Violence and Solidarity
I frequently see comments I have written that protest violence as I browse the memories sections of my social media platforms. Without doing some checking, I usually have lost track of the event that prompted my comment.
It is a sad state of affairs when they all blend together.
This was such a comment:
As we read the news, we are overwhelmed with sadness because of the violence of our humanity.
If we have any sense that we are evolving rather than devolving in maturity, it must churn within our collective gut.
We do not consider such things normative.
We wretch within and our hearts go out to grieving families and suffering injured .
Outrage at the insanity or evil or whatever prompts such deed is of lesser comfort than the call to pray for the well being of those whose lives have been so irreversibly invaded.
Yet, we do, also, pray as we act:
God grant shalom that passes understanding and the truth that the communities crave.
There are no adequate words.
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I found this as well.
I found this among my memories and thought I’d revisit it at bit:
There are days to make comments on the issues of the day and there are days when the issues are too personal, painful, and powerful to come down on one side or the other. Those are the days when we become channels of grace, love, and compassion and enter into the pain of every man, woman, and child with a sense of common humanity, common concern, and common commitment to some core values we all share.
Such are days when we overcome our fear that others will use the day to their advantage.
Such are days when we resist the temptation to take advantage.
Though our convictions are strong, we respect that those of our neighbor are just as strong, sincere, and based upon personal integrity and perspective.
In the end, this world and nation will not rise and fall on our politics. We have survived many a shift and will survive many more.
We will survive on our good will and God’s grace and nothing we say or do about our opinions will bolster or alter that.
We are one people and we stand in sympathy and solidarity with our neighbors.
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Born this day in 1935, Diahann Carroll and died October 4, 2019. She was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. Remember her in g Carmen Jones (1954) and Porgy and Bess (1959). In 1962, she won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for No Strings. In 1974 she starred in Claudine and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. Here she is with James Garner in the 1963, March on Washington.
“Carroll was a founding member of the Celebrity Action Council, a volunteer group of celebrity women who served the women’s outreach of the Los Angeles Mission, working with women in rehabilitation from problems with alcohol, drugs, or prostitution. She helped to form the group along with other female television personalities including Mary Frann, Linda Gray, Donna Mills, and Joan Van Ark.” (Source — Wikipedia)
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