Choose Peace Not War

Maybe our country doesn’t want peace. 

Maybe we want to be divided, I don’t know. Maybe we want the violence and the bloodshed.

We made it through the tumultuous 60s, with all those abhorrent riots and shootings and assassinations, and then it seemed America was slowly starting to heal. 

Man, I remember as a kid in the 70s, watching “All In The Family” and “The Jeffersons.” I loved those shows! 

Did they make Black jokes? Absolutely. Did they make White jokes? Absolutely. But it didn’t occur to anyone to be “offended.”

God help me, I’ve learned to DESPISE that word: offended. 

We acknowledged we were different and laughed about it. 

I used to tell people “some of my very good friends are Black,” but then was told THAT, too, was offensive. Racist. 

Well, in the words of my British friends, “So bloody what?!”

The opinion of the hyper-sensitive will no longer define me. 

Yeah, for a few glorious, shining moments, it seemed we were learning from the past. Celebrating a plethora of cultures, yet making peace, not war. 

Lately, however, we’re regressing. The media is dividing us by spreading hatred. We’re no longer seeing our similarities, but rather, our differences. 

I’ve been accused of being too simple-minded, thinking that “love can save the world.” Daring to believe John Lennon when he sings, “All you need is love.”

My lovely wife has quipped many times that I should’ve been a hippy in the 60s. I usually counteract that by joking, “Uh, NO, then I’d be my dad’s age. And…oh yeah…MAKE LOVE NOT WAR!”

Yeah, me and my simple-minded ways, believing people can choose peace not war. 

Believing people can choose love not hate. 

Believing people can make up their own minds instead of letting that evil, deadly, liberal media do it for them. 

Believing Black and White can learn to celebrate our differences and still find common ground. 

Believing we can coexist. 

Silly me. 

Call me a “50-year overdue hippy” if you want to, but I think it IS that simple. 

Actually, you shouldn’t call me that, it’s a terrible nickname.

I love the wondrous variety of our country’s melting pot, but not everyone shares that opinion. But you know what? I can’t control everybody else, I can only control ME…

Thus, as for me, I’m making the conscious decision to choose love, jack: 

“Put up with one another. Forgive. Pardon any offenses against one another, as the Lord has pardoned you, because you should act in kind. But above all these, put on love! Love is the perfect tie to bind these together (Colossians 3:13-14).”