Don't Scratch It

Children are always pushing the envelope, and they often fall. They scrape their legs and arms and even their heads.  Parents pick them up, kiss them, and affirm that all will be OK. They disinfect and bandage the wound sending the toddlers on their way.

As these little bodies begin to heal, scabs form over the wounds. These encrustations aid in healing the trauma, but the nerves notice stimulated skin cells. Brains send a message of pruritus and scratching begins in earnest.

Mothers everywhere preach, “Don’t scratch it!” They do this because efforts to satisfy the urge will rip the scab from the skin. Wounds re-open and delay the healing process. They know that recovering requires scabs to disappear on their own. A scar may remain, but the promise that ‘all will be OK’ will be fulfilled.

Today, there is hope. For centuries, we have ignored, covered up and over, dismissed, and denied that some of us are treated less equal than others. It appears that there is reckoning, a joining together of all (well, many more than some of us would expect) serving to bring the light of attention to this injustice. It looks as though discussions of change could finally become behaviors of change.  

But these wounds are deep-seated. Rehabilitation could take decades and the scabs that form will cause serious surface tingling. This thin curative veneer will become an irritation that begs for a return to what was comfortable for those in control of well-established structures. It will become an itch of this long-established system calling its members to desperately scratch here, there, and everywhere in efforts to alleviate the hypersensitivity of this perceived inflammation. 

As we work towards societal unity, justice, reconciliation, and peace, we must commit to the expected longevity that will be needed. Accept in your heart, mind, and soul that what lies ahead is a major societal shift. This isn't just a skinned elbow that will heal in a week or so. This follows the magnitude of major surgery. Recovery will be long as the excised disparities and inequities scab over and heal. But each of us will be stronger and more loving when this blanket of healing falls away.

Don’t Scratch It.

"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."  Galatians 3: 28

Anthony

Considering all that is happening in Minneapolis and throughout the world, I’m forgoing my commitment to the “One Thing” series for today.

At approximately 6:30 AM, Sunday, June 30, 2019, a gunshot shattered the morning of the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of Cincinnati.  Within minutes, a 14-year-old boy lay bleeding to death on the sidewalk.  His name was Anthony, and he was one of my students.

I bring this up because this one hit me hard – and still does.

I bring this up because we are fortunate to be living in the ‘day of captured video’. What happened to George Floyd and many others is there for all to see.  

I bring this up because I pray for change. I pray for tolerance, for understanding, and compassion.

I bring this up because change requires effort and before we begin the task, we need to understand. We need to feel what others feel.  Unity can only exist with an awareness of history and experience. 

There is a root cause.  This underlying system did not begin with me or with you. However, we have not only inherited the problem but are in a unique position to benefit from the same. Because of this, effective change can only begin when we, with our non-white brothers and sisters, collectively cry out. "Enough!".