The wars overseas.
The wars at home.
The bullying on the playground.
The bullying from behind the safety of the computer screen.
I can’t take it anymore.
And I don’t have all of the answers. I don’t have all of the antibiotics. I don’t have all of the keys. I don’t have all of the cures and the erasers and the spells to make it all magically disappear into a puff of thin air and hopes and dreams.
But I do have this. I do have this one thing to offer. I do know this:
It starts with you and with me and with the conversations we have with our kids at bedtime. I do know it starts with us being kind to our neighbors. I do know it starts with us doing a better job of keeping our mouths shut and our ears open. I do know it starts with us taking a stand for what we believe in, and making the time to sit down with our families at the kitchen table.
I do know it starts with us calling a friend who is hurting, and calling out injustice the second we see it happening. I do know it starts with us being soft with people’s hearts, and hard on the issues that set our souls on fire. I do know it starts with us carefully building up our knowledge on the matters at hand, and recklessly tearing down the walls that separate us as a culture.
I do know it starts with phone calls and texts and letters to the proper people. I do know it starts with combining the facts in your head and the fuel in your heart to start a fire that can change laws that desperately need to be changed.
I do know it starts when we stop defending powerful politicians and we start defending helpless children.
I do know it starts with us stretching outside of our comfort zones and reaching out to the man on the corner. I do know it starts with us feeding the hungry. I do know it starts with us giving to the poor. I do know it starts with us making room at the table for the weary and the restless and the broken-hearted.
I do know it starts with us leading in love, because it always, always, always starts with love.”
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