The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Choosing sides
In the summer of 2016 I wrote a piece for this column, titled “Blessed are the Peacemakers,” to a nation that was grappling with issues of race and police relations. Headlines of that time featured the violent deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philandro Castile in Minneapolis, both at the hands of police. These vicious acts were followed by an equally vicious retaliatory sniper attack in Dallas that left 5 police officers dead.
Four years have passed and it seems that only the names have changed. This summer, among many questionable displays of police force, we found ourselves back in Minneapolis witnessing yet another recorded atrocity. Over the course of these four years the demand for change has become both more insistent and more universal, incorporating voices of rage across color lines, religious ideologies and national boundaries.
And yet, here in these nominally “United” States, the overall trajectory of polarization between races and ideologies continues to head toward the extremes. Forces (I dare say demonic) at play seem determined to deepen the divides, making it increasingly difficult to not choose sides, even among those who ultimately long for reconciliation. The collective voice of the times we are in seem to respond negatively to Rodney King’s impassioned query of nearly 30 years ago, “Can we all get along?”
Whose side are you on? The question of choosing sides has biblical precedence. Always a consideration from a biblical perspective is the need for righteousness to override merely being right. As Moses endeavored to lead his people it was as they were “running wild” and forgetting to whom they belonged, he commanded, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me” (Exodus 32:26). This was the same Moses who, while still in the process of evolving in his own “right vs. righteous” ideology, violently acted out against injustice (Exodus 2:11). God used the incident to bring Moses to a place alone in the wilderness where He would reveal to to him his deeper, righteous calling.
In another manner God had to make it clear to Moses’ successor Joshua that there is only one side to be on, the Lord’s side (Joshua 5:13,14). Joshua had a humbling revelation that brought him to a resting place of reverence on the side of the Lord.
In these volatile times in which we find ourselves, we who endeavor to be godly need to be very careful, cautious and deliberate about the “side” that we choose to call our own. For us, there is only one side. Like Joshua, “we will serve the Lord.” We choose the side of the Lord by:
1. Prayerfully arming ourselves with the truth of God’s word and the full truth concerning any situation that demands a response. Resist the urge to run off of pure emotion, half-truths and mere opinions.
2. Not ignoring facts that don’t support ourreactionary positions. We need to boldly call black, black and white, white. But we also need to concede the gray areas as being neither black nor white.
3. Endeavoring to empathize with (not agree with) opposing views. Where are they coming from? What lifelong road did they take to get to their conclusions? Hopelessly opposed viewpoints find glimmers of common ground and semblances of real peace only where empathy is desired, sought and found.
4. Recognizing that there are times when we all will need to be educators armed with information and dispensing it with grace. We need to distinguish between those who are openminded but unwittingly ignorant and those who willfully close their minds with thinking that only goes along party lines. We all need open minds that are ready to be divinely transformed and renewed.
5. Resisting the urge to suggest that you have no common ground with someone with whom you disagree. We all want to be loved, respected and heard. We are all human.
6. Being clear in your own righteously endowed mind as to what is negotiable and what is not.
7. Deciding in advance that when “they” go low, that we will go high, keeping love for God, self and others at the height of our priorities.
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV)
Please choose wisely.
Dan Blackwell of Derby gets assistence from Amanda Nettle of Laurel Glenn Farm during the Shelton Farm and Public Market on Canal Street in Shelton on Saturday. This is the first day back since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Market Master Mike Yachymczyk sprays sanitizer onto customer’s hands as they enter the market on Saturday.