An Open Letter to an Our Human Family Reader
Dear Reader,
Thank you for your thoughtful and gracious letter regarding the efforts of the Our Human Family writers and editorial staff. I’m sure you didn’t know the email address to which you submitted your letter would lead back to me.
It’s easy to lose sight of the good in the world, but it’s out there, doing it thing - in ways you never expected. You just have to know what to look for and where to find it. The answer’s a lot more accessible and potent than many would have you believe.
I hate. A lot.
Yes, the guy who ends his essays with Christ’s second command to “love one another,” hates. There, I said it.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
–Albert Einstein
Humans. We’re reactive by nature. Give me a puppy, a sweet potato pie, a lump of gold, or a month-long vacation in France, and I’ll give you a positive reaction every time. A boa constrictor, lima beans, a lump of coal in my Christmas stocking, or a fresh parking ticket will produce a reaction somewhere along the negative end of the emotional spectrum.
If you think that not using labels when referring to “other” people is all it takes to make you post-racial, pull up a chair. It’s time we had a little chat.
I’ll keep this short.
Roseanne Barr. What hasn’t been said about her? How about this? She’s thoughtful, well-grounded, humble, and socially aware. Or perhaps, she has an unparalleled sense of nuance in areas of race, equality, and social justice. No? What about this then? She’s a pioneer at finding new frontiers that unite all Americans.
A few days ago a rather unfortunate scene played out on Twitter over what appears to have began as a misunderstanding rooted in cultural differences and semantics. But it goes to show that words, cultural biases and differences, and intentions matter more than we think. I was mentioned in the original Shonda Rhimes thread on Saturday and have watched the flurry of tweets fly in. I’d like to share a little insight that might unravel this situation. This isn’t “man-splaining” or anything of the sort. I’m just a guy who likes seeing people get along.
A couple of weeks ago, I announced in this post that United Thank Offering, a ministry of The Episcopal Church, is considering a grant proposal I’ve written and submitted for a series of workshops on racial reconciliation. Awards won’t be announced until early July 2018, so that gives me plenty of time to plot, plan, and flesh out some ideas.
Palm Sunday, 2018. I forget exactly when I started closing my essays with the words “love one another,” but what follows is a redux of an essay I wrote on June 26, 2016, days after the Pulse shooting, that lays out my interpretation of those three little words. Plus with Easter coming up on Sunday, it’s kinda relevant. Enjoy.
Recently, a friend told me he posted a meme on social media that he thought was perfectly fine until a friend pointed out to him that said meme might be offensive. My friend informed me that he removed the meme and proceeded to render a heartfelt apology. But between his confession and mea culpa, he sandwiched a question: is an Oompa Loompa meme offensive to Little People?
