A Letter to The Lost Ones

Dear friend,

Hello.

How are you doing ? How are you feeling? That’s the main concern. It’s hard to tell these days with all the distractions. That means we have to start paying closer attention. Many people are passing away and it’s not just because of COVID. Suicides continue and mass shootings trend like JLo and her personal life . I hope we don’t lose sight of what’s important, what’s irreplaceable—you.

I’m certain, to some degree , we’ve agreed/disagreed on the 3 Ps: politics, pop culture, and prayer life.  We didn’t vote the same, we have different taste in music and we either pray or don’t. Whether it’s to the sun or The Son, we both await to live another day. That can be difficult to do alone, cold and uninspired. We need to fix that.

You should know by now that I am a Christian. If you don’t believe in God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, I understand. Your perception of my belief might be twisted due to what you’ve seen in the media, read in history books, or experienced face-to-face. This country was built on its religion, but not its relationship. Trust me , I get it. You do you. Just because I say it’s Non Of My Business doesn’t mean I’m N.O.M.B. (numb) to your perspective.

Thankfully, the true essence of Christianity (rooted in God’s word) insists that I do two things: Love God with all my heart and to love thy neighbor. That’s you ! It doesn’t say love thy neighbor if they like the Lakers or love thy neighbor if they only use salt, not sugar, on their grits. It simply says love.

That’s hard to do, isn’t it? It’s difficult to practice when we focus on the differences more than the similarities. Many of us lost loved ones last year. Many of us got laid off from work. Many of us contracted the virus and was out of commission for two weeks. Many of us are looking for hope, reaching for opportunities, and waiting for someone to care, to sympathize and empathize. We’re waiting for someone to love back...and not turn theirs the moment things get rocky, messy.

This is a letter to the lost ones; the ones we fought against to uphold our opinion. This is for the ones we cursed out with our thumbs and smite with our literary middle fingers. This is for the unfortunate casualties from keyboard wars and comment battles. This letter is an apology for fighting to save our egos and not the connection , the one thing that levels our existence. 

Here’s an idea. 

Let’s start over. 

Imagine this being a Super Mario game and we have 5 lives left. Let’s save Princess Peach. Let’s gather the coins and snag the flags. I’m sorry for being a jerk. I’m sorry for keeping record of wrong doings. I’m sorry for not being patient , for not surrendering to all that is holy and righteous. I’m sorry for disregarding you as a person, as a purpose in time. You deserve better. We...deserve the best. At the end of our lives stand the best versions of who we are...and if you’re reading this, we’re not there yet. Let’s walk along side each other until we arrive.

Much love,

Calvin