For My Earth Brothers And Sisters

In Christianity it is stated, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

In Judaism it is stated, “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbors. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary.”

In Sikhism it is stated, “I am a stranger to no one; and no one is a stranger to me. Indeed, I am a friend to all.”

In Hinduism it is stated, “This is the sum of duty: do not do to others what would cause pain to you.”

The ability to love is what makes us human; as human beings of this earth we are called to love and stand with our brothers and sisters. We are called to treat each other as equal, just as it is written within these four unique and beautiful faith journeys, as well as many other faith journeys. This does not mean we are called to agree with everyone, or even like everyone. However, it means that we are called to show them respect and treat with the human dignity they deserve. We are called to stand with them in solidarity, standing with them as equals. This is why I decided to become a YAV, to stand along side and live among the community I am serving.

One of the most, if not the most, impactful way I stood in solidarity with my Earth siblings was participating in the Woman’s March. This march was not just in LA or even in major cities; it was also in several minor cities and several countries.  It wasn't just a march for woman, or for people who were frustrated with the election results (although I fall into both categories) it truly was for everyone. While I was there I saw men and woman, young and old, citizen and noncitizen of America, religious and political groups. With all diversity represented at the march, and with an estimate of 750,000 participates, it is a miracle that no fights broke out. I even heard that within several of the major cities no fights broke out (but I can’t speak for all.) Ok, at the march I experienced subjects addresses such as woman’s rights, anti trump, birth control, abortion, immigration, etc. and NO fights broke out! How? I can think of several groups of people that would get furious at the mention of those subjects. So either no republicans came to the march (which is possible since it’s California) or there was a greater force at work. I believe that the greater force at work is God because I don’t think it is coincidental, that with all the sensitive topics addresses at the march, that there were no fights during the LA march.

Readers, if you choose to believe that God was at work during the march then you have to ask why? Why would God bother to have peace during this movement by not having any fights break out? After all, these subjects are very political in nature, and God is a God of political neutrality. The Lord does not take sides, so why would God take sides in the woman’s march. Obviously, I am not God, so I cannot answer that question. Nobody is God (despite what some people think) so may never know the reason God intervened to have a peaceful march. But let me shed some light on that question. Maybe God intervened not because the woman’s march was a political movement, but because the march was a movement of solidarity.

This is just my opinion, so feel free to respectfully disagree, but I believe in a God that unites us and one that builds bridges of understanding between us. To me, God is a God of solidarity. If God is one of solidarity, how can the Lord’s presence not be felt during a march of solidarity? The march isn’t about taking a political stance, but rather standing in solidarity. I stood together with people advocating for human rights for woman, people of color, immigrants, Muslims, etc. While others call the march a protest, I hate using that word to describe the march because I was not protesting anything. I was standing side by side by the people who deserve to have their voice heard. If Jesus walked this Earth today, I am very confident that he would also stand in solidarity, allowing for the voiceless to have their voice heard.

Although, I was so nervous about this march being seen as a protest that I almost didn't go to it. I put down that I was interesting in going to the march on Facebook about a week and a half prior to the event. Because I did this, I was able to see what people were posting about the event, a lot of that mainly being posters people were making. The posters were mainly stuff about advocating for woman’s rights and anti trump, which I am in full support of, however some of the posters were very cynical and sarcastic in nature. I felt like the posters were starting to create a division between “us” and “them.” Unfortunately it is human nature to create an “us” versus “them” mentality. The idea that “your way is not in support with my way, therefor you are wrong.” This mentality can come across as real hateful to the “them” who do not agree with the “us.” I felt extremely uncomfortable when I saw these posters on the Facebook page because I was part of the “us” because I agreed with the point the posters were making, but I did not want to be hateful towards the “them” who did not agree with the woman’s march. I did not originally want to go to the march because my first impression of it was that it was an “us” movement to put down the “them.”

That should never be the point of a march, to put people of a certain group down (no matter how tempting). The point of this march is not to protest anything, but to walk in solidarity with people. I felt like I was the only one that understood that based on the Facebook comments. That is the exact reason why I marched. If not to remind people, then to remind myself what this march is about. That is why I was very reflective in the wording of my sign,“ I walk for myself and in solidarity with others but not in protest in others.” I wanted my sign to convey that this march is about love not hate.

I am thankful that I went to the march; I was filled with jubilation and positive energy the whole time. Yes the crowd was difficult to navigate at times but it was never overwhelming because I was surrounded by people who did not judge me. I was in a lake of strangers who accepted my ideas and encouraged me. Politics, religion, and ideology aside, there is something to be said for being surrounded by a group of strangers who show respect just for being human. I truly believe that this wasn't just human decency, but God was at work during the march. Even riding the Metro downtown, I could feel God at work. In fact, the Metro was my favorite part of the day.

Our original group was about six or seven people, but we divided up because some people decided to reload their tap cards. However, the metro station consisted of thousands of people who were also in line to reload their tap card. It looked like a miniature version of what I imagine time square to look like. So half of us decided to jump the gate anyway, thousands of people were jumping the gate and there was ABSOLUTELY no way security was checking tap cards that day (if they did, I felt sorry for whoever had to check the tap cards.) Even though our group got through pretty fast because we jumped it, we still had to wait over an hour just to get on a train.

Not because there were no trains, but it was nearly impossible to get on a train that was going downtown because of how crowded the trains were. Three trains went by, all pact with people holding signs and wearing pink hats. I felt extremely sorry for those who had to go downtown via Metro for work. Eventually after waiting for three trains to pass, we Metro it to North Hollywood (the exact opposite of where we were headed) and waited on that train that eventually turned into the train that headed in Union Station. While squished together we had the chance to talk to some people who work and live in Los Angeles. During this time I told them that I felt like that a big part of the march was the train ride over there. It truly was because we were put in a position where we were forced to meet our neighbors. Ok, we didn't have to talk to them, but the train was so hot and crowded that it was easiest to talk to other people as to not get overwhelmed. One person actually did get overwhelmed and had a panic attack. Five years ago I probably would have very well had a panic attack in that situation. Regardless of the uncomfortable circumstances, the train was a train of love and everybody riding the Metro started to sing “Love Train.” Luckily we had a stereo that we used to pass the time.

You know the saying, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” well that is exactly what the dynamic of the train ride was like. The enemy in this case being an overcrowded, overheated, train that would jerk when it came to stops. One of the passengers even joked that the train conductor voted for Trump and that’s why he was making the train jerk.  Even though we didn't make friends from the unwanted train situation, we were able to bond over the experience. In fact the whole day was a bonding experience among men and woman. I believe the bonding experience is what I enjoyed the most about the march. To me, the march was not about democrat vs. republic. White vs. black. Citizen vs. immigrant. It was about bonding. It was about, even though you might never see this person again, you can at least form a connection with them for the day. The most impactful part of the day for me was not about ideologies but was about coming together as empathetic humans of this Earth. Being human does not mean having to find the answers, but about looking for those answers along side our brothers and sisters.