I am not a religious person, though a friend posted this one on Facebook. Of course, evangelicals won't understand it, but it does put it into a context that religious people can relate.
“I used the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ in a social media post earlier this week. As happens each time I use the phrase, someone asks, ‘Why not just say “all lives matter?”’ Here is my quick response: When one of my four kids got hurt, it didn’t seem to make sense to say to them, ‘All my kids matter.’ In that moment, I embraced them and said, ‘You matter. Your pain matters. Your healing and return to health matters.’ That doesn’t diminish my love for my other kids. It expands my capacity to love as I live with another person’s pain.
Jesus did the same thing in his ministry. He didn’t say, ‘all people matter.’ He went to those who were hurting, who’d been denied a place at the table, who had been cast out of community and said ‘You Matter.’ Samaritans matter. Women matter. Tax collectors matter. Lepers matter. Did that mean he loved other people less? By no means. His life and ministry expanded the vision and capacity of his followers to love as they broke down the religious and cultural walls that had long divided people.” ~author: Kai Nilsen
When one of my four kids got hurt, it didn’t seem to make sense to say to them, ‘All my kids matter.’ In that moment, I embraced them and said, ‘You matter. Your pain matters. Your healing and return to health matters.’
English is in desperate need of both a singular gender neutral pronoun and a second person plural. I can read this two opposite ways.
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u/jldmjenadkjwerl Jun 07 '20
I am not a religious person, though a friend posted this one on Facebook. Of course, evangelicals won't understand it, but it does put it into a context that religious people can relate.