....broken....

 

There are options in response to when something is broken --- fear, run away, anger, deny, blame someone else, hide out.  

 

As a nation, we seem to keep “taking it on the chin:” the pandemic, loss of jobs, not wanting to work, an attempted insurrection, deep divisions, the breaking down of long held institutions, an addiction to attention, drug deaths, an ever-widening gap between the very wealthy and everyone else, a frayed social safety net, a gun violence endemic and I haven’t even mentioned the abundance of “isms.” 

 

The ugliness that once was spoken in whispers is now shouted on social media and in toxic tweets.

Our political leaders choose power over principal, our faith leaders choose being popular over being prophetic, and we what we cannot or do not want to understand we seek to legislate with a pen instead of listening to person to person.

 

Our nation is broken.  Denial and finger pointing are not necessary.  We need to fix ourselves.

I asked a group of Gen Z-ers why they have such a fascination with Superheroes?  They answered, “We know none of the adults can fix it, they’re not even trying, so we soothe ourselves with the fantasy of Superheroes.”

 

In an early advocacy effort with the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) our rallying verse was from the book of Esther: “we have been called for such a time as this.”  

 

As is true with all the big issues and problems, our fractured communities, wobbly institutions and ever failing democracy, to fix these problems must be the cause of each one of us.  

We each have a lane that we journey, a lane in which we have influence. Know your lane and do your part to work together to solve the problem.  Are you in business, ponder what role and what part of healing the brokenness you can bring?  Is family and the home your expertise, how can you bring that experience and insight to weigh in?  Is the faith community your lane, how to be present and engaged in the conversations and working for the solutions?

To quote an often used line, which during theses times I really do believe, or perhaps need to believe as I am worried about how much more the nation can take ---- "we are the ones we've been waiting for."