Lean On Me

I don’t usually make big posts about these kinds of things but I think it is important, especially in light of everything, all the shootings, all the death, all the outrage, from the last few days. I think it is important that we break away from the hatred, the anger, and the despair we have been facing so far, in just this year alone.

On July 8th 1972, 44 years ago today, Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me” hit number one on the pop charts. We all know the song. There’s that beautifully simple piano back up to one of the most powerful, soulful songs I belted in middle school chorus. These are the things we are taught in school, as children and are expected to practice into our adulthood. We are taught that sorrow will befall us but “there’s always tomorrow,” to keep going because it will get better. We are taught to rely on each other for kindness and friendship. We are taught that, when we ask for help, in turn we will give help to others.

What we have today, what I see scrolling through social media, it is not kindness. It is not friendship. It is not leaning on others for support. It is not coming together to solve issues.

It is hate. It is fear. It is isolation. It is retaliation. It is misunderstanding. It is miscommunication. It is a plague ripping through this country faster and stronger every year and destroying the values for which we once stood. There is too much death, too much hatred, too much fighting over whose lives matter more. Life is life, all human life matters.

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” -MLK Jr.

An eye for an eye will make the world blind. There are two sides to each coin. The deaths in Dallas in reaction to the deaths in Louisiana and Minnesota are examples of adding darkness. And that is just in our own country, not even breaking the surface of the problems of the world today. I fear it will be a vicious cycle in which we will continue to lose human life until finally we are all affected by the terror and we are all too hurt to let it continue. Are we willing to let it get that far? I am certainly not. Are we going to let pride get in the way of lives potentially saved? I am certainly not. Are we going to let it destroy our world? If we don’t do something, it will.

There is too much stubbornness and closed-mindedness, not enough compromise, understanding, and respect in the world. There is too much hatred and darkness spreading and only love and light will bring it to an end. There is a lot of work to be done.