There is a time for everything
Boy, it is difficult to write words of hope, peace, and love. As I sit at my desk this morning to start my column, I am a bit perplexed at the complexities I see surrounding our lives. I look one way and watch folks aiding one another, whether in hospitals, food distribution lines, or contributing to their neighbor’s welfare in countless ways. I glance the other way and notice people ignoring solutions for the coronavirus pandemic in favor of self-gratification and political posturing.
Now is not the time to kill, it is the time to heal.
Hate and love residing side by side in a battle for survival. The harsh noise of anger rises above the quiet tone of love. Some spread fear through bogus conspiracy theories. And then others destroy the possibility of productive social change by promoting violence and destruction. People often judge all by the acts of a few and others who would rather have war than call a truce.
This is not the time for war, it is the time for peace.
Some say that is just the way life is, but our lives today are so tragically complicated. Perhaps, now is not the time to accept life as it always has been. We are struggling both physically, mentally, and financially. Love must beat the hate, which is critically essential for our survival.
There is a time to hate, but now is the time to love.
At this moment, people of all races need to erase color and simply survive the pandemic. We must do better, and now is the time. Why do we keep adding to our burdens? Why not offer a helping hand to those who desperately need us? Isn’t that the basis of Christian faith and belief?
There should be one fight right now. There is a time for all things, but today our priority is to heal our land from a killing giant. It will take every single human being, no matter your ethnicity, age, or gender, to do so. There is a time for casting stones, but not today, today we should gather them.
People are waiting for the magic potion of a vaccine, forgetting the over 155,000 people who have died in our country. Many more will die before a miracle is shipped. Until then, all we have is each other. All we can do is be mindful of one another, pray, and protect those we love. Hate is a violent, radical action. Love is far more powerful, if only we enact it.
There is a time to break down, but now is the time to build up.
I recall a scene when Hurricane Harvey flooded Houston in 2017. Its residents were attempting to escape the rushing waters flowing down their streets. An elderly white man lost his footing, and immediately a black hand reached down to pull the man to safety.
When we are in dire conditions, color is flooded away, hate is drowned, and we survive because of caring for one another. Hurricane COVID floods our streets, our lives, and our livelihood. It is time to join hands and stand firm against the forceful gales of Hurricane COVID and simply endure.
There is a time to refrain from embracing, but today is the time to embrace — using our hearts.
There is a time to be born and a time to die. I have no idea if I will survive the wrath of this pandemic, and neither do you. We do not know what tomorrow will bring. Do we want to fill our days with spreading hatred, demeaning each other, or do we want to rise to the occasion and be inspired by God’s word to help one another? Who are we? Why are we here? Are we given life to promote God’s grace and goodness, or are we given life to fuel the flames of hell?
At some point we all become accountable, and if we don’t want swarms of locusts to fly in our backyard, those earthquakes to destroy our land, and our evil to overcome us, then we’d better beat the hate before our time is up.
As wise Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes: “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Today is the day to give compassion, hope, and inspiration to everyone living under the heavens. We can beat hate and a virus if we understand that time is a gift from God. Today let us all use it wisely. Lynn Gendusa of Roswell is the author of “It’s All Write with Me!” Essays from my heart. She can be reached at www.
lynngendusa.com.