Finding Our Voices Through Compassionate Involvement

At present, we are in the middle of severe snow storms in many parts of our nation. We Atlantans were grossly unprepared for this storm, but we have learned it’s easier to endure difficult times if we all pool our resources and work together, a beautiful example of what we could be year round.

Snow storms are usually of short duration in our town. The snow usually melts away by noon, but not this time! The snow kept falling, making roads impassable. Many people were trapped for hours in their cars with their cold, hungry, crying children.

This last snow storm was a sobering, frightening experience for all of us, especially our children. But why did this happen to us? We had to suffer because we didn’t heed warnings. We didn’t take the snow storm predictions seriously enough or early enough.

Now let’s survey traffic on the streets and highways. There were many auto accidents during the storm. Some cars and trucks skidded into each other. Some flipped over on their sides. Others were rear-ended from behind and seriously damaged.

We need to remind ourselves that auto accidents occur all year long. No stormy weather to blame, just poor human judgment.

In so many instances, we just don’t want to be involved. We won’t lend our voices to protect the innocent.

We are driving on a two-way street. A driver immediately behind us, impatient and in a hurry, wants to get around us and the car in front of us. He fails to allow enough time or space to accomplish this feat. Suddenly, we hear the loud crash of fenders. We have a serious accident on our hands.

The guilty driver does not stop to assess the damage he’s caused. He just glances back momentarily and speeds away from the scene. Most of the other motorists stop to see if they could assist the victims in any way. Then they just stood around and said, “Isn’t it a shame? A typical hit and run accident.”

“Wait a minute,” says one of the motorists. “Did anybody get the license plate number on the offending vehicle? We need to determine who the driver is and with the license plate number, we are on the way to apprehending the driver. Additionally, we are witnesses; we saw it all.”

On a larger, global scale, isn’t it true that we are reluctant to testify on behalf of those victimized by callous disregard of brothers and sisters, who need the voice of witnesses? Granted, we do not know the victims personally, but they are still our relatives, members of our human family.

Last year, the Somalian famine death toll came to 260,000 worldwide sisters and brothers. But this is the appalling fact, MORE THAN HALF OF THEM WERE CHILDREN.

Additionally, more than a million refugees cling to the borders of neighboring countries, with no food, impure water, and flimsy shelter. They need to hear our voices as we give generously through so many ecumenical aid agencies —the American Red Cross, Bread for the World, Salvation Army, and UNICEF to name a few.

We don’t need to wait for another snow storm; we are in an ethical and moral storm right now. Our voices need to be heard locally and nationally as budgets are being debated. Notice the federal food stamp program is being reduced by $8.1 billion this year, severely hurting hungry children and elderly citizens in Atlanta, and our much larger federal agricultural budget is being used as an excuse for these reductions.

So find your voice; see what you can do to help all of us get out of the storm together. Let us support our local Atlanta Food Bank, Hope House, Genesis Shelter and other non-profit agencies.

Reinhold Niebuhr said this about prayer, “Prayer is not about hearing voices. It is about acquiring a voice…” of your own, as a witness to assist the hit and run victims of our time.

Rev. Joseph L. Roberts, Jr. – pastor emeritus of Ebenezer Baptist Church

Successor to Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. & Jr. (1975-2005)
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