All lives matter. White lives matter. Black lives matter. Brown lives matter. Women lives matter. Men lives matter. Boys lives matter. The human race matters. Should matter equally but they don’t.
We do it to our bodies. When the heart hurts, our body yells, “All Body Parts Matter.” So we ignore the heart. When our chest hurts, our body yells, “The whole body matters!” So we may give a second thought, but we ignore the chest.
Our bible even tells us the foot can’t say I am no longer part of the body (1 Corinthians 12), and when it’s in excruciating pain we don’t cut off the foot to take it to the doctor. Doesn’t the whole body go? Isn’t it easier if one part goes and the rest could just go on existing?
That is our problem in America. We are ignoring the parts hurting the most.
We fundamentally know once we ignore the pain in one part of the body, other parts are soon to follow. A pain in the foot will eventually affect the knees, the lower back, and ultimately alters the way we stand, sit, or even sleep.
Of course, you can just tell the foot to stop hurting.
“Get in a shoe, foot!”
“Stop complaining, foot!”
“Can’t we all ignore the pain and move on!”
“All body parts matter!” “Tell the foot to start walking so we can walk the way we used to!”
But the foot now needs surgery. Although it had pain pills and physical therapy, it won’t undo the pain it has experienced since it’s teen years. Lots of basketball, football, and tennis way played on the foot. The rest of the body was fine, but the foot was flat, not with an arch. It’s been stepped on, took most of the beating during its sports years and glory days only to ache incessantly while the rest of the body tried to sleep. Well, that’s not true. The other parts were restless too because the foot was in pain most nights.
The foot is tired of being in pain. The whole body is tired of the foot being in pain. Should the rest of the body cut off the foot? Or should it get the help the foot needs?
Well, the body will not only hurt more without the foot, it will have to compensate for its loss in so many ways.
If only if our workplaces can see itself as a body. How about our families? Our careers? We’re a hand, a chest, a rib, and a foot every day. We can’t take it off. It’s daily. Not just when we’re stopped. We’re stepped on daily.
“Black lives matter” is just telling the rest of the body it’s in pain and needs repair. In fact, it’s always been in pain.
