When we don’t know the people, our care lacks depth or is nonexistent.
That’s how I feel hours after seeing the news, reading the posts. #Brexit won. And if I didn’t have any family in London, I wouldn’t have stayed up munching toast and watching the reactions unfold via my phone.
What matters to those I love, matters to me. And those I love are questioning their next steps because Britain’s exit from the EU isn’t simply, as some have said, a show of power. No. It’s a drastic change to a way of life. Not being part of the EU means not receiving an invaluable level of care in various areas. How can you not be up in arms/distressed/confused when you see a negative correlation between a “leave” vote and your well being?
And added to that is some of the fuel that drove the vote, the hate-filled rhetoric that helped enough people feel as if leaving is a way to get back to a better place. If we must “get back” to anything, can we focus on things like work, naps, neighborhood parties…? But not time periods, not eras. No. Let’s not let an ignorant nostalgia lead the way. And let’s also not let a fear-laced projection of better days to come, days that don’t include certain groups of people, guide our thinking…or our votes.
Sure, I don’t at all know all the information and I don’t wish to sound like an overnight political analyst. I want my family to experience peace. I want them to enjoy a quality life. And while tomorrow or July 24 may not feel as raw as today, to ask them to stay calm would be rude.
I can hear a preacher or two using this tomorrow, though, and emphasizing the calm factor as they summarize #Brexit and prophecy then get to “but there’s a little rock…that we call the Rock of Ages.” Yes, it’s absolutely wonderful to know that as unions crumble, there’s One who remains forever. But how do we also speak to now? How do we do so with grace? And what’s our bullet point for the person who doesn’t already believe and won’t stick around for a more in-depth study? How do we help others see that #Brexit won’t break them? Where’s the current help in addition to the future hope?
It’s a big deal. Maybe not to you. Maybe not now, anyway. But it’s a big deal for those in the thick of it. When you’re the immigrant, the “job taker”, the one perceived as problematic…it’s a big deal even when your accuser’s wrong. It’s your life, one your grandparents and their siblings helped to build. They sacrificed time with your parents so that existing could becoming thriving. They moved purposefully and it’s not at all easy to go back.
Many good things may come, yes. But this is today and today we sit with questions.
