More Than Just The Number In The Year Need To Change

Well, here we are at the end of another year, and what a year it has been because of COVID-19 coronavirus. I keep hearing and reading how everyone cannot wait for 2020 to be over and I get it; however, in my mind, more than just the change in the last two digits in the year must change. It's great that we are going to move from 2020 to 2021, yet, if the only thing that changes is the 20 to the 21, we are going to have the same thing that we had in 2020. The fact of the matter is, COVID-19 coronavirus will carry over into 2021 and we are really nowhere close to being out of the woods with this deadly pathogen. Yes!, it is great that we have a vaccine that will help us slow the contraction of the disease, but we must still do our part with social distancing, the washing of hands frequently (which we should have been doing anyway), and the wearing of a face-covering over the mouth AND nose. 

Beyond these measures to stem the spread of the germs, more importantly, what needs to change beyond the last two digits in the year are our hearts, thinking, attitudes, and how we treat each other as human beings. The last four years under the leadership or lack thereof of  Donald J. Trump has brought out the absolute worst in people. His evil spiritedness unleashed closeted hatred among those who had been harboring these feelings for decades. Trump became the poster child for Eurocentric thinking Caucasians who in their mind feel they are disenfranchised due to some entitlement not being received by them and being taken by people of color (African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and any other group believed to be immigrants and of non-European descent). "Making America Great Again" actually materialized into "Making America Hate Again." 

It is heart and soul thinking that must change if 2021 is going to be any better than 2020. Our year was so horrid not just because of COVID-19, but because of how we treated each other as human beings. Folks were being blatantly and needlessly killed such as the George Floyd debacle where that white officer seemed to be celebrating with his body language and facial expression the fact that he was slowly and mercilessly taking the life of another human being. One who was calling out to his mother and pleading with him that he could not breathe. Not the first African American male to tell an officer that he could not breathe as a result of the hold that he had on him. We saw countless other violent acts and actions that impacted us as human beings. I keep using the term "Human Beings" because regardless of our skin color or ethnic backgrounds, at the end of the day, that is what we are........human beings. We are all somebody's son, daughter, mother, father, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, cousin, grandmother, grandfather and the relational list can go on and on. And yet, we are being taken away as if we don't matter. Pure unadulterated hatred and it's sad. 

If we carry over into 2021 the same old hateful behavior that we had in 2020, we will get more of the same. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. These words are usually credited to the acclaimed genius Albert Einstein and I find whether it was Mr. Einsteinn or whoever said it to be a correct observation. If we hate the same way we hated in 2020, we will continue to get the hate and destruction in 2021. It's that simple. In the words of  Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." The question is, will we learn to live together regardless of skin color, political affiliation, sexual preference, gender, religious belief, ethnic background, or any other "ism," or are we going to continue to perish together as fools? When you really think about it, all of the differentiations listed really don't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Yes, my dear readers of this blog, much more need to change than just the last two digits in the year. Much more than just 20 moving to 21 must change, otherwise, we still will just be getting more of the same. If you want to get a Biblical idea of what we have been experiencing particularly over the last four years, I invite you to go in the Bible to 1 Samuel - Chapter 8 and read it in its entirety. It is the story of Israel asking for a king. God gave them their king and everything that came along with him. 

Folks, when all is said and done, and all is done and said, it is US who must change and not just the year. Have a Happy Hannukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy New Year and as Michael Jackson can sing, let's start looking at the man in the mirror. 

marcamedley.com