He loomed over me and screamed in my face. Spittle clung to the corners of his raging mouth. I stepped backward, afraid that any response would incite further rage.
I was in Costco with my four young children and years later, I'm still uncertain why the man was so angry.
Years later, I recall an EVEN GREATER HURT than the screaming man .....and that is the stinging silence of the people around me.
The day that man spittle-screamed in my face, my four young children hid behind me while I glanced around for help or support or anything.
A woman quickly glanced away and feigned absorbed interest in the socks she was holding.
Two men walked speedily in a wide berth around me, my kids and the screamer.
A Costco worker folded shirts with her head tucked down, working extra hard to not look our way.
The building was packed with men and women who were busily shopping for their bulk-sized groceries but not one - NOT ONE - stepped forward to intervene, or stop the abusive yelling, or ask me if I was okay afterward.
"Not my business", I can imagine them saying to one another, or
"Not my place, or
I'm not good at confrontation, or
I just don't want to pick sides, or
It's just so awkward!"
My thoughts on this sort of silence?
Self-justified cowardice.
We live in a world where good and evil are always at war and we must - WE MUST - always stand up for, support, and intervene when wrong or injustice or sin is happening.
It is always our business and always the place and always the time.
If we stay silent, our silence picks a side because our silence CONDONES the wrong/sin/injustice, or at the very least lets the wrong/sin/ justice slide.
And
Our silence HOLDS BACK support, love, care, and battle for the victims of wrong/sin/injustice.
Imagine if Jesus said, "I just don't want to be awkward. I'm really not into confrontation..."
Imagine if Martin Luther King Jr said, "It's not really the right time to speak up...."
My friends, Speak Up against injustice,
because when you don't
your Silence stings!
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