#alllivesmatter

Last week I had a conversation with a New York City police officer as we waited for a light to change at 44th and 5th. Peaceful protests had once again closed the Brooklyn Bridge and it was impacting traffic into Midtown. The officer was friendly and supportive of the right to protest but quietly expressed his frustration at some of the 'crap' (his phrasing was a little more colorful) he and his colleagues were experiencing. He said, "We're just trying to do our job." Four days later, two of his fellow officers would be slain simply for doing their job.

There is plenty of conjecture in the media, the blogosphere and on the right and the left, on what led to these killings. As a nation, we are now all too familiar with the events that led up to the killings in New York. I am not going to jump into that pool of conjecture and connect the dots, although I remain grateful that I live in a nation where I could jump in with my opinions, were I so inclined.

Rather, I was so struck by the quote from Dr. Paul Farmer. Dr. Farmer is a founder of Partners in Health and has done incredible things to bring health care to people who, by the world's standards, matter less. He has seen time and again how each life matters.

No one's life matters less. We all matter. Each and every one of us matters. Here we are two days away from celebrating Christ's birth and we've forgotten what He taught - He truly taught that each of us matters.

I can't pretend to know what great poverty is. I can't pretend to know what it is to live a life different than the one I have had. But this much I know - each of us matters. We've got to start acting like it or peace will be elusive.

This is the season of peace. May we begin to find it by treating one another like each of us matters.