It Isn’t Business As Usual

I had an entirely different blog post prepared to post for this week.

I couldn’t continue to work on it though, because my social media was blowing up with stories of George Floyd and the details of his tragic death. Almost immediately after the organized riots began and then the looting followed by days of riots, looting and destruction. Next, people began to post that enough was enough….and indeed it is.

We know better. But things aren’t getting better.

I’ll never forget hearing the story of the Good Samaritan. In Luke 10, Jesus is asked, What is the most important commandment?” He responds, “To love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” and the second one is to “love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus is then asked who counts as a neighbor and then tells the story of the Good Samaritan.

Listen as my friend, Jeremiah Dew, tells the story in light of the current world.

I have heard that if you aren’t part of the solution you are part of the problem. I’m not sure if those words are entirely correct, but I do know that racism is a problem that hasn’t gone away. If we are a people that live by the words of Jesus and are instructed to LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES ….then why? Why does it still exist? Several reasons I think.

1. We are sinners. We act wrongly. We speak unwisely and don’t speak up when we should. And we don’t listen enough.
2. We don’t love the Lord with our whole hearts, souls and minds. And when we forget the first commandment then we don’t even look at the second.
3. Not everyone is a Christian so how can we even begin to get them to understand the love of God and therefore how could they understand how to love their neighbors?
4. We need to look past the recent events. This is not just about George Floyd. This is much deeper than that. This is about our constant refusal to view people as equals if their skin color is too dark.

So now. after months of living sheltered in place, months after many people have lost loved ones and/or their jobs, we now have moved on to a new danger. We now have a new unrest–a danger, fear as all across the country squad cars are going up in flames, buildings are being looted and anger roams the streets. What started as a justified response to the murder of George Floyd has turned into a criminal activity that is stealing the attention from a problem that demands to be solved.

We might not be able to solve this problem in our life time, but it doesn’t mean we can’t try.

Jesus, help us to see each person as You do. Help us to love each person as You do. Help us to start the change.

Until next time I’m hoping to be Overshadowed by His love,

Reba

Jeremiah Dew, “JDew,” has always had a passion for performance. Whether it be on stage or on the screen, JDew thrives on audience engagement. Since getting a degree in Mass Communication in 2007, JDew has entertained over three million people at live events. After contemplating a “Black History” stage performance for about 18 months, “One Voice: A Black History Narrative” was born, and debuted at the Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC, in 2011. You can contact Jeremiah at https://onevoiceshow.com/meet-jdew/