Hate is exhausting. Love is invigorating.

Thursday night is family movie night around our house.  My son does not have school on Fridays, so our “Friday night” is Thursday.  Of course, we enjoy Friday night as well!  On Thursdays, we have pizza (GF and as DF as possible for this mama!), and watch a movie.  A few weeks ago, my son suggested we watch Coco¸a movie chronicling a young boy’s experience in his family on Día de los Muertos.

A family experienced a tragic loss, the circumstances surrounding which were never fully known, and therefore misunderstood. The result was that music was essentially considered evil, and hated. It was not allowed in the home and the family was not allowed to partake in any music, at all, under any circumstances. The young man, Miguel, however, loves music. He secretly plays the guitar and sings, learning by watching videos of his hero.

After a series of events, Miguel ends up meeting his deceased hero (trying to not give it a way) and discovers that his hero was full of selfishness and hate.  At one point, the hero’s face shows complete exhaustion.  Hate is exhausting.  Selfishness is exhausting.  I would also hypothesize that living among cultural selfishness and hate is exhausting.

Unfortunately, this is where we are.  Our society right now is so anti-this or anti-that that there are those that who determine if you do not line up with them 100% you are deserved of hate.  That is just wrong.  It isn’t everyone, but it is enough that it creates significant division in our communities.

Being around hate is exhausting.  I would have to imagine that those who are continuing to levy this hate and vitriol are exhausted too.  Yes, hate and vitriol can energize a riot.  We saw that in Charleston.  Hate can move a lot.

Love can move more.  I am a Christian.  I am a Christ follower.  This is where my faith lies. As a Christian we are taught that Jesus died because God loved the world so much that something had to be the propitiation for our sins.  And this is where Jesus stepped in.  Because of the Father’s love, he died.  For every SINGLE person on this planet, alive, dead, or yet to be born.  Every. Single. One.  Because of that immense, unfathomable love, if we identify as a Christian, there are things we just need to do unequivocally.

Because I am a Christian, I will not discriminate; I will not participate in prejudice; I will not judge someone on the basis of their race, gender, sexual orientation or identity. 

Because I am a Christ follower I cannot tolerate hate.  I cannot tolerate those, especially those in leadership who act with prejudice and hate to those who are born on foreign soil, who speak a different language than I do, who have an accent that is evident. 

Because I am a Christ follower I believe in accountability and in personal responsibility- especially those who are in leadership positions.

Because I am a Christ follower, I cannot tolerate government leaders who find it acceptable to put out cartoon videos of the decapitation of any individual, or the death of another because they disagree.

Because I am a Christ follower, and I am to work to be Christlike, I put others ahead of myself.

Because I am a Christ follower, I understand that I am crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ in me. (Galatians 2:20) And this means that my agenda is secondary to the one I committed to as a Christ follower.

Because I am a Christ follower, I will love you and accept you, as you are. Period. It is not my place to “understand” or “get.”  It is my place to love and serve you without condition or requirement.

Because I am a Christ follower, I look to the fruit of a person’s life instead of to their words.  It is more difficult to walk the walk than it is to talk about it.

Because I am a Christ follower, I am called to serve. I don’t always know what that looks like, but it means I am called to listen, advocate, and act, and not sit by on the sidelines watching our world devolve into hatred.

Because I am a Christ follower, I know I am full of faults, and that even though I hope I never do any of the negative things above in the future, I have done them in my past and will likely mess it up again.  Therefore, because I am a Christ follower, I believe in forgiveness.  Sometimes that forgiveness comes after an apology. Sometimes it comes because it is what I am called to do and that there are benefits I need, and that outweighs my desire to be apologized to.

All this sounds exhausting right.  It isn’t.  Love is invigorating.  Hate is exhausting.

 

**This is about my faith and the things I have learned over the last many years.  If you do not share my faith, okay.  I’m will be the same person to you no matter what.  I want to. I’m asked to.  It’s too important.