The tiniest phrase in a recent article about the latest massacre – the one at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh – infuriated me.
It said the shooter “raged against Jews.”
Who are these “Jews”?
I’ll tell you who “they” are. Over the course of my life, people – who happen to have Jewish heritage and espouse a time-treasured faith – have been to me one or more of the following: family members, neighbors, classmates, teachers, doctors….friends.
They are people I love, respect, and deeply admire – just as I would anyone of integrity and goodness who seeks to do unto others as he or she would do unto himself or herself.
And over this week, as I cried for the beautiful people who lost their lives while worshiping God, I considered the state of things…a nation where “raged against Jews” still seems an apt phrase.
Our world repeats many lies to its constantly thrumming drum, but the biggest one is this…
There is a “they” – separate from us – that we can treat as “other.”
The list of self-identifying groups and sub-groups is endless….Christian (i.e., Protestant, Catholic, Evangelical and hundreds of denominations in-between), Jewish, Muslim, Atheist, Agnostic, Democrat, Republican, Men, Women, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Straight, LGBTQIA+, Graduate of Such-and-Such College, Having X Degree, No-Degree, Hard Worker, Slacker, Pro-this, Anti-that – you follow?
Add on your own tags – the ones you apply to yourself – as many as you can think of – and stand in your circle to see how many fellow humans are left there with you. One? Two? None?
When we push outward we discover we are all alone.
There is NO “they.”
They are us.
And we are them.
Mother Teresa said it best when she declared, “If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we belong to one another.”
I don’t know much about the shooter at the Tree of Life Synagogue, but I do know this: his hatred was homegrown and it started as a seed in his heart.
The call to action for us as citizens of the world is to LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
There are no caveats in that.
No exclusions if we think the person has strange ideas, smells, does her hair in a funny way, or is infringing on our space.
And whether you happen to agree with me when I say that God created each person – and in His own image – formed to be imperishable for all eternity, unique and sacred as an individual – I would venture this…
Deep down you know that freedom from self-absorption and egotism – those inclinations that isolate us and proliferate fear by pushing others away – means reaching out and extending the thing we all want most. Love.
We all play a role in making this world the place we want it to be.
Call out the darkness and bring it to light.
The darkness within each of us is where the battle is waged.
There is no THEY.
There is only US.
And LOVE that surpasses us all.