I’m either going to be way out of my league this morning, or spot on.  It’s been a rough few weeks, months, and perhaps, year or two in our nation.  The simmering pot on the stove has been left unattended to for (maybe) a myriad of reasons, and now the pot is spewing over making a huge mess.  I don’t have a dog in this fight…but then again, maybe I should.  I went to a public high school in Fayetteville, North Carolina that was 65% African American.  My father was a career Army officer who served in the military police corps.  My two closest peers at work are African American and my boss likewise is black.  I manage a team of mostly non-Christian individuals from India who profess to be Hindu.

Translated, that means I have an awareness to those who are concerned with black lives mattering.  I have an awareness to those who say “blue lives matters”.  And I have a sensitivity to other religions and other cultures.  So this usually makes me really confused most days and I am torn up inside with feelings of anger and compassion all at the same time.

How did we get to this place in the most blessed nation in the world?  Perhaps it’s the social media world that we live in that makes every tragedy an immediate sensational story.  Or maybe polarization of democrats and republicans, independents and others, where we’ve formed camps of like-minded individuals who use group think to justify ugly attacks against one another.  Just last night, I watched two candidates for vice-president who side-tracked many of the important issues, choosing instead to sling mud at each others respective running mates.  I remain sick to my stomach.  How can anyone escape the bombardment that hits us on a daily basis?

Here’s a thought.  Does our heavenly Father draw battle lines between black lives, blue lives, red, yellow, or green lives?  And does our heavenly Father highlight the strengths of one group by similarly knocking down the perceived weaknesses of others?

Think about this the next time you gaze down at your hairbrush.  I bet that brush has many strands of hair tangled across its bristles. How long would it take you to pull those strands out, maybe lay them on the sink and attempt the arduous task of counting those same strands?  Personally, between my fading eyesight, and even faster fading patience, I know I would not be up to that task.  And as much as I love my wife and family, I have never made any effort to count the hairs on their heads.  The book of Matthew says, in chapter 10, the following:

“But the very hairs of your head are numbered….Matthew 10:30”

Matthew does not point out that our heavenly Father knows the hairs on certain groups, certain individuals, or even certain cultures.  No.  His counting of hairs is for all humanity.  Why?  Because all the hairs on your head matter.  And all the hairs on my head matter.  God doesn’t say He knows how many hairs are in the world.  He knows the counts by each individual.  Know yours and knows mine, too.

Simply said, your life matters!

It’s time to start counting hairs on our neighbors, on loved ones, and on others in this world.

It’s really not that difficult…..