Blame

Blame

    I was thinking today about an incident that happened when I was a child which disappointed the people that I loved and who loved me the most. The circumstances really don’t matter, because it was the disappointment that I caused which bothered me the most. I was thinking about this today, and it made me think about what God must think of His creation as He looks down upon us. He, who created all things, made everything as it was supposed to be. I wonder how often He is disappointed when He peers down upon those that He loves so much. Do we even care? Does it matter to us now, while we are not only destroying each other, but the earth that we require for our existence? We have grown indifferent towards one another, at best. At worst, we find reasons to hate and kill each other…not just in the physical sense but in the sense that we constantly destroy each others spirit. We find reasons to not speak to people, unless it is to display our displeasure with one another. We don’t seem to know, or want to know one another. We find reasons to dislike or hate one another, based on skin tones…as if any of us had a choice in that matter; we dislike those who don’t believe in God…and we even dislike those that believe in a creator…but choose to worship differently than we do. We point fingers and make fun of those who have less than we have…as if we have been guaranteed to have these things while we are on this earth. We even have encouraged our children to do the same. It’s true that we may not have told them to be that way…but the strongest lesson ever learned truly is the one unspoken, but observed. Our children are literally killing each other…and all we do is place blame on others. We blame the parents, the neighborhood, the religion, or the race for any short comings. Of course, we couldn’t be at fault for any of this; after all we have our own problems. But just out of curiosity…shouldn’t our nation’s children killing each other be our problem? We complain about gangs and the violence they bring…yet we don’t look deeper. Would our children turn to gangs if they had communities that helped provide other options for them? Is that our problem? Well, I guess if we don’t live in that community, we could say that what happens there is not our problem…until the violence from that community comes into your community. Then the solution becomes easy…lock them up…or even better…let them kill each other. Is that the real solution? So instead of us reaching out to help these children, before they turn to gangs…we now have to deal with the result of the gang violence. What would it take for us to care what happens to these kids? Does one of your children have to be killed? Do we really have to let it get that far before we open our eyes to this nationwide epidemic?

  The answer is simple, no it doesn’t have to come to that…but often it does. Children cannot be held responsible for what their parents do or don’t have…they cannot help the fact that they do not have constructive avenues for their spare time. We cannot even say that they should get involved in extracurricular school activities…because our public schools have cut most of the Arts programs and even some of the sports…depending on how deep pocketed their particular school district is. Community centers could be the answer, but even that takes money…in a community that often cannot feed itself. This is where the problem arises, because we are all supposed to look out for each other. If we are ever going to live in harmony…we must reach out to each other.

  How can we expect children, the adults of the future, to be productive citizens if we are constantly showing them that “THEY” aren’t our problem? And sadly, the end result is an angry young adult; who will claim that he/she doesn’t care about anything. But most likely the real truth behind that anger is when the children ask themselves…why didn’t I ever matter to anyone? Can you imagine, being a child, and feeling like you aren’t good enough…which is his/her explanation as to why they have little or nothing?

 We, as a society, tend to only look down upon those that we feel fit a certain stereotypical group. How dare we be so obtuse in our way of thinking? Do we really think that there are people that deserve less than we do? I even heard someone tell me once that certain races are more genetically predisposed to violence than others. Ignorant statements such as these are toxic to the growth of our world.

  This is a continual cycle that spreads like an incurable disease…it seems almost hopeless. But the truth is…it is not hopeless. We weren’t born into darkness…we created or at the very least helped it grow. It is easy to shine God’s light on people…it doesn’t take millions of dollars. We start with one child at a time…give them acknowledgement, encouragement…for those of you that don’t know…that is called loving thy neighbor. For others it means wanting for my brother what I want for myself. What do we all want? What do we all need? Love…and it is our purpose and goal (or if not it should be) to love each other.

  Are your actions loving; even to those who do not know you intimately? Does your smile give others a reason to smile; or does it look rehearsed and in genuine? Do you even smile at all? If you find smiling difficult…find a reason to do it. Smile because you woke up today. Smile because someone looked at you kindly…or held a door open for you. Smile because someone else gave you a smile for no other reason than…to make your day brighter. Give that gift to another person…that…is LOVE.