I've been listening to the most interesting book. In fact, I finished it today. I cannot recommend it because it ended up having some very strong language, but it opened my eyes and changed me forever when it comes to racism. The book is called "Small Great Things." It shows racism from many different perspectives. But what I realized most of all is that almost everyone is hurting inside. Everyone has their own experiences and reasons for acting the way they do. Even those people we perceive to be mean, spiteful, hateful...they believe themselves to be fighting for good, too. They have a reason, too. It might be totally misguided, but they have a reason.
Anyway, it was one of those books that really makes you think deeply about your own prejudices, your own positions. We really should approach life with more love, more listening, more understanding. In the book, there was a young guy who was a white supremacist. As a young boy, his brother had been hit and killed by a black man. It had been an accident, but he let rage and anger take over. Then, because of the tragedy, his parents' marriage fell apart and his dad left his mom for another man! So he became incredibly angry at gay people. Then his day-old baby died suddenly in the arms of a black nurse. He turned his anger into hate and violence. But really, he was hurting so much inside and no one could help him. He shared this quote from Nelson Mandela:
No one is born hating another person...
People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate,
they can be taught to love,
for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.
It took a lot of work for all of the characters to reconcile by the end, but it showed that people can learn to love. I've thought of all the people I've seen on social media saying such divisive things. Or those whose positions seem so different from mine. If we stop to realize that God loves them deeply, then maybe we can pray to see others the way God sees them. Maybe we can pray to love them and then listen to their position--trying to understand what is in their heart.
I love the speech from Hub McCann in Second Hand Lions. He calls it his "What Every Boy Needs To Know About Being A Man" speech. He says,
That people are basically good; that honor, courage, and virtue mean everything;
that power and money, money and power mean nothing;
that good always triumphs over evil;
and I want you to remember this, that love... true love never dies.
You remember that, boy. You remember that. Doesn't matter if it's true or not.
I choose to believe that, too. People are basically good. And that book gave me a chance to climb into someone else's mind and see their viewpoint. It is one of the most amazing things about books. It teaches you so much empathy for other people.
In the afternoon, we went to Emma's volleyball game. It was at home against Dixie. Emma's sophomore team played so well and won. She did such an amazing job. It was a cancer awareness day and the whole team wore pink. They put a name on the back of their jersey to honor someone with cancer. Emma chose "Haws" for Grandpa. It was so cute to see her wearing number 11, with HAWS on the back, looking for all the world just like me back in high school. If only I had been so cute. :)
 |
| Emma wearing my beloved number 11, and sporting proudly the HAWS name. |
Then we stayed to watch Brynn play on Varsity. I was definitely cheering for Brynn and the Dixie Flyers, but after a hard fought battle, they lost. Brynn played an amazing game. She is such a great player. It was sad for them to lose.
I must mention that we are now dealing with another devastating thing in our family. Our dear, brother-in-law, Jaron's mom just found out she has a brain tumor. Tomorrow she will go in for surgery. It is doubly devastating because a few years ago, Jaron's younger sister died of brain cancer. His mom's prognosis is not looking so good and this is almost too much for their family to bear. Joni hardly had a moment to catch her breath after spending days at the hospital with our dad, and now they are dealing with this. This has been so heartbreaking for all of us. We are so very sad for the Allreds.
We have also been very concerned because Jaron has been having some strange symptoms and they are going in for an MRI of his brain on Tuesday. It is beyond our comprehension to even think about what this could mean. I have been pleading with all the faith I have that Jaron might be completely healed of his symptoms and that his MRI might come back normal. Oh, please.
More and more every day, I am thankful to know that good really does triumph over evil. That all the experiences we have in this life can be for our good if we allow God to direct our paths. I am thankful beyond compare for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the comfort and peace of the gospel. I am thankful that we can feel joy even amidst trials and pain. Life is good.
 |
| I took this picture the other day as I left the football field. I love this beautiful world in which we live. |
No comments:
Post a Comment