No one deserves to be forgotten

No one deserves to fade away

No one should come and go

And have no one know he was ever even here

No one deserves to disappear . . .

Those lyrics are from the song “Disappear,” in the stage play Dear Evan Hansen. Although the underlying story is focused on teenage life, we all can relate to feeling as if we are invisible.

It happens to housewives whose life seems to shrink down into laundry, and cooking and cleaning. It happens to factory workers who have a lifetime of experience and yet find themselves being told by young guys in suits how to do the job. It happens to elderly men and women who are alone every day, watching TV from morning until night just to fill the house with sound.

Feeling invisible makes for constant worry. What if something happens to me? Who would find me? Who would take care of me?

The threat of becoming invisible seems to be haunting a lot of white people. One reason? Black people, handicapped people, LGBTQIA folks, Hispanics and Native Americans are becoming more and more visible in our society. The more we notice these folks in the news and in places around our own towns, the more we see stories of white people being cruel to non-whites: reporting them to the police, shouting at them, bullying them.

It’s as if some white people want to make “those others” invisible again, as if they are a threat to the visibility of whites. “Your increased visibility must mean that I am becoming invisible. I don’t want to disappear!” their actions say. “I need to be found!” The fear inside is expressed as anger and hostility towards the other.

The truth is, the old ways of making people invisible by pushing them off to the margins – living in the poorest districts, robbed of their political voice by gerrymandering the vote, underfunding their education, disregarding their rights and their opportunities – is finally beginning to be recognized as the result of crooked schemes and criminal behavior. The new ways of bringing people in from the margins so that they can be seen and their voices can be heard is a process of healing old wounds and becoming better human beings.

In a society that allows everyone to be visible, no one will disappear. Your voice will be as clear and strong as everyone else’s. Your opinions and your values will be important pieces in the picture of our country. You will be found.

These lyrics are from the song, You Will Be Found, from the stage play, Dear Evan Hansen

Have you ever felt like nobody was there?
Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere?
Have you ever felt like you could disappear?
Like you could fall, and no one would hear?. . . .

. . . .Even when the dark comes crashing through
When you need a friend to carry you
And when you’re broken on the ground
You will be found