Over the Fence: 'Hate Is Baggage

Childhood Photography Passion Leads to Varied Work At Local Studio

By Brandon Dyer, Executive Director of Community Renewal of Pottawatomie County

In 2001, my wife and I were living in Moore, OK, and I was working as a youth pastor at a local church there.

We had been married about a year and were adjusting to married life and launching careers. I woke up that Tuesday morning and got ready for work like any other morning. After hopping in the car, I headed to work for our 9 a.m. staff meeting. On the way there, my mom called and asked if I had heard anything about an accident in New York involving a plane. I had not. She said that there were reports of someone flying a plane into the World Trade Center.

I got to the office and someone had a television on watching the news. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. One of the Twin Towers was on fire. We were stunned. A little while later as we watched in horror, another plane crashed into the second tower.

It is likely that you remember where you were too. It was stunning. It was as if my eyes were lying to me. Could this really be happening? Here? In the United States of America? My brain could not seem to catch up with what I was seeing. I suppose that is what it is like to witness a tragedy. Prior to Sept. 11, 2001, I could have given you the definition of surreal, but

Brandon Dyer

watching the events of that day unfold in real time, I knew what it meant in the core of my being. Our sense of safety was shaken, and we have not been the same since.

Two weeks later, I flew into LAX for a conference in Las Angeles. You may recall, LAX was the airport one of the planes was destined for prior to being hijacked. We landed and made our way through to baggage claim. Armed soldiers were standing every 20 yards. Everyone was silent and suspicious of each other. People were being pulled out of line to be searched. It felt as if I were in a third-world country.

Jan. 6, 2021 felt much like that day in 2001. I could not believe what I was seeing. How could this be America? Again, my brain could not catch up to what my eyes were seeing. But the stakes were higher this time, weren’t they? This was not Al-Qaeda. This was our own.

What has become of this experiment in democracy? The clashing of our differences has intensified to the point of frenzying the masses with rage. Are we beyond reason? I am deeply troubled and saddened by what I saw that day. However, this does not have to be the defining moment of this new year. Perhaps we have hit rock bottom as a nation. Perhaps we have come to our senses and are ready to stop making opinions more important that people.

Loving our neighbor as ourselves is sometimes hard. Loving our enemies is harder still. Both are values taught by a certain Jewish carpenter who had a knack for challenging us precisely where our brokenness has blinded us. Can we find a way to harbor love in our hearts for those we despise the most?

Danny Vinyard in the controversial 1998 movie, “American History X,” said, “Hate is baggage. Life is too short to be [mad] all the time. It’s just not worth it.”

He is right. Hate is baggage, and it is destroying us like a deadly virus. In this new year, may we together find the courage to inoculate our country with love.