What now?

The last blog entry I posted was 152 days ago and I almost didn’t post this one today. The year of 2020 has been an emotional rollercoaster for me, and I am sure that you can relate. We have experienced high profile deaths from athletes, actors, activists and politicians. We have experienced and still are experiencing a pandemic. Thousands upon thousands of people have lost loved ones due to COVID-19, cancer, heart disease, violence and simply old age for lack of a better explanation. Some families have gone months without physical connection in an effort to be safe. Did I mention that we are experiencing a PANDEMIC?!

My absence here on the blog was not intentional at first. I originally had the next entry planned to roll out just before Mother’s Day. But then the world began to learn about the death of a young man by the name of Ahmad Arbery and truth be told I was not emotionally ready to talk about the joys or challenges of motherhood when there was a mother mourning the murder of her African American son. At that time, all I could think about was how horrible it must be for her not to have her son with her and the fears of what my son’s life will be like as he continues to age.  As the weeks continued to roll on, we learned about more murders of people of color; some were older cases with no action in sight and others were new cases with footage streaming across the world. Some leaders in the church and Christian industry, from pastors and authors to singers and influencers were vocal… very vocal and others were silent, or you wished they were silent.

Then I thought about blogging on the issues. How was I going to address it? I was reading the comments on hundreds of threads across various social media platforms and becoming sick to my stomach at the lack of empathy in our world, actually…let’s scratch that. I was sick to my stomach at the lack of empathy in the CHURCH! I didn’t want to post while I was experiencing anger and hurt. So, I waited. Every time I thought it was the week to post something, something else would happen. I began planning to post in celebration of Nouveau Exposure being in existence for 5 years this month. That celebration was supposed to start this weekend and it probably still will happen.

So, why am I posting this blog today? We’ve finally made it to that point. On September 23, 2020 the result of the investigation for the death of Breonna Taylor led to a decision that did not have anything to do with her murder but everything to do with the endangerment of her neighbor. It’s an endless cycle. So many took to social media platforms to express their reaction, including me. I don’t know why I looked at the comment sections for more popular posts, but I did. That brought up feelings of sorrow, frustration and fear. Can you relate to any of this? If not, do you have empathy for those who can relate?

Yes, there’s that word again…EMPATHY. Webster Dictionary defines empathy as “the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions.” This year, 2020, has taught me the importance of being empathetic of others and put a spotlight on the areas of my life where I have been selfish. The racial injustice, the pandemic and the financial hardships families are experiencing have all caused me to ask God to help me be compassionate towards others. It was hurtful and still is hurtful to know that there are people who profess Jesus is the Lord of their life and lack empathy for those hurting, wronged and fearful. Unfortunately, for them, they have missed one of the major lessons Christians should learn and strive to practice in their daily walk until Christ returns and that is to love one another with words and actions. I’m making a conscious choice to pray for them and I hope that your heart remains soft in the hands of God while enduring the pain that this world brings as you to pray for them too.