So once again, people are speaking and opining on our national state of unrest. Viewpoints and answers to problems are being offered with such rapidity and conviction that one wonders why this current yet centuries old problem wasn’t remedied long ago. It’s as the prophet Jeremiah asked in Jeremiah 8:22 “Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no healing for the wounds of my people?” Yet, so much of what I’ve read by Evangelical leaders pontificate on the whys and reasons for this national continuing problem. Prophecies have been spoken and written that reveal recent insight into a growing racial tension even leading to violence. Where in God’s name have these leaders been? I have spoken and written about this for so long. Yet it seems that one can get to the place where if you are not running lockstep within a certain crowd, you will not be heard. But “I can’t run no more with that lawless crowd. While the killers in high places say their prayers out loud. But they’ve summoned up a thundercloud. And they’re going to hear from me.” (From Anthem by Leonard Cohen)
In the book of Numbers 12, Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman he had married. The fact that Miriam’s name is listed first indicates she may have instigated this offense. Moses’ wife, Zipporah, was a Cushite. An Ethiopian. And the color of her skin was part of the issue here. In Jeremiah 13:23, Jeremiah asks, “Can the Ethiopian (Cushite) change his skin or can a leopard change its spots.” This was an immutable fact. This aroused the anger of the Lord and Miriam was struck with leprosy. Moses’ prayers for Miriam’s healing caused the Lord to relent. But Miriam was still shut out of the camp for seven days. The disease, leprosy, may be contained today in most of the world, but hatred is not. If you could see the disfigurement of people who walk in this disease of hatred of others because of the color of their skin, you would see their bodies have been contorted and deformed by the constant dripping of venom from their minds. Hatred is a most vile condition.
Our country was founded on principles of freedom and equality. Yet during that whole time, we were using slaves to build that which we were fighting to establish. We fought a major, divisive war that left wounds which still fester to stop this injustice called slavery. But we found other ways to enslave and keep one down. Parity and acceptance are still not equal for those with less pigmentation in their skin. Years have gone by and some achievements in civil rights have been made, but too many shades of disparity color this canvas in garish and nightmarish colors. In Psalm 13, David asks the Lord, “How long O Lord? How long will you hide your face from me?” Marvin Gaye sang, “There’s too many crying. What’s going on?” Different times, but things are still the same.
What we seem to hear most right now is the result of years of inequality. So, the focus is on the riots. And the reason for the depth of the hate and anguish is set aside as if not pertinent. Throughout history, when people have been mistreated, the end result is some degree of violence. Martin Luther King said that “riot is the language of the unheard.” Yet how many Facebook posts have I seen using Dr. King as the example of how people of color should behave? They have no idea of what that good man went through in order to bring about the degree of change he did. They forget what it cost him and that he knew that it would require even his life. I wish these people would quit using his statements and image. They have no right and are not of the same spirit.
Frantz Fanon, though not revered by some because of his beliefs, said in 1961, “When we revolt it’s not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe.” This cycle of varying degrees of interest will go on for a while. Then we’ll wait for the next injustice to arrive. And it will. The dream the Lord gave me in 2012 clearly showed me how this will become worse and more insidious. And when we have direction from the top saying the word “Dominate” to Governors in regard to protesters, the best we can expect is an audible simmer that will again boil over.
I will not address those who resort to theft and destruction any more than I will to those outside agitators from the left and the right who come for a myriad of evil intentions. People need to realize that it was loved and quoted by so many when Peter Finch in the movie Network, said, “I’m angry as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” That’s how so many feel. That’s how I feel, and I can’t even begin to understand because I am white. But everyone should pay attention and realize that when the Lord said we are all one, and you decide to come up with your own explanation, there will be something you will answer for. People were up in arms over Colin Kaepernick taking a knee to injustice and now some of them see that is better than a knee on a man’s neck that kills him, or the resulting rioting of that action. I am taking a knee in solidarity.
Paul wrote to Timothy to do things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality. We all fall short of His glory and seem to make the same mistakes constantly. But this spirit of racism that is growing at an alarming speed must be dealt with. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Be it good or evil. If this is in you, confess it and ask Him to cleanse you. If it is in one you follow, either politically or spiritually, walk away from them. Be separate from that evil and have no part in it. 1 John 9-11 states, “He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
We cannot survive with this pervasive hatred. Something will break and not be repairable. Take stock of where you are. The state of your heart. Is your heart is a state of unrest? “Ring the bells that can still ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” (Leonard Cohen) Walk in the light as He is the light. It depends on you to do your part to live peaceably with all men. (Romans 12:18) Blessings.
Stand My Watch 