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Them.

You know, the ones who are not us.

The ones who stand against everything that is important.

The ones who stand for everything that is wrong with our world.

The ones whose sole aim is to bring down our way of life.

It is our job, no, our duty, to bring them down first, before all that we love is destroyed.

We must watch out for them.

They are everywhere.

They are in our schools, in our workplaces, in our neighborhoods,

in our hospitals.

I met one of them.

I met one of them in a hospital waiting room, waiting for his young daughter to come out of surgery.

He was one of them, no doubt about it.

My defenses went up and I prepared to go on the attack.

He was one of them.

And he was hurting.

Just like us.

He was grieving.

Just like us.

He was worried about one he loved.

Just like us.

I heard a whisper saying, He, too, is My beloved.

And suddenly the line between us and them seemed just a bit blurry.

Art credit: The Three Crosses by Rembrandt