Sometimes it is necessary to throw out some things.
But almost never do we need to throw out everything.
The bathwater can go, but the baby should probably stay.
It would be hard to explain how the baby disappeared anyway.
So, in this process of sorting through what stays and what goes, let’s be patient.
It can feel like revolutionary change is the way to go.
Maybe.
Or maybe not.
Maybe there is a way to stand in the gap.
Maybe there is a way to hold people together instead of pulling them apart.
Maybe “us” and “them” are bad categories.
Maybe we don’t need more clarity between “in” and “out”.
Maybe we need to have conversations across barriers and lines and distinctions.
I will admit that this is not easy.
I have not done this well at times.
I have pointed out distinctions.
I have redefined “in” and “out”.
But I’m trying to throw out the bathwater and keep the baby.
It’s not a job for the faint of heart.
It requires moving toward the pain when we want to move away from it.
It requires hard conversations. It requires compassion and thick skin.
It requires the ability to live in the gray when black and white feels so much more comfortable.
I’m trying to find a way where I’m not drawing more lines and creating more division.
I’m not saying I’ve done this well, but that is the goal.
The baby is worth keeping.
But the bathwater needs to go.