First Baptist Church of Herndon

Signs of Life - Hope

Linda Soller | Jul 27, 2020

Confession time. I, like many others was at first a bit confused by the “Black Lives Matter” posters. My reaction was, of course they do, all lives matter. I couldn’t imagine anyone who would reason otherwise. But, as it sinks in, I have come to a different understanding.  

Our country has lived so long with so many symbols of terrible times in our history, that in many ways, too many of us have become symbol blind. As a history teacher I used to teach of the horrors of slavery, and Jim Crow, but honestly, I never stopped to consider the impact of all the symbols still standing as a reminder of those times. I hope that doesn’t make me a bad or insensitive person, but it certainly explains my initial reaction to the signs carried in protests against the clear and unacceptable discrimination that flourished and still remains in our society. In my short sightedness, I was guilty of squelching hope. Without even thinking I was turning a blind eye. I ignored those symbols, I could, I wasn’t Black. But it was wrong of me to do so. Those symbols were the antithesis to the hope we should all be able to experience in a democracy, the hope to be free to pursue our best selves, to live a healthy and happy life, and to share in opportunities based on our actions not our skin color. There are no guarantees we will have “it all”, but we all should have hope.

I read somewhere that it might not be wise to raise our children to be “color blind” if it means they are insensitive to the plight of people around them. I think I see what they mean. Perhaps the real hope comes when we can really see the beauty in all the colors of God’s creations. The paint on the street reads, BLACK LIVES MATTER. You can’t miss it, so maybe we will no longer pretend there isn’t a problem. Maybe we won’t be symbol blind. And there my friends, is the hope.

What does your sign of life say?

Have a great week! :o) Linda