Well, I'm Back...
I think I've set a new record for the amount of time I've gone without posting on this blog.
This is partly because I have been incredibly busy getting ready to start my college classes. (And I've now made it through the first week!) However, there's more to my lengthy absence than just being preoccupied with other parts of life. For the past several months, any time I thought about writing a new blog post, I felt obligated to write about the elephants in the room: the COVID-19 pandemic, and the state of race relations in the United States.
But I wasn't prepared to write about either of these issues, so I ended up writing nothing. It's not that I have a problem with tackling deep or challenging issues-- those are often my favorite posts to write. At the same time, this blog has never been a place where I brought up politics or current events, and I'd like to keep it that way.
So why don't I want to write about the things that everyone and their step-nephew twice removed is discussing constantly?
With COVID-19, it's partially because everyone and their step-nephew twice removed is talking about it... and has been for the past six months. With good reason, of course. The world is in a state of crisis that will have massive effects on the future. The coronavirus is impacting every single aspect of life for the entire global population right now.
So am I not writing about it because I want to bury my head in the sand? Maybe, I don't know.
I just know that the pandemic is impossible to forget about. I can't walk out the door anymore without grabbing a mask first. I was planning to go to college in Southern California this fall. Instead, I'm going to college via Zoom. And countless people are suffering much, much worse impacts from the pandemic than I am. People have lost their lives, their jobs, their loved ones. Everyone is suffering mentally and emotionally from the fear and uncertainty of finding ourselves in a situation where the rules keep changing, where there are no real rules because we're just making them up as we go along.
And I'm tired of it.
I.
Am.
Tired.
Of this pandemic and everything it entails.
Of people turning it into a political issue, because that's what we do these days with absolutely everything.
I'm tired of dealing with COVID-19, hearing about COVID-19, thinking about COVID-19.
I'm tired of writing this section of this post to explain why I'm not writing a post about COVID-19.
Does that make me a coward, or lazy, or shallow? I don't know.
The issue of race is different. It is a moral issue. I have very strong feelings about it. I've actually attempted to write a series of posts detailing my point of view on race, which is rooted in the scripture. If I'm able to finish them in a satisfactory way, I may end up publishing them at a later point.
However, there are so many voices speaking on this topic right now, and I'm not sure that mine is the one that needs to be heard. I'm ignorant in many regards, and I'm white. If I do write about this issue, I really want to make sure that I take my time and address it as well and thoughtfully as I possibly can. I want to contribute something meaningful to the conversation, not just join the roar of noise surrounding every controversial political issue in our society.
However, just to summarize my beliefs in an oversimplified form with no sources to support them:
Every single human being on this broken planet is made in the image of God. Christians are commanded to love their neighbors as themselves, and that means showing compassion and looking to the interests of all people made in the image of God-- especially the marginalized and oppressed. Our God is a unity of diversity-- three distinct persons, yet one cohesive being. The church is called to reflect His nature-- to embrace the uniqueness of every member, while being united by the one unchanging love that is greater than any of our differences.
It's good to be back. It's good to have writing as a solace, a way to organize my thoughts in chaotic times. It's good to share those thoughts-- feeble and unoriginal as they may sometimes be-- with all of you. And it's good to know that there is a steadfast God who never changes ruling our volatile world.
