We may never know exactly why pain and suffering occur. God’s children have experienced much sorrow since the beginning of creation. We are constantly reminded that there is more than ourselves, more than the right now. Recent tragedies have brought people together in prayer and resolve. For those that we have lost, and those currently experiencing difficult times, let us all remember that each day, each moment, is a Blessing from God. In every interaction, conversation, and human contact, we can take away love and God’s Grace. As humans, we will all make mistakes and sin. As God’s children we need to come together in prayer and never forget why we were given the opportunity to love those we have lost and help those that we still can. God will never leave us; we need to never leave Him.

Prejudice, Race Relations and Racism, are all words that have been used quite a bit over the past 8 years. Did electing the first Black President increase or decrease the problems and concerns our country has? Every citizen will have their own opinion and in each case, their opinion is true to them. No one can truly walk in another’s shoes and know exactly what they feel, or fear as the case may be. As a White male, I can never truly feel what someone with Black skin may think or worry about regarding their day-to-day life and their history. In addition, I can never truly feel what those of Hispanic, or Native American, or Asian descent etc. may feel regarding their heritage and everyday worries. I also don’t expect a non-White person to truly understand what it feels like to worry about being thought of as a racist just because I am White. I was accused of a racist comment while in college which could have cost me my job and suspension from the university and took 3 months to finally get the accuser to admit that she lied in order to stay in good graces with her boyfriend. As a high school teacher I was punched by a student’s mother because she thought I was unfair to her son. I was asked by the superintendent to not pursue it because the school district did not want the bad publicity of a Black Woman hitting a White Teacher. The mother admitted in court what she did and received probation.  All of us have our own stories. We all have our fears, our worries and our stresses. All people will share similar anxiety such as taking care of children and staying healthy and then we have different thoughts based on our faith, heritage, skin color and other traits that make each of us unique. Our government, the media and everyone else that seems to add fuel to the hot issue will not solve this or change people’s attitudes. The protests, and tragically the killing of innocent people including those that are trying to serve and protect us, certainly will not help people come together. The results are just the opposite. For all those that spoke hateful words regarding an entire profession because of the actions of a few, your silence is shameful. The “talking heads” in the media and anyone else with a platform need to be shouting at the top of your lungs to stop this senseless killing. Police Officers serve and protect ALL People.  Progress needs to start in the neighborhoods, in the churches, in the communities. When people talk, worship, work, and play together the differences and fears of each other become less and less. All we have to do is look at young children. When kids play together it is without the worry or fear of what the other person looks like, sounds like, or what church they worship at. It is when we start to get older and listen to hate speech, see tragedies, and start to look for reasons to not like or trust someone first, before we even know them based on how they look , sound or worship, divisions start to grow. All people are born with love in their heart. We learn to hate, fear, and not trust others based on assumptions that all individuals in a certain category act alike. Whatever our skin color, faith, heritage and profession, we must learn to close our eyes, and open our hearts to ALL of God’s Children.