In a recent post, I shared about the critical need for us breaking the silence that I believe is crippling our country.  You can read that article, HERE.  That need continues to grow.

As each day progress, news feeds are filled with hate, anger and disgust.  I seriously have to keep asking myself the question, ‘are we really living in the United States of America?’  This just doesn’t seem possible.  I have found myself lately lost in social media posts and news articles that seem to depict a divide in our nation that is larger than the Grand Canyon!

However, I sincerely believe that this divide is being made to be seen as much larger than it actually is by mainstream media.  If you will notice, our illustrious broadcasting buddies seems to only show and tell us snippets in such a way to tug on our emotions and fuel our passions, instead of being an avenue of resources to help close this division.  Think about it…mainstream media has everything currently in place to provide help, information, resources, etc. to help our country begin our healing process.  Yet, to quote a news slogan, all they ever seem to want to ‘do’ is to remain ‘fair and balanced.’

IF, they only would.

ONLY when I dive deeper into my news feeds and look into the hearts of my friends and family that I connect with on a daily basis on social media do I begin to see the real hurt and pain that’s essentially taking place across our country.  Folks, we’re hurting in a grand way, on countless levels, and this hurt is not even being acknowledged!

I’m going to share with you quotes that I personally have seen that, in my opinion, removes the smoke and mirrors that we’re accustomed to, so you can also see the hurt, desperation, and the need for hope in our country.

Bottom line is this, we have to start reaching out and loving each other as Jesus Himself taught.  Until then, we’re doomed!

“My heart hurts man! This whole situation is exhausting and seen all too often. At this point I’m going to continue to pray to God and ask that he stays with us in these trying times! These shootings hurt man, especially as a black man in America, knowing that could have been me, my father or any black man we know. This makes me want to reach out more to our youth and mentor young men so we can attempt to avoid these things in the future. My dad told me at a young age that we’re automatically born with 2 strikes against us, being black and being a male in America.

Refuse to let it stop us, it’s so much good we can do and so much we can change to help end this cycle. If there is something more powerful than a weak/ scared person with a gun, it’s a strong, educated black man! Let’s make a difference and make a change.

Lord be with us and everyone please be safe!!” ~ Travis I. LeFlore – July 8, 2016

“I am increasingly worried about a culture becoming addicted to snuff videos, whether they come from ISIS, front-line war reporters, or mobiles capturing images of people being killed and then posted online. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things” (Phil.4:8).” ~ Leonard Sweet – July 11, 2016

“Saying black lives matter doesn’t mean that all other lives don’t matter. When people say black lives matter they mean black lives matter too with the “too” being implied. And it’s being said because systematically black lives matter less in the eyes of the judicial system.

Yes, black lives matter.
Yes, blue lives matter.
Yes, all lives matter.

But until systematically (especially in the judicial system) and socially, black lives actually matter, then all lives don’t matter.” ~ Toni Babcock

“If u mourn the death of #AltonSterling & #PhilandoCastile but u celebrate the death of cops. You’ve just become the thing that you hate.” ~ @ebenet

“You can truly grieve for every officer who’s been lost in the line of duty in this country, and still be troubled by cases of police overreach, Those two ideas are not mutually exclusive.  You can have great regard for law enforcement and still want them to be held to high standards.”  ~ Jon Stewart

There are many, many more examples right in front of you.  All you need to do is look!

This blog is not about argument, hate or racism of any description.  However, if you’re hurting, use this as a means to share your hurt and have others pray with you!  Just know this…I love you dearly, and I hurt with you.  Together we can make a difference.

Remember:  “You can give a person knowledge, but you can’t make them think.  Some people want to remain fools, only because the truth requires change.” ~ Anonymous

I’ll leave you with this from John the Disciple, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts our fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us.”  ~ 1 John 4:18-19

America, I’m praying for you.