Can we be a light of hope at the top of the hill

Bobby-Henry,-Srpins-THIS-ONCan we be a light of hope at the top of the hill

 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

 By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.

Sometimes there are things that wake us up in the middle of the night. One such a time occurred recently with me and it woke me, begging the question “could I be a light at the top of the hill?”

As I lay in my bed and pondered the thought “a light at the top of the hill” my mind scurried like a field mouse running from a predator.

I thought about a boat lost at sea, franticly looking for a lighthouse. I thought about enslaved people who would rather risk their lives in an unknown wilderness searching for the light to freedom rather than to be captured and die in chains as slaves.

Just as slavery is an incapacitating stratagem that will prematurely kill its captives, so does HIV/AIDS.

Unlike the most knowledgeable form of slavery, this captivity can be prevented; it doesn’t have to be a sentence to death ridiculed with a stigma used from ignorance.

As painful and debilitating as this disease is, it appears to be just like other forms of oppression in this country- its affects are most noted in people of color.

Black and Brown people seem to suffer the most, and it seems to come at the hands of a lack of finance.

I’ve understood this fight against HIV and AIDS for a long time. What overwhelms me the greatest is that when I see the people that need the services the most, they’re the ones left out all the time.

We fight continuously to be at the table when the funds are being disbursed. We fight for the equilateral distribution of such funds, but it doesn’t happen. When I say “we” I’m talking about Black people.

And you Black people at the table “talk” a really good game so much so that funds become unequally disbursed.

When I see organizations forming different events in different communities and one event gets more than the other, I beg to ask the question: are we really serious about fighting this disease together?

Even when we are at the table there seems to be some confusion over whose money is it. Animosity and infighting with different people from different organizations – why?

We need to have a meeting of the minds in our community to form our own agencies to fight this battle, and we need to stop fighting amongst each other.

It’s a sad commentary when peoples’ lives are at stake, and we’re at the table fighting for crumbs when there’s enough money to go around to make sure that the people who need are served in an appropriate manner with dignity.

We do not need two-membered marches or some secret meetings where funds are divided out unequally and people are constantly suffering.

Are we going to let our little lights shine in our community to save lives or are we going to be split up and allow our lights to flicker and be extinguished because of our unwillingness to share, leaving us left in the dark of despair?

“nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.” Matthew 5:15 (NASB)

Thank you Lord, in the name of Jesus for giving us light to share in a dark world knowing that our light shines brighter when it leads a path to You.

   THERE IS NO DARKNESS IN THE LOVE OF YOU.     

About Carma Henry 26582 Articles
Carma Lynn Henry Westside Gazette Newspaper 545 N.W. 7th Terrace, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33311 Office: (954) 525-1489 Fax: (954) 525-1861

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