All Souls Matter by David R. Kenney

All Souls Matter (#AllSoulsMatter)

By David R. Kenney

Hopefully all are familiar with the pattern …---… which are three letters forming what is called a “prosign” which we simply know as SOS.  It has been accepted as a worldwide distress signal at least since 1905 and can be communicated audibly and visually.  When I was in school, we were taught of the importance of the telegraph machine, and how Samuel F. B. Morse sent the first telegraphic message, “What hath God wrought?” between Baltimore and Washington D. C. in 1844.  I have been thrilled by this marvelous invention, even using it as one of my science fair projects with the help of a dear friend, Jerry Dawson, years ago.  I learned more about these things from two sets of encyclopedias my parents purchased for our education, The New Book of Knowledge and The American Peoples Encyclopedia.  What exactly did “S.O.S.” stand for?  It was not uncommon to find these letters on life preservers on ships.  While the letters themselves had no specific meaning at the time of the pattern’s inception, some designated it as an acronym with various meanings such as “Save Our Ship” or also common was “Save Our Souls”.  To my knowledge, it never meant “Save Our Skins” but that seems to be the direction we are being pushed in our country.

By Rhey T. Snodgrass & Victor F. Camp, 1922 - Image:Intcode.png and Image: International Morse Code.PNG, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3902977

We have several divisive movements exerting on our nation.  Some seek unity; however, one is left wondering about such efforts which reject “All Lives Matter”, “Blue Lives Matter” but advocate “Black Lives Matter” (sometimes denoted as #BlackLivesMatter).  The hashtag (#) sign is similar to the “prosign” in that it facilitates finding this keyword throughout the Internet.  Is “Black Lives Matter” a more unifying phrase than “All Lives Matters” which some scoff at?  A friend of mine tried to explain to me that “Black Lives Matters” includes “All Lives Matter” but particularly black lives too.  I politely asked my friend if he would have the same sentiment if there was a “White Lives Matter”, “Red Lives Matter”, etc.  Not exactly an inclusive unifying nomenclature, is it?

Do all lives matter?  Yes.  Should the color of their skin enhance or diminish how much a life matters?  It should not.  As a child, I remember singing these familiar lyrics by C. Herbert Woolston:  “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.  Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.  Jesus loves the little children of the world.”  Now this is what we need to get back to in our country—mutual love and respect! 

Perhaps a “slogan” that we ought to consider in our beloved nation is “All Souls Matter” (#AllSoulsMatter)!  There are forces in our land that are pitting one ethnicity against another, exploiting them for their own advantage.  We need to come to the realization that when we only think of each other in terms of our skin color, we are only thinking “skin deep”.  We need to think deeper, or higher, on a more spiritual plane.  There was a time when the world was divided between the Jews and everyone else; i.e., Gentiles; however, that was to bring the Messiah into the world, with demonstration, to redeem it from sin by His sacrifice, and with that action eliminate such distinctions; cf. Ephesians 2:11-13; Galatians 3:28.  The apostle Peter, as he explained there were no ethnic distinctions, stated “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.  But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34-35, NKJV.)   The Greek term translated “partiality” can also be translated “discrimination” or “favoritism”.   

Our nation was very much united on the premise of being “one nation”, but one nation “under God”, even though our nation did fall short at times.  Both of these concepts go hand-in-hand.  Progressive, secular, liberal forces are seeking to remove “under God” but still claim there is “something” to keep this “one nation” together.  What is that “something”?  I suspect the answer is them whether we like it or not!  We have seen the consequences of division whether it be between ethnicities, social classes, financial status, and just about every physical numerator known, but we need to focus on our common denominator—our souls.  All Souls Matter (#AllSoulsMatter), and we all need God to Save Our Souls!  This is what some call the golden text of the Bible—“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, NKJV.)  

All Souls Matter to God, and All Souls Matter (#AllSoulsMatter) should be our focus too.  #AllSoulsMatter!