Let's all take a knee

A
merica is in crisis.
We’ve been pent up at home, which is tough when we live in a country where we are accustomed to unprecedented freedom comparatively speaking. 
A global pandemic has created fractures between people based on political beliefs. 
The restrictions that have been imposed are but a snippet of what has happened historically in, not only the United States, but in the world. 
However, given it has been, at the very least, a generation since we have experienced anything such as this, in the last few months the tension has built palpably throughout the nation. 
Democrats blame Republicans. Conservatives blame the liberals. We either love or hate President Trump. 
And while we all fight over how this country is handling the coronavirus, we are opening the door to hatred. And when that door is even slightly opened, hatred barges in. 
The tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn., is the result of opening that door. 
The senseless, heinous act that caused his death has ignited an inferno — literally and figuratively — throughout this country. 
The callousness of one bad police officer — and the lack of clemency and action from the officers with him — has set humanity back and my Heart. Is. Broken. 
God created man in His image, and all men embody His image regardless of skin color. 
African Americans have been fighting for equality, for the right to enjoy their God-given life, for centuries. African Americans are still living in a world where they have to teach their children how to survive each and every day because they live in a society where they run the risk of being targeted based solely on their race. 
How can we still be living in a time where people are judged based on their skin color?
We have advanced to the point where we can educate students virtually from our dining room tables. We have cars that can almost drive themselves. We just sent people into space to live for months on a space station, but we cannot value our fellow man for who they are?
Here is where I see the problem in the world today — we have gotten very good at forgetting what really matters. We are so focused on ourselves that we have abandoned our fellow man. 
We are willing to take a knee in protest; this police officer put his knee on George Floyd’s neck causing his death, but we won’t take a knee when and where we really need to …
We’ve steadfastly stood in an effort to remove God from our government, our schools, and public places. 
And where has that gotten us? 
Riots are destroying businesses, properties, and lives across the country. We are nearing the possibility of the imposition of martial law in cities. 
Peaceful protestors are lumped in with those who are using this unrest for their own personal gain. 
Peace officers are in the line of fire and families are losing loved ones. 
All of this destruction and violence reveals what this world so desperately needs: to drop to our knees and let God back into our hearts and our lives. 
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hatred cannot drive out hatred; only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.