Yesterday was the funeral for George Floyd, and it led me to think of part of the Soldier’s Creed I learned many years ago at Ft. Benning, Georgia: “I will never leave a fallen comrade.” We must purpose together as a nation not to leave behind our own citizens — people like George Floyd.
In January 1991, I reported for U.S. Army Basic & Advanced Infantry Training at Ft. Benning, Georgia. While there, I learned the Soldier’s Creed, which included a variation of a promise that stemmed from Roman times: Nemo resideo (which is Latin for “No one left behind.”
While I remain deeply patriotic, I must confront the reality that we, as a nation, have left too many people — people like George Floyd — behind. And I must painfully confront the fact that, as a white man living in America, I’ve grown complacent in what many on the left would call “privilege.”
It is not my intention to endorse all the “identity politics” going on today. I believe people are, first and foremost, individuals.
Nor do I agree with all the baggage and implications often associated with some of the “social justice” theories out there. But…
My mind does go to the Bible, which (in addition to commanding me to “love my neighbor”), includes admonitions like this:
“Thus says the Lord of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.”
Zechariah 7:9-10
Can we deny the reality that our nation, over the years and into the present, has often failed to “render true judgments” and to “show kindness and mercy to one another”? Can we say that we have never allowed the oppression of the “widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor”?
And more to the point, can we — as Christians — say that the Christian church has done its part?
The murder of George Floyd has turned this country upside down, and understandably so. It has also given us an opportunity to look in the mirror and ask how we can do better.
For my part, it’s my hope that I will do better.
God bless you.
