United We Stand
It’s been all over the news that a white man walked into a church last Wednesday, sat with the African American people for an hour, and then opened fire on them. Also reported is that the man desired to start a “race war.” In the face of this tragic event and precious lives that were lost, Charleston and the surrounding area has joined together, hand in hand, arm in arm … heart to heart. I’ve never been more proud to be from the state of South Carolina than I am right this very minute due to this.
While the nation has watched to see what South Carolina’s response is going to be to the attack on the most historic AME church in Charleston, they didn’t see riots. They didn’t see torching businesses. And, they didn’t see looting. Instead, they saw a community come together. They witnessed whites and blacks hugging on the streets and walking hand in hand across the bridge in Charleston on Sunday to show that we ARE united.
Praise God – UNITED WE STAND!!!
If what the media says is true and this white man wished to start a race war, he LOST because if anything, this tragedy has united people from different backgrounds, cultures, and races. We stand together as one race – the human race!
The victim’s families have said, “I forgive you.”
Can you imagine losing your loved ones in this way, and yet, you forgive the shooter? Would you be so quick to have those words pass through your lips? Think about it. If your family member had been gunned down, would you be able to say to the person that took their life that you forgive them … and would you honestly mean it? THAT is a tough one. But, that is what we, as Christians, are to do. We cannot harbor ill feelings or hatred in our hearts.
This tragedy has brought up other debates such as the argument that we need to ban all guns now. It has also brought up the debate on whether the confederate flag should be removed from our state house. There are varying opinions on both of these issues. Guns don’t kill people – people kill people. While this young man was given a gun for his birthday a few short months ago, I’m sure his father had NO idea that his son was going to carry out such an evil plan. He had no way of knowing unless his son verbalized it, and if he did, I’m sure the father didn’t say, “Atta boy!” This man, I believe, truly had NO idea what he was doing by placing this gun into his son’s hand. He had NO idea that a few short months later, his son would claim the lives of nine innocent people as they sat inside their church worshipping God.
Yes, this man did have pictures that have come out in the media now where he was bearing the confederate flag. I have seen pictures of him holding the gun with the flag in the picture nearby. So, yes, the flag is up for debate once more.
It is sad that the confederate flag is supposed to be a symbol of our history, and yet, to so many African Americans, it is offense due to what, in their mind, it represents. One thought is, if it is that offensive, why NOT take it down? Honestly. If it is causing that much of a problem, just take it down. If it is a constant reminder of slavery, although my family didn’t own any slaves to the best of my knowledge, then take it down. Why keep a constant reminder for things to continue to be stirred up? If this will end racism, TAKE THE FLAG DOWN! Sadly, though, no matter if the flag remains or if the flag is taken down, racism will not be eliminated. It will still surface and rear it’s ugly head in other ways. If there was a sure fire way to end racism, I would be the first in line … sign me up!
Oh how I wish racism didn’t exist.
We haven’t seen the end of it yet, and I’m sure the shooting last Wednesday will continue to be a topic of conversation for quite a while to come. Right along with banning guns and removing the flag from the state house.
In the mist of all of this, I will choose to focus on the group of 9,000 that stood along the bridge in Charleston hand in hand on Sunday. I will also turn my attention to the church bells that were ringing all over Charleston in memory of the nine that lost their lives last Wednesday.
I will choose to focus on South Carolina being united, standing together in love … sweet love.
Father’s Day
This morning we got up super early for a Sunday. We loaded the boat with our rod and reels and headed off to fish for our supper. It’s a good thing we had a back up plan as no fish were biting today in this heat despite the variety of crickets and worms we offered them.
We returned home soaked in sweat, but we weren’t bitter about “wasting” the morning. It wasn’t wasted at all because we were together, my husband and I. The children wanted to sleep in, so we went together to share one of the many things we love and have in common.
My parents arrived not too terribly long after we returned from our fishing trip as we were having a cook out for Father’s Day. The meal was delicious as we feasted on hamburgers and hot dogs, which is my dad’s favorite. We laughed, we swapped stories, and we enjoyed our time together.
After my parents left this evening, my daughter turned to me and said, “Happy Father’s Day, Mom.” She said these words to me and then elaborated on why she chose to celebrate me today, also. Yes, I was both Mother and Father to her for all of these years after her father left when she was just a year old. I had to be there for her in every way, and I stepped up when he stepped out. I never hesitated. She was my responsibility, and I wrapped my arms tightly around her and vowed to do everything within my power to help this precious little girl succeed and embrace life. I taught her about God, how to be polite and use your manners, the facts of life, as well as all of the things in between. And she has grown into a beautiful young woman. My heart is so completely proud of her.
A few years after my divorce, I started dating a man that is now her step-dad. He knew when we started talking that I had a daughter, but I would not allow him to meet her until I knew for a fact that he would be around for a long time to be a part of her life. I did not want her to get attached to any man again just to have them leave. Our hearts could not take it. When I was sure, though, I introduced them. Later we married when she was four years old, and he has helped to fill the role of the father figure.
I realize that Father’s Day is hard on a lot of people for various reasons. Either they are bitter because their father wasn’t that good to them growing up and they never had the father figure they had always longed for, or maybe their father passed when they were little and they’ve had to live their lives without their father. It’s just a hard day for so many. Then, there are Mothers who had dual roles in their children’s lives just as I have. Maybe they divorced when the child was real young as I did, or maybe the father wasn’t in the picture at all from the moment they found out they were pregnant. Whatever the case, the mother had to do and be both to their child – Mother and Father. I applaud all ladies who have been there in this capacity and thank you for not caving under the tremendous pressure, but, instead, embracing it and excelling for your children’s sake. Moms, you ROCK!
Here’s to Father’s every where. Whether you’re the father that has been there every step of the way giving all you’ve got for your family (like my father), or whether you’re a step father that truly stepped into the picture and loved these children with your whole heart and made them your very own (like my husband) … or single or divorced mothers that never skipped a beat as they lived, loved, and saw it as their sole purpose in life to nurture and care for their babies in every possible way (like I have).
We celebrate you all!
Continue To Pray For Charleston
This morning I stumbled out of bed and left the covers wadded up as my 10 year old crawled into bed with me early this morning and was still sound asleep. Walking into the kitchen, I opened the black refrigerator doors and reached inside for an ice cold Coke Zero. That is my “pick me up” instead of traditional coffee that everyone else must have in the morning. With Coke in hand, I flipped open my lap top and logged into Facebook. I sat with my little two pound teacup Yorkie by my side as I scrolled through Facebook in the stillness and quiet of the morning.
Purposely, I did NOT turn on the television, yet I still could not escape the reality of what happened Wednesday night in Charleston, South Carolina. There it was, all over the news feeds again on Facebook.
I sighed as I began to scroll through when something caught my eye. A friend, who can some times be controversial, posted about how he was tired of hearing about the Charleston shooting “crap” (his words) due to what it has become now with the mention of gun control laws. My friend stated that the gun was given to the shooter as a gift, and I could tell by the tone in his status update that he was just fed up that one thing lead to another, and now we’re back here talking about racism and gun control laws. Right underneath, a string of comments started with a few people trying to put him in his place.
Why is this happening?
I tried to see things from all sides as I read through the comments. I could see his point, and I could see their point, too. For a moment, I considered scrolling on past it, not taking this on at all, and yet, I felt compelled the next minute to respond, to defend him in a way.
The next thing I knew, I had written the following:
I think I understand what you’re saying. The media is sensationalizing what happened and focusing on a hate crime, bringing up the race issue all over again, and now it’s leading to the gun control issue once more. Thus, your term “crap” used in the above status. There were nine precious lives lost Wednesday night when all they did was gather together for prayer meeting. We don’t know why this happened, what the shooter was thinking, but what we CAN do right this minute is pray for our nation – not go at each other over a difference of opinion or even a word used where others wish it had not been used or perhaps even misunderstood. We need prayer now more than EVER before. We need God to heal this land, the people, and we need to all come together regardless of what race we are – God made us all; red, yellow, black,and white, we are ALL precious in His sight. I have just as many, if not more, black friends as I do white friends, and my heart is broken that this happened at all. That this is our reality. I love you like a brother, Billy. That’ll never change no matter what words you use or how you state your opinion.
Almost immediately, my comment was met with a young black man wishing to argue that the media was not doing this but instead the hating people are. He said they were only doing their job, and that I needed to stop living in denial because it is what it is and there IS racism. He stated that the shooter wanted to start a race war. I carefully considered what he wrote to me where he intentionally tagged my name in his comment, and I wrote the following in my response:
I’m not in denial, hon. If he wanted to start a race war, the worst thing we can do is feed into that. I love ALL regardless of color. It is a very sad situation, and my heart hurts for those nine precious people, their families,and friends. I have a friend that is going to Charleston to minister Saturday night at a prayer vigil. She’s white but married to a black man and they have bi-racial children, and you know what? I love them ALL.
The gentleman wrote back that he loves all races, too, but that his point was that while it may not be me, racism does exist. He further stated that we can’t get mad at the media or people for talking about it.
My final response was this:
I understand what you’re saying. It is just sad all the way around. That this happened. That there is racism. That we live in fear. We need God. Plain and simple. And the best thing we can all do is turn our energy toward praying for our nation.
This once seemingly argumentative man then wrote back, “You are so correct.”
Now that situation that could have been explosive at one point was diffused by my carefully considering my words and sharing my heart with this individual. Yes, he is black, and I am very much a white woman living in the South. It could have gone down differently, but thankfully it did not. Instead, in the end, we agreed … and that is what I want us to focus on today. It isn’t about who is right or wrong or who stated what opinion or even HOW they stated it. What is important is that we finally agreed to focus our energies on PRAYING FOR OUR NATION!! That is the absolute best thing we CAN do right this minute.
Something horrible has happened in Charleston, South Carolina. There are injustices every single day that are being done across this nation. Maybe it isn’t as simple as people want to make it out to be; about racism. Maybe the bigger thing to consider is Christians being executed for their faith! Does that give you a different feel toward the situation when I word it that way? Does it get you to thinking? Regardless of the race, those people were gunned down IN THEIR CHURCH! They gathered there that night to worship God, to hold their weekly prayer meeting. I’m sure they felt the safest at their church, and yet, their lives ended right where they gathered to worship.
It could have been you …. it could have been me … it could have been my children! That is what scares me the most. The world that we are living in today SCARES me. We are not safe in our homes, businesses, cars, or even our churches now. The sad reality is that we live in FEAR. We may not think about it every minute of every day, because if we did, we would never leave our houses. We would stay curled up in a fetal position in a corner some where in our house and never face the world again. We can’t live that way, though. The best thing we CAN do is pray. Pray for one another. Pray for our Nation. Pray for GOD to heal our land. We need Him now more than ever.
Please … today … tomorrow … next week, continue to pray for Charleston. Go beyond that sweet Southern city with so much charm and pray for our NATION as a whole.
God bless you every one.
