Unless you live off the grid, everyone knows what happened in Charlottesville on last Saturday. On last Saturday, hatred and hostility visited a revered campus in the Commonwealth of Virginia. They brought with them violence and a vileness unbecoming the human race. On last Saturday, an ostensibly peaceful protest over a statue turned violence.
This incident reminded me that we are indeed living in a broken world. Properly understood, the hatred and rage are merely symptoms of the brokenness that entered the world through the sin of Adam and Eve. Yet this sin must be understood and addressed. This sin affected our relationship with God and ultimately affects our relationship with each other. Beginning with the sibling rivalry of Cain and Abel, we have lived together and worked along side each other under the weight of this brokenness. In effect, our individual brokenness has led to a collective brokenness. Last Saturday proved how broken we are and how far we have to go.
As I watched the mayhem. As I sat in horror witnessing the hatred and hostility being spewed from the mouths of those who are bent on “making America great again.” I was reminded of the depth of our brokenness.
Additionally, I was reminded of the horror I felt as a young child when a mob of whites greeted us to our new home by gathering in our front yard and throwing bricks through our living room window. I was reminded of the incidences of white flight as we settled into this new and hostile environment. I was reminded of the day a white man asked as I delivered newspapers was I one of this “N” children. And I was sadly reminded of the day my brother and I were berated by a group of older boys with the chants of Nigger as we walked home. Last Saturday, I was assaulted by those emotions and memories.
However, last Saturday also reminded me that sadly we have been here before. In this country, we have a long history with Racism, bigotry and discrimination. In this history we are well acquainted with racial intolerance. A history that, on last Saturday, repeated itself. The wisdom of the ages warned us that those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it. It seems that we did not heed the warnings. On last Saturday, history reared its ugly head and repeated itself.
“Despite the demonstrations of hatred, I still have a determined hope”
The difference this time is with the advent of social media, our brokenness was on display for all the world to see and in real time. Our brokenness was “facebooked”, tweeted, snapped and “instagrammed.” Angry faces were identified and shared. Ugly epitaphs were hurled and broadcasted in the same breath. Symbols of racism and fascism were given audience against our will. But more importantly, the animus of a group of people revealed the ugly truth that the world is in need of reconciliation.
Despite the demonstrations of hatred, I still have a determined hope. Despite the horror of Charlottesville and the specter that these racist voices were headed to my beloved city of Richmond. I refused to let the horror hinder my love for my fellow man. I recognize it for what it is and that is a symptom of something deeper. There is a deeper malady and malaise, which must be confronted—our brokenness.
Despite what I saw and regardless of the silence from many of my Brothers and Sisters of faith, I still believe in the redemptive work of the cross. I still believe there is a balm in Gilead to heal the wounded and broken soul. I stand as a witness that Jesus Christ came to mend and heal our brokenness. We have to to be willing to submit our brokenness to Him but the issue is never whether He is able to heal us. He came to heal us and that is why Isaiah could proclaim that by His stripes we are healed. He submitted Himself to our brokenness and the brutality of a cross to engender reconciliation between the creator and HIS creation. However, this is only half of the story.
Paul says, not only are we reconciled but as a result, we are called and commissioned as Christ’s ambassadors in this world of brokenness as agents of reconciliation. We too are called and challenged to sacrifice until justice rolls on like a river and righteousness like a never failing stream. Every believer, every disciple is called and challenged to live our lives in such a way that we build bridges of understanding and not walls of intolerance. Our lives should embody and exemplify the sacrificial love of our Christ who found us broken but left us whole. And I believe that this event has awakened a collective consciousness of Brothers and Sisters in Christ united beyond their own limited racial, sexual, gender or ethnic concern. I believe that in the end love will win in the end.
Therefore, despite last Saturday, I still have hope and I still won’t give in to hate. I won’t hate because as Martin Luther King Jr reminded us during the fight for Civil Rights, we should not “let any man pull us so low as to hate him. We have to remember his prophetic words that “darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” As I reflected on last Saturday, and as I processed the feelings and emotions of my past encounters with racial animus, aggression and intolerance, I have decided to stick with love because “hate is too great a burden to bear.” I have decided to be an agent of reconciliation. An arbiter of GODLY love. Most specifically, I have rededicated myself to fighting in love and with love all forms of hatred and the dehumanization of those that GOD created for HIS glory.
Paul D. Flowers, Sr. 
Thank you for sharing
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