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!". 

One Thing: Children

 

"You are a marvel. You are unique. In all of the world there is no other child exactly like you. In the millions of years that have passed there has never been another child like you... You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. 

And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is like you, a marvel? 

You must cherish one another. You must work—we must all work—to make this world worthy of its children."   

Joys and Sorrows; Reflections by Pablo Casals

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt 18:1-3