The thing is,

we’ve got to feel the pain to heal it and then

we’ve got to heal.

Pain demands we pick a side,

but we don’t have to.

We can choose to side with love

and love sees fully.

Love is inclusive of both the victim and the perpetrator.

In our black and white,

right or wrong,

polarized society,

we demand allegiances

and then we castigate or accept others

based on their loyalty to their ideals

instead of loving them

for their humanity.

We all have the potential within us

to do depraved things

(“Wretched man that I am”)

It doesn’t mean our depraved actions define us.

It means we need Love to deliver us from evil,

and sometimes that evil lurks within.

When Love transforms our heart,

our actions align with the truth of our being

and we remember that which we already are:

the very good of God’s creation,

created in the image

and likeness of Love.