrated what really stirred my heart and how I must guard against it moving forward.

Please take a moment to watch the 45-second video and share with me what grabbed your heart out of it.

And I agree with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter,” but that does not negate our responsibility to act through Love. Love is an action; it is not self-serving; it acts, whether it wants to or not.

And therein lies the challenge…

I believe we Become What We Believe! I have learned through heartache that my identity comes from the Lord solely, so that means my faith must follow with action. That doesn’t protect me from betrayal and the stings of evil, but it does empower me to stand up and continue to move forward with courage and confidence.

My focus may be different than yours, but I refuse to be quiet about extending second chances to those who need a hand up, not a hand out. This is no easy feat, but we’re all called to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind along with loving our neighbor as ourselves.

And if we walk out genuine faith leaning into Jesus’ heartbeat, this should include that generous hearts embrace that today’s offender will become tomorrow’s neighbor.

Faith isn’t selective, right?

So we all have a role we must participate in making our communities safer through awareness, comprehensive programming and God’s Great Love. That doesn’t leave room for prejudices and selective love.

As the beautiful Ann Voskamp shared,

“Winning the lottery doesn’t make you lucky.  Getting to love makes you the luckiest of all, because love always wins.  You don’t need the love of many — you only need to love many times more than you ever thought you could.”

Until next time…