Last night was a somewhat normal night in the Bittler household. Dinner, Netflix, doing dishes, giving our boy a bath, then to bed. We don't have cable and as our night played out I just didn't get on social media.
Fast forward to about 5:30am. I get up to change our boy's diaper, then hand him off to my wife to be fed. I climb back into bed, expecting to go back to sleep, but first I hop on Twitter. It doesn't take long to figure out that I got locked into my own little world and I forgot about Ferguson.
Ferguson. I type the word and stare at the screen for a little while. No matter what side you're on (and I think there are more than two) there's no denying that Ferguson shows us that all is not well. Something is terribly wrong with how we view and live in the world. There's crime, yes. But there is also racism (in many forms), stereotyping, indifference, pride, and, in general, injustice. And no one group is to blame.
I carry some of the blame, though. You ask how? I forgot about Ferguson. As I said before, I was locked into my own world last night and forgot about what was going on. Maybe that's one of the greatest injustices: we can catch a clip on the news, spout off a rant or two on Twitter, and then flip the switch and move on. Forget all about it. Go back to enjoying my wife and boy.
My boy. What will he learn from situations like this? Sure, we're a long way from that, but I have to wonder. I'm privileged in that it is unlikely he will grow up fearing the police. But who will he grow up fearing? Our neighbors? His classmates? His teachers? Who will he build stereotypes against? I have to wonder.
I'm not sure how to feel about Ferguson. For many reasons, I'm far removed from that place. However, I think one of the greatest injustices I could do is to stick my head in the sand and act indifferent. For my part, I want to teach our boy to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God to the very best of his ability. I want injustice, in any form, to matter to him.
May Christ return soon to right all these wrongs.
