In the classic movie The Green Mile, the lead character, John Coffey is a giant but gentle man wrongly convicted of a horrible crime, who is awaiting his execution on death row. As the movie progresses we learn that he has mystical powers to cure other people’s ills, but he also feels the pain of others. At one point he gives a short speech where he says, “I’m tired, boss. Tired of bein’ on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we’s coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I’m tired of people being ugly to each other. I’m tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There’s too much of it. It’s like pieces of glass in my head all the time.”

Those lines have stuck with me for over 20 years and sadly ring true today.  Recently I saw something ugly in the news and those epic lines jumped into my memory, because I am tired too. So, I think if John Coffey were with us today, his speech would sound something like this.

I’m tired boss. Tired of all of the hate that surrounds us in the news and social media every day. If we have been commanded to “Love thy neighbour as thyself”, it goes without saying that it shouldn’t matter if your neighbor is a different race, religion, or political party, love is love.

I’m tired boss. Tired of all of the lies and misinformation that rain down upon us like an endless shower. I miss the days when Walter Kronkite said “And that’s the way it is”, and it was.

I’m tired boss. Tired of all of the killings by assault rifles. Tired of innocent children being massacred by the dozens. Tired of parents losing their children, tired of children losing their parents, tired of senseless death. Tired of it all. The fascination with assault rifles is sickening. It’s un-Christian-like.

I’m tired boss. Tied of people struggling to feed their children when there are billionaires with billion dollar yachts and private jets and private islands, while kids are wanting for food and shelter. It’s immoral, its sad, it doesn’t need to be this way.

I’m tired boss.  Tired of science deniers and conspiracy theories where their beliefs outweigh facts and knowledge.  I am tired of people who deny the holocaust and think JFK is alive. It happened and he isn’t. I remember when science was cool and conspiracy theories were not, let’s make America trust science and truth again.

I’m tired boss. Tired of books being banned when books open the door to knowledge, thinking, imagination and other perspectives. Tired of others forcing their views on you as the only views that matter. Tired of intellectual being a 4-letter word.

I’m tired boss. Tired of wars for oil, or land or religion or whatever. Tired of all wars. Tired of mass destruction and death and suffering caused by war. Tired of money going to destroy things instead of feeding and housing the poor and educating our youth.

I’m tired boss. Tired of the hatred towards people on the LGBTQ spectrum. We are all God’s creatures and all deserving of love and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Tired of people who hate those that differ from them.

I’m tired boss. Tired of those that want to cover up our true history. We are a nation of a mixed heritage but we should learn from the past and strive to be that “shining beacon on the hill”, and not cover up our checkered past. But learn from it, and not repeat our past mistakes.

I’m tired boss. Tied of the lack of civility in our conversations and social media postings. It’s not helpful, it’s not productive, it only divides us and erodes the foundation of a civil society.

But most of all, like John Coffey, I’m tired of people being ugly to each other. I’m tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world every day. There’s too much of it. It’s like pieces of glass in my head all the time. So let’s be kind to each other, let’s be civil, let’s be caring, and let’s show empathy to others. And let’s love our neighbors and one another, it’s all we have.