Maybe God's Trying to Tell You Something: America at a Crossroads

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Maybe God's Trying to Tell You Something: America at a Crossroads 

Rev. Dr. H. Beecher Hicks, Jr., Pastor Emeritus of Metropolitan Baptist Church, wrote in the HUFFPOST on December 6, 2017:

"In the motion picture adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel, The Color Purple, Shug Avery leaves Harpo’s Juke Joint, on her way to the church pastored by her estranged father. On a forced march through cotton fields, Shug is accompanied by an impromptu choir, singing on their way,”Maybe God’s trying to tell you something!“ written by the late Andraé Crouch. The unspoken implication is that in trying times, it is important to listen for the lesson and hear the voice of God within it. The task for those of us who are attracted to such thoughts is not to see God in our stories but to imagine our story in God’s, learning somehow to see our humanity in divinity."

"What we find in the fiction of our lives often comes to bear in the reality of our living. Such was the case with an individual in the Scriptures called Samuel (I Samuel 3). This fascinating story is about a young man, only twelve years of age, serving as a Temple assistant to Eli, the High Priest at Shiloh. The presumptive implication of this ancient narrative is that God calls into service those who appear to be least likely; that God summons into service those who do not have the credentials or the spiritual gravitas to assume the purposes and priorities of God. Yet, this is a time in the nation’s history when someone is needed not only to bring a nation to its feet but also to bring a nation to its senses."

The echos of this instructive 2017 statement, whether you believe in God or not, reverberate loud and clear in 2020. Even though we had time to better mitigate infection and death associated with COVID-19, a sense of national exceptionalism, political partisanship, and break downs in communication--institutional, inter-personal, and inter-cultural--catapulted the United States to the dubious status of the world leader in infections and deaths. What is clear, is that all hands must be on deck now to mitigate losses and thwart a second wave of infections and deaths, a second wave that, according to historical precedent, may be worse than the first.

We need not "someone," but most of us, to hear what God, the universe, or simply the signs of the time are "trying to tell us," and "bring this nation to its feet" and "its senses." This will require everyone, Black, White, LatinX, Asian, Pacific Islander, members of the LGBTQIA community, Atheists, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Latter Day Saints, Muslims, Sikhs, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, and Republicans, educators, and first responders, to leverage our most valuable assets, our differences, and the innovation they engender, on behalf of health, safety, and collective prosperity. As, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. predicted, "we must learn to live together as brother [and sisters] or parish together as fools."

"So," Hinks proclaims, "in the cause of justice, if you have that nagging feeling that you need to be doing more than you have ever done before," withstanding going to the beach, salon, and shopping mall, "if you are being shaken to your core so that you are required to speak out for those who are unable to speak for themselves, if something is disturbing your rest to the point that you will no longer simply call for a conversation but will instead give your energy toward implementing the lessons we have already learned, it is not because of this article, or anything you may have read. Maybe God’s trying to tell you something."

Dr. Matthew C. Whitaker is the Founder and CEO of the Diamond Strategies, LLC (DSC). He is also the AGC Collectors of Arizona 2020 Frederick Douglass Equity and Justice Award winner, and the 2016 Arizona Diversity Leadership Alliance (DLA) Diversity and Inclusion Leader Award winner. Whitaker is a decorated educator, author, community engagement specialist, motivational speaker, and founding director of the Office of Equity and Inclusion at Brophy College Preparatory, and the founder of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, winner of the 2014 DLA Inclusive Workplace Award, at Arizona State University. He can be followed on Twitter at @Dr_Whitaker and DSC can be followed on Twitter at @dstategiesllc. 

Diamond Strategies consultants are distinguished and globally experienced diversity and inclusion experts, offering services to schools, non-profits, corporations, faith-based organizations, municipalities, and community groups.

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