20 Jun FAITH MATTERS – Find Hope and Strength
With a somber heart, we look ‘up’ to find hope and strength to carry forward a message of love to our neighborhoods.
FAITH matters more today than ever before. We must question, “What are we doing in America?” What is going on with each of us when we feel the need to carry a gun instead of a handshake or a warm hug for our neighbor? Why must we operate in fear, critique, judgment and hatred?
We each must make the decision and choice to stop operating with preconceived notions, use of stereotypes, from a basis of fear or hurt and not being focused on what is best for each other. Hatred knows that love is the cure. How do we exercise that on a daily basis? What are some of our issues?
Lack of trust, systemic racism, lack of public accountability, no respect for cultural differences, world violence, excessive force, community mental health, segregation, misconceptions, anger, intolerance, lack of community engagement & leadership.
The NHS team joined up recently to discuss, dialogue and challenge ourselves to focus on strength, goodness, community collaboration and positive messaging. We came up with messaging a “Neighbors Matter” campaign that we hope will instill hope, accountability, advocacy and justice where appropriate. We need each other. It is always best to love. It is always best to give more than we take. Each of our neighbors matter and how we interact is crucial to ensure we have healthy communities. Systemic institutional racism must stop. The ‘halls of justice’ must be alive with equality and equity….truth, not lies and hate. The old theme, “NO Justice, NO Peace” rings true again or many would not be at the level of frustration that they feel. Let us join hands, arms, hearts and lives to ensure our communities thrive, we accept each other and move forward. In America, we are better than this! We can, we will, have faith. Peace, Lori Gay
