I have been disturbed by the reports I’ve heard recently of violence and hate against Asian people, on account of the virus. As a person who is half-Chinese myself, it feels close to home! I also know that there are other groups who experience this regularly, and I am just now getting a taste of how they might be feeling.

In a strictly clinical way, I get it. Stress is high right now. People are dying. It’s easy to want something to blame. The virus was first detected in China. It’s not that much of a leap to see how people would misplace their anger and lash out at anything that reminds them of this virus that seems to be defining our lives right now.

But, oh, how it feels! Friends, how can we be doing this? In a time when we have seen so many amazing examples of communities coming together, how are there still strands of hate running through it all? It’s easy to think that we are “past” this as a society – of course are intelligent enough to know that the person of Asian descent on the trail next to us is not to blame for the virus, right? Then why are these things still happening?

So I’m writing today with one message: Love one another. On this Easter weekend, that message seems especially poignant. Please, please, spread love in your community, not hate. The world needs it right now!