"it wasn't me" 170/366

when I left to walk this afternoon there was no mess on my porch
while I walked I was not aware anything was going on to make a mess
but once I got home, 
there was no ignoring the mess,
I have no idea of what went down to cause it
what I do know is I didn't make the mess
my solution: sit in my chair reading, ignoring it for a couple of hours
guess what,
it didn't go away

why a blog post about this?
because of the principles that kept resounding every time I looked up
"I didn't make this mess"
"I wasn't even around when it happened"
"I shouldn't have to clean up what I didn't mess up" 
in a lot of places 
for a lot of people,
life is messy-very,very messy 
and for some it has been for a long time

until recently you may have been able to claim ignorance about racial issues 
you can't any longer
it is time to acknowledge they are still here
they have deep roots
they affect us whether we realize it or not
and we have brothers and sisters whose lives are radically affected by them,
in ways we have never even thought about, let alone faced

so what is our responsibility in this "mess"?
get educated
listen, learn, pray, 
hear what those who are hurting are saying
weep with those who weep
sit before God for awhile
ask Him to show you what you need to know about yourself
about your biases, privileges, prejudices
because they aren't going to go away on their own

most of us did not make the mess
many were oblivious, having no idea there was a mess
but now there is no place to hide from the reality that is loudly, plainly in the open
we can sit on our butts and tsk, tsk, or try to look past it
we can rationalize it isn't of our making, so it isn't our responsibility to do anything
or we can do what honors God and our fellow human beings 
and ask; "what can I do to make this right?"
and when we get an answer-
follow through to help make a positive change
                              

one,
or more of these three,
is the culprit

even after the clean up,
some evidence remains

"Learn to do right; seek justice.

    Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

    plead the case of the widow." Isaiah 1:17

“This is what the Lord Almighty said: 

‘Administer true justice; 

show mercy and compassion to one another. 

Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. 

Do not plot evil against each other.’" Zechariah 7:9&10