(3.5 min read) Mark and Steve were heavily into a Texas Hold’em poker game. Each player has two cards to themselves and three face up community cards are placed on the table. Bets are placed. A fourth community card is placed; Bets please; Then a final fifth community card; more bets please, then the reveal.

Mark was so very excited as he has two Aces in his hand, and he thought to himself, “Oh man, only if one more Ace gets placed on the table that would give me a very solid hand… Three Aces is just fantastic….”

Mark watched as the first community card was a Deuce, the second was a Jack, and the third was a Nine. Mark was still hoping for an Ace to come, so he placed a bet. The fourth community card was dealt.

AN ACE!!! OH MY GOODNESS……… Mark’s heart was pounding a mile a minute………. Although that was his internal reaction, he calmly kept a Poker face. So thrilled, Mark raised the bets once again.

The fifth community card was dealt…….. wouldn’t you know it…………. ANOTHER ACE………… Can you feel Mark’s elation at that moment!!?

Mark did not raise the bets, not to scare anyone, but Steve did. So Mark matched and raised some. No more bets were placed.

Mark jumped out of his seat to reveal that he had two Aces and with two Aces of the community cards, HE HAD FOUR ACES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The surprise, the shock, the astonishment and the disbelief came when Steve laughed loudly and said;

“What two Aces on the community cards Mark! These are two Deuces an Ace a Nine and a Jack………..!!! And I got two Deuces in my hand……………. So my four Deuces beat your three Aces and the pot is mine!!!”

You, the reader, may think, “It’s Cards for God’s sake!!! Either Mark or Steve are lying!!”

Sure enough Mark and Steve started pointing fingers and making accusations at each other. The crowd around them, friends of either Mark or Steve, started taking sides and a brawl ensued. Mind you, no one went to the table to look or point to the cards. It did not matter what the cards actually are…….

Asinine! Correct?

You, me and the other person are living our lives today in a brawl with the “other” side.

Isn’t it time for you, me and the other person to;

“Refuse to accept the lies!?”

“Look at the events instead of the reporting of the events!?”

“Take the time to FIND OUT instead of listen to “my” friends!?”

“To be courageous to look at the table and the cards instead of be consumed by the brawl!?”

As people chanted “Black Lives Matter”, a passer-by with disagreement and an obscene gesture yelled back “ALL Lives Matter”. As if saying “Black Lives Matter” is to say ‘no other lives matter!!’

If you do not already know that “Black Lives Matter” is to say ‘just like all other lives and not any less!!’ Then what is there to converse about!?

To teach anti-racism is simply to undo the racism that has been taught, and it has.

Let us now break the cycle. It starts with you, with me individually REFUSING TO ACCEPT THE LIES.

DIVISION BREEDS THINGS SUCH AS RACISM and much more.

UNITY IS THE ONLY WEAPON AGAINST DIVISION.

How to bring UNITY?

Look at the cards spend the time to look at the facts. A fact is a fact is a fact.

Opinions are great, but not about facts. No such thing as an alternate fact.

Resist joining the brawl, it leads to nothing but to DIVISION. When you hear, see or witness someone adding words for division, STAND UP to whoever is fueling it. Peacefully call it out, for silence fuels Division as well.

Find out what is a Deuce and what is an Ace. For Your Self.

My Lord and my Creator; You want me to be fair and You want me to be unbiased, You want me to be impartial and You want me to be undiscriminating. You want me to put in the work to find out the facts in order to be these adjectives; fair, unbiased, impartial, undiscriminating. May I indeed put in the work to figure out what is what, especially in the world today that bombards me with OPPOSITE INFORMATION yet each claiming the other to be ‘fake news’. I need you my God, I need you my Lord to help me dig through and find out the fact from the fiction. I love and I thank you my Creator. Amen.