I don't even know where to begin for this article. I've never written anything like this before.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard about the shootings lately. You've heard the outcry from celebrities, politicians and pretty much everyone else. You've heard about racism, homophobia and more finger-pointing than you can measure. And I couldn't be silent anymore about the issues surrounding this and the other recent tragedies that have rocked our nation to its core.
I cried yesterday.
I cried for Philando Castile and the officer who shot him, for their friends and family. I cried for Alton Sterling and the officer who shot him, for the ones close to and loved by them. I cried for Orlando. For every hate crime, every act of terrorism, every shooting, every death. I wept like I haven't for a long time.
How did we get here? How did this world become a place in which the seemingly clear solution to problems is to shoot someone? In which protests become so violent that lives are lost? In which people are gunned down in a nightclub because of their sexual orientation? In which we hear daily about violence, terror and hatred? I'm so confused. What have we become? Every day, we hear about another violent act, another hate crime, another act of terrorism. What happened? When did this become our world?
I do not pretend to know the whole story, not about any one of these tragedies. I cannot see into the minds of the people responsible, cannot ask the dead to tell their stories. God is the only judge, so I'm not taking any sides. I'm not pointing any fingers. This is bigger than theories and personal beliefs, bigger than sexual orientation or race. This is about ignorance and hatred. And I, for one, am tired.
I am tired of waking up every morning and feeling my heart break all over again. Every human life is beautiful and precious in its own way, and I am tired of waking up to more bloodshed, more pain, more death, more suffering. I am tired of the constant fighting over who's to blame, what to do. I'm tired. And since I don't want to point fingers, pass blame or take sides, this is my course of action:
Love.
Love is louder than hate. Love is louder than fear. Love is louder than ignorance. Love is louder, and it's the only way to step out of the pattern we find ourselves in. It's the only way to break the chains. Teach the people around you how to love. Love regardless of race, gender, sexuality, religion, lifestyle. Just love. Love everyone. Even if it hurts. Even if it feels impossible. Even when the world seems too full of violence and hatred for it.
Love is louder.
