It's one week after our nation's celebration of independence and freedom, and it's almost as if that celebration never happened. It's been a long week in America . . . heck, it's really been more of a long month. With all the tragedy in Orlando, all the police brutality and police shootings, not to mention one of the craziest presidential campaign seasons anyone could've ever imagined, it's no wonder it feels like the United States is spinning out of control. Out of all this, I haven't really known how to feel, what to think or how to respond, but for some reason, something my friend, Clark, said on social media has stuck out to me the most:
"More than Freedom or Equality, Violence is the true American way. It's all we know. It's not a new issue. America is literally built on the bones of indigenous peoples. One nation under God. Or is it a nation under guns, racism, war, money, slavery, and genocide?"
That right there is a bold statement. It's critical, controversial and to make some people upset, but it also makes you think and ponder the weight that it holds. Is it true? That may depend on who you ask. It is false? Definitely not completely; however, what it is is thought provoking and emotional.
In what has been a week full of emotion in the United States, I haven't felt hardly any emotion at all. I've been spiritually absent, lacking any desire to read, pray or worship, and other than occasionally checking the news to see what the latest developments are on the issues surrounding the country, I haven't done anything to even think about what's been going on all around me. I've isolated myself from all things uncomfortable and challenging and surrounded myself with things and activities to distract me from the reality that exists and begs for my attention. I've tried to pause spirituality, ignore problems that larger than life and above all, avoid emotional attachment and feeling emotion to anything.
It wasn't until I read the above sentence from my friend that I finally felt some sort of real, raw emotion to everything that's been going on in the world around me. It's not a quote directed at any specific event that's happened over the past month, but it's a quote that kind of tries to encompass all that's been going on. I'm not sure why that quote pinged my emotions like it did and woke them up from their hibernation. Maybe it was because I wasn't sure whether I agreed with it or not or because it is so bold or because it came from someone my own age that I look up to. Whatever it was, it really woke me up, and I hope it does the same for you.
It's not healthy to ignore emotions or pause spirituality just because the world's and life's problems seem too big. Emotions are meant to be felt and dealt with- that's why they're natural, and ignoring spirituality because you hate thinking about a God Who is in control letting all this happen is even more stressful and overwhelming than ignoring that God completely.
-Cliff
Cliff's Note: Feel emotion, deal with emotion, reveal emotion.