When I see violence, it’s as if my own heart stops beating.
The story in Minneapolis, took my breath away.
ICE murdered Renee Nicole Good on a cold Minneapolis street yesterday. She was filming an ICE action and warning residents of their presence in her own neighborhood. She was protesting immoral actions by the United States government.
The Minnesota Star-Tribune reported: “Speakers at an evening vigil disclosed few details of Good’s life but were resolute in honoring her as a good neighbor who was protecting others. ‘She was peaceful, she did the right thing,’ said Jaylani Hussein, the executive director of CAIR-MN. ‘She died because she loved her neighbors.’”
In today's hyper partisan climate, Good’s death became an instant Rorschach test.
What I couldn’t imagine, and can’t quite grasp, is how this fomented even more division.
How do we so easily disremember (or disregard?) that we are on this journey together? "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." MLK, Jr. (Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, April 16, 1963).
So. Let us pause.
Let us have a day for prayer, and a day for remembrance.
And let us not take the bait, and react, responding with hate or bitterness.
Let us respond with the best versions of ourselves.
This I do know. I cannot turn a blind eye. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter," is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s indispensable reminder.
I can, however, be “on the watch”.
I can stand up for justice.
I can stand up for decency, non-violence and compassion.
I can say “No” to dehumanization, “No” to a culture of violence and division.
I want to keep my heart from callousness, and I want to renew my vow to being and creating a place (and places) of peace and justice and healing and sanctuary.
And taking to heart the words of my hero, the late John Lewis. “Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”
I appreciated Daniel Hunter’s observation today, “Demanding people ‘remain calm’ after ICE's killing in Minneapolis misses the point—task is not to extinguish anger, but to channel it in defense of life.”
My hurting heart needed words of reassurance and inspiration. And I was grateful to read this.
“People are at their breaking point, and of course, why wouldn’t they be? Aren’t we all exhausted? Haven’t we all had enough? So many things have brought us here to this moment, where for so many our country is unrecognizable. People are on edge. They are afraid. Life changes in a second. Renee Nicole Good’s family and friends know this truth. There is no going back, only forward.
My fellow citizens: keep your eyes on the truth. Don’t get confused by conflicting stories designed to confuse you. Keep your mind on the facts. Keep trying to rise above.
Keep trying to move humanity out of the darkness and into the light. It’s a new year. We all have to go forward, one step at a time, remembering those we have lost and loved, determined to make life better for those left behind. It’s our job not to give up or in, no matter the foe, be it our own government, be it cancer, be it gun violence, be it a death of someone you love.
Heartbreak abounds, so does courage. Let’s keep rising. It is our only choice.”
Thank you, Maria Shriver
Yes. Heartbreak abounds, so does courage. Let’s keep rising. It is our only choice.
Quote to take with us…
“God has something to say through all of time, in every time, and certainly in this time. People need God’s healing right now. I implore all of us to be the healers and helpers we seek to be, not through avoidance or distraction, but through sharing what our faith has to say about the devastating state of affairs we face today.” Rev. Lillian Hallstrand Lammers
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