Last year we cut down a very old tree that had been standing since early 1900. I loved that tree, however when very young it began to lean and left to its own devices was then leaning on my house. A recent storm was all I needed to know the tree was a danger – so I called a tree guy and what took decades to grow was gone in one day.
Life goes on, my yard looks very different now. I miss the old tree, yet I’ve gotten used to the view without it. On Sunday I was weeding the garden, getting ready to spread mulch when my weeder struck a root. I pulled and struggled to no avail. Finally I retrieved my hand saw and large pruner, cutting it away in little pieces. I then realized the roots of the tree are still there, and I am sure I will again be stopped by the remains of the tree.
The roots of the tree reminded me of the shootings over the past ten days. We cut off the head of Jim Crow, slavery, voting discrimination, yet deep in our history the roots remain. Political correctness, legislation, even laws, will not make those roots disappear. Only coming to terms with them, being authentic about the presence of systems that continue to marginalize groups of people in large and small ways every day, will eradicate them.
This we can do. You’ve heard me say this before: be awake.
The shootings did more than kill people, it left suffering and loss in the world that will be carried by friends and families. These events scar our spirits and soil our dreams. They leave people out of the circle of our love and care. The roots of hate and oppression hurt us all.
I call people of good will to examine how these roots live in us, where they show up in our attitudes, speaking or actions. I call us to be ready to root them out – ruthlessly.
Each time I pull another root from the deep earth, I stop the tree from growing back. Each time we as individuals, a community, the global world pull another root out from our deep past, we stop oppression from growing.
In its place we plant hope, mercy and compassion for all people – we plant life.