I don't even have the words...

2021.03.23

Song of the day:

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Video of the day:

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Another mass shooting in America. And I truly don’t have the words to express my anger, sadness, disgust, horror…in two weeks almost twenty people have died in mass shootings. Countless others that you’ve not heard about have also died from gun violence. I’d almost forgotten what this felt like…to hear about mass shootings on a weekly basis. I wanted to forget this was a thing America did. The pandemic gave us a slight breather from mass shootings, though not from death itself. How many more people have to die before this country passes serious gun legislation? What is wrong with the Republican Party that they can’t see why this is important? I thought they were pro-police, but police officers have died by gun violence and they don’t seem to care at all. I thought they were pro-life, but they certainly don’t seem to care about any lives other than their own. Oh, Asian people were killed? Liberals in Boulder, Colorado? Black people? They simply don’t care. As long as their money keeps rolling in, that’s all that matters. These people were killed in a grocery store. One of the few places we’ve all been able to go in the last year. One of the most normal places a person could be. Just like church. And school. And movie theaters. And concerts. Too many have died and I’m tired of writing blogs about it. That could have been any one of us yesterday. It doesn’t matter that it was in Colorado. It could have been anywhere. No one should have to be afraid to go to the grocery store. No one should have to be afraid to do anything, yet more and more feel that fear every day. None of it is okay. At all.

Before I saw the news from Boulder yesterday I received news that a friend will be moving to hospice care soon. Likely today. As my friend who sent me the news said, “I’m not happy to send this…” It’s been a hard road for our mutual friend, in and out of hospitals since I’ve known her, but with long periods of doing well between. I met her through music, as I’ve met many of my friends, and we’ve seen a lot of concerns together. I’ve been to her house and met her husband and her sister. We’ve shared meals and laughs and inside jokes. My heart breaks at the thought of losing her. I’m praying for a miracle.

After all that news in a short period yesterday I took myself outside to walk through my beautiful neighborhood. I turned on Switchfoot and made the world disappear for a few minutes. The sun was shining and though a light breeze was blowing, it was relatively calm. It didn’t make the bad things go away but it helped me relax and remember that I’m not in control of any of it, that God is still fully in charge. And while I have no idea what His plan is in all of this, I know He has one. And that’s enough to keep me moving forward, keep me getting up every morning. He never promised it would be easy, and He never said there would only be happy times. He just said He had a plan and that if we trust Him, He’ll bring us through.

So, here are a few pretties from that walk yesterday, along with some sidewalk chalk art. I hope today is calm and peaceful for each and every one of you.