“I Can’t Take it Anymore:
The school shootings.
The political divide.
The racial tension.
The border.
The sexual abuse.
The hurt.
The pain.
The anger.
The misplaced fear.
The wars overseas.
The wars at home.
The bullying on the playground.
The bullying from behind the safety of the computer screen.
I can’t take it anymore.
And I don’t have all of the answers.
I don’t have all of the antibiotics.
I don’t have all of the keys.
I don’t have all of the cures and the erasers and the spells to make it all magically disappear into a puff of thin air and hopes and dreams.
But I do have this. I do have this one thing to offer.
I do know this:
It starts with you and with me and with the conversations we have with our kids at bedtime.
I do know it starts with us being kind to our neighbors.
I do know it starts with us doing a better job of keeping our mouths shut and our ears open.
I do know it starts with us taking a stand for what we believe in, and making the time to sit down with our families at the kitchen table.
I do know it starts with us calling a friend who is hurting, and calling out injustice the second we see it happening.
I do know it starts with us being soft with people’s hearts, and hard on the issues that set our souls on fire.
I do know it starts with us carefully building up our knowledge on the matters at hand, and recklessly tearing down the walls that separate us as a culture.
I do know it starts with phone calls and texts and letters to the proper people.
I do know it starts with combining the facts in your head and the fuel in your heart to start a fire that can change laws that desperately need to be changed.
I do know it starts with us stretching outside of our comfort zones and reaching out to the man on the corner.
I do know it starts with us feeding the hungry.
I do know it starts with us giving to the poor.
I do know it starts with us making room at the table for the weary and the restless and the broken-hearted.
I do know it starts with us leading in love, because it always, always, always starts with love.”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by Amy Weatherly. The article originally appeared on Facebook. Be sure to subscribe to our free email newsletter for our best love stories.
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