What in the world could cause me to begin with a title like that? Because there is something that many of us do in our lives which has a direct connection or effect on our lives. It is usually something which we have held onto for much longer than we should have and it can cause all of these in our lives. That something is anger and hate. Granted that is 2 things but many times they go together.

The problems start when we hold onto them for longer than we should. Either one of these emotions can cause pain and disease when we keep them in our lives because many times we treat them as pets. We bring them out and “feed” them our feelings and we try to keep them alive so we won’t forget the reason for them in the first place.

But anger and hatred are like hot coals from a fire. The longer that you hold them the more damage they cause to you…not to the object of your anger or hatred. After a few years or even many years, sometimes the heat of those emotions tends to cool a bit. But, just like a fire, if you stoke them and add a little more fuel to the “fire” in order to bring the heat back regardless of the type of fuel it is.

That is how our country has been fueling all of the anger and hatred and resentment over the past 130 years or so. We have never let the fire go out and we haven’t really tried to get to a point of forgiveness. Each time that there is some reconciliation or healing which begins, there is always an incident which happens to peel the scab off or which puts more fuel on the dying embers once more.

Slavery and the racism which came from it and all of the heartaches and horrible crimes which were committed during that time and since then because it is a part of America’s past, not just the South but because slavery was a part of England and the Bahamas and the Carribean. Yet it seems that we as a country and as a people, regardless of the color of our skin, can’t seem to learn from that past and come to a place of forgiveness and then move on.

So, to answer my first question of why am I writing this now…it is because it needs to be said. If someone in our generation who remembers the murders of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy doesn’t begin to address the issue and seek to move on with forgiveness and healing, hopefully, it may never happen. If dialogue is not sought out in a peaceful way and then used as a step toward healing and forgiveness how can we ever find our way to that place?

If the first step isn’t taken to move toward reconciliation and healing in a country where there has been a division like this for so long, it will never be taken. We will be constantly refueling the fire with more anger and hatred and stoking it until it kindles again. Healing and forgiveness can never come from that and until we at least try to take that step there is no possibility of healing between “white’s” and people of color regardless of the darkness of their skin.

Jesus loves each of us regardless of our color or our culture and we should at least try to accept His strength and His Spirit so that we can make a difference one day in this country. Too many have died because of mistrust and anger over the years and if we can get to know each other as people, not colors, then maybe we can take a step in that direction.