There is a long hair
That doesn’t like the short hair
For being such a rich one
That will not help the poor one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on, scooby-dooby-dooby
We got to live together

Sly & The Family Stone: “Everyday People”

I am not sure how we got here. I am not sure how we got to a place where a pandemic lingers, guns kill, rights die, our world burns, and cruelty thrives. I know the journey has been a long one, riddled with the worst of humanity, but it just seems like hell is in overdrive right now — the brakes don’t work, the gears are stripped, the windshield is cracked, the radio blasts static, and the fan circulates air that smells like piss on hot August asphalt. It’s real bad. The easy course is to look for someone or something to blame. Someone or something on whom to focus anger. Someone or something who can assuage complicit guilt. Someone or something from whom to extract a pound of flesh. It feels good to cast stones from a glass house. It feels good to It feels good to look outward at the mess and want to burn it all down. Call it righteous anger. Call it sense memory. Call it unresolved pain.

I want to suggest another way. Another way involves looking inward and reflection. Another way involves story and imagination. Another way involves interdependence and compassion. Another way involves connection and community. Another way involves creativity and kindness. Another way involves building and healing. Another way involves honesty and faith. I have heard it said the only way forward is through. I want to extend that to say the only way through is together.

It is about grace. Extending grace to ourselves and others is not easy. Grace requires vulnerability. Vulnerability requires profound strength and love. Grace is a super powers in a world built on separation. Separation breeds the chaos of our days. Grace celebrates everyday people. In that way, we are all everyday people. Unique and beautiful and surviving together.