Change

I know MLK, Jr. day has come and gone.  I feel like, all too often, it is just thought of as another Monday off for most ... just another 3-day weekend.  And before you go thinking that I'm perching myself up on my high horse, I count myself in that group who would normally mark the occasion with maybe a fleeting thought about what the day really was meant to commemorate and stand for.

Peace.  Equality.  Justice.


"Yeah, yeah."  I know you may be thinking.  "That's all fine and dandy, but what does all of that actually mean?  Haven't we come a long way since the Civil Rights Movement?"

And, in my personal opinion, I would answer both yes and no.  It's hardly a simple answer to a very complex question and problem that still presents itself all the time.

Inequalities exist.  Turn on the news and you will see them all day long.  People are treated differently because of their age, sex, religion, political preferences, race .... this list could go on and on.

I stumbled upon this story on FB the other day and was horrified to read this mother's account.
http://www.wolfhirschhorn.org/2012/01/amelia/brick-walls/
I urge you to read it in its entirety.

People are far from perfect beings and I catch myself with my own biases and judgments all the time.  Six months ago I saw a woman at the gym that I hadn't seen since middle school.  She was teased mercilessly because she was different.  I am talking full out taunts and bullying.  It is horrible to think about but even more horrible to think how she must have felt all of that time.  I never participated in the bullying but I never did anything to stop it, which in itself is a crime.  I should have said something to her that day at the gym but I didn't.  She deserved an apology.  Something.  She deserves much more.

So what are we going to do about it???  Change can start with one person.  I pray that I can make a difference and that you will too.