Adam Wright | Student Body Vice President
Last week, a man died in the streets. I read about it while surfing the internet. It happened to catch my attention between watching YouTube videos and studying for class. I ignored it. Not because I didn't think it was atrocious or that I didn't care about the death of a man I didn't know, it just didn't shock me. It wasn't new. I had heard about these shootings before, so why read about something I'd seen and heard about dozens of times?
We cannot afford to be numb to these events because the victims' families don't have the luxury of hiding behind a screen of anonymity. Their family member was still murdered, and their hearts will be forever raw from the pain their untimely deaths caused. A crime repeated is still a crime, and a tragedy is still a tragedy. Each new affected family feels it just as much as the one before. Just because the problem of violence and injustice is left unchecked, doesn't mean there isn't a problem.
The more numb we become to the tragedies that are happening in this country, the less equipped we will be to change them. Unconsciously, we start to tell ourselves that if this just keeps happening, what can we do about it? Better to be numb. Better to just accept that if we aren't affected, it isn't worth our time. What good is thinking about something we have no power to change if it only brings sadness?
This line of thought is one of the most grievous lies that we can tell ourselves. If we allow ourselves to open our hearts to the pain of the murders, discrimination and hate crimes that are being committed in our country every single day, we may start to understand why there is so much frustration and anger and why it feels like no one is listening.
I don't think there are very many people, especially Christian men and women, who don't actually care about these issues. But I do believe that too many of us are letting our hearts be numb to the pain, and that has the same effect. If we intentionally pursue the discomfort of being seated in someone else's pain, how can we not listen and ask questions? Run from a numb heart, pursue questions and conversation and desire to transform your understanding.
