John Lennon challenged us once to imagine a world with no possessions, no religion, no greed, no hunger — a world with nothing to kill or die for. This must become our shared purpose. We need to stop telling ourselves that this is a dream.
In our city of New Orleans, we are in desperate need of embracing this challenge and eliminating the plague of violence.
This violence is an indictment of our humanity. Our mere existence as humans makes this a problem for us all, not just those who are caught by the Charybdis of violence.
Jack Donnelly writes that human rights are inalienable and held equally by all. Our rights to happiness, joy and fulfillment are equal. Therefore, our duty to alleviate pain, sorrow, and degradation is just as equal.
A friend of mine recently said that we should “occupy love.” Let love be the priority of every day of your life. Let love be the thing that takes over you and occupies your soul.
I am asking you to embrace our humanity, our oneness, our brotherhood, and to begin healing our community with love. Tell someone you love them or show it through an act of kindness. Let us begin a movement that will transform not only us, but also our community.
Victor Hugo wrote, “Humanity is similarity. All men are of the same clay. No difference, here below at least, lies in predestination. The same darkness before, the same flesh during, the same ashes after