Tanner's prompt for today is Breathe.
In a break from tradition, instead of me talking about this, I'm going to direct you to some other articles from this weekend. I'm doing this because the word "breathe" has an entirely different context today due to the recent death of George Floyd. Some of his last words were "I can't breathe." I am heartbroken over his death and the needless deaths of many other African Americans. I wish there was something I could do. One thing that I feel able to do is directing my readers to other articles that give more information, so you can be informed and possibly called to action. So, here you go.
This first article is called "Three videos piece together the final moments of George Floyd's life."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/01/us/george-floyd-three-videos-minneapolis/index.html
Next up is "This is how loved ones want us to remember George Floyd."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/27/us/george-floyd-trnd/index.html
My next link includes live protest coverage in Milwaukee and Madison.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/2020/06/01/live-protest-coverage-milwaukee-and-madison/5306204002/
And finally, I think these words from President Obama are very helpful.
https://medium.com/@BarackObama/how-to-make-this-moment-the-turning-point-for-real-change-9fa209806067
If you have any other links with information that might be useful, please share them in the comments or on Facebook. Thank you.
Stay tuned for June 3rd: The Unknown.
Showing posts with label Tragedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tragedy. Show all posts
Monday, June 1, 2020
Monday, May 18, 2020
Writing Prompt #7: Grief/Loss
Tanner's prompt for today is Grief/Loss.
I rarely cry.
I used to cry all the time, but after being teased for it so much in middle school, I learned how to keep it in. I'm still extremely emotional, don't get me wrong, but crying is hard. Which, oddly enough, makes me want to cry, but I can't, usually.
The most recent time I cried was after a nurse friend of mine described her current working environment for me. After we were done talking and I'd hung up the phone, I just sobbed. I am someone who always wants to fix things, and I was completely powerless. My friend was hurting, and there was nothing I could do. I cried for her, and I cried for me.
I've been trying to avoid writing about the Coronavirus because it seems like that's all we hear about everywhere these days. We need a break. But there's so much grief and loss right now. It's important to acknowledge it. It's important to be allow ourselves to be sad.
So I suppose that's my message for all of us tonight. Don't hold in your tears. Be sad if you need to be sad, and find the joy where you can.
Stay tuned for May 20th: Endurance.
I rarely cry.
I used to cry all the time, but after being teased for it so much in middle school, I learned how to keep it in. I'm still extremely emotional, don't get me wrong, but crying is hard. Which, oddly enough, makes me want to cry, but I can't, usually.
The most recent time I cried was after a nurse friend of mine described her current working environment for me. After we were done talking and I'd hung up the phone, I just sobbed. I am someone who always wants to fix things, and I was completely powerless. My friend was hurting, and there was nothing I could do. I cried for her, and I cried for me.
I've been trying to avoid writing about the Coronavirus because it seems like that's all we hear about everywhere these days. We need a break. But there's so much grief and loss right now. It's important to acknowledge it. It's important to be allow ourselves to be sad.
So I suppose that's my message for all of us tonight. Don't hold in your tears. Be sad if you need to be sad, and find the joy where you can.
Stay tuned for May 20th: Endurance.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
The Sixth Commandment in Light of #MeToo
Hello, friends.
I'll be honest - when I write blogs, especially about current events, a lot of the time it's for my benefit, not yours. I force myself to think more clearly and rationally when I'm planning to reveal my thoughts to the world. Today I'm motivated to write so that I can more clearly and rationally plan my Confirmation lesson for this afternoon. Normally, I'm not too worried about teaching Confirmation; it's one of my favorite things to do and I think I'm pretty good at it. However, today, I find myself intimidated by the topic: the Sixth Commandment.
On the surface, this is pretty straightforward. Don't have sex outside of marriage and respect your spouse. Easy, right? Wrong. This is the first time I'll be teaching on the Sixth Commandment since the #MeToo movement gained traction, and I want to do it right. We in the church are far from immune to the enormous problem of sexual harassment and abuse. We can't ignore it. When we have the opportunity, we need to talk about it, plainly and openly and honestly. This seems like an opportunity. But how do I take it? How do I get my point across to my class? What is the point I want to get across, exactly?
In the latest version of Luther's Small Catechism, question 68 reads:
Now my question becomes, "is it possible to address all of these issues in a single class period that isn't even solely devoted to this topic?" The answer to that is unequivocally "no." So then, what do I address? What do the young people in my class need to hear the most?
I currently have the website for MeToo pulled up on another tab. The tagline caught my eye: "You are not alone." If nothing else, that's what I hope to get across to my Confirmation class. The Sixth Commandment reminds us that we were created to be in community with one another. From the very beginning, God said, "It is not good that man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). We are meant to interact with each other in loving, positive, respectful ways, sexually and otherwise.
This Commandment also reminds us that, outside of the Garden of Eden, we are never going to be able to do that perfectly. It calls us to repentance for our own failures, and it calls us to look after our fellow humans who have been harmed by people who break this Commandment. It calls us to listen. It calls us to report. It calls us to have compassion. And it reminds us that, just as we are not alone because of our fellow man, we are also not alone because of the Son of Man, Jesus, who fulfilled this Commandment and all the others when we could not.
The MeToo website reminds us that 17,700,000 women have reported a sexual assault since 1998. If there's any small part I can play in reducing the number of sexual assaults in our country, then I'm going to do it.
This is me, doing my small part.
I urge you all to find your small part to play.
I'll be honest - when I write blogs, especially about current events, a lot of the time it's for my benefit, not yours. I force myself to think more clearly and rationally when I'm planning to reveal my thoughts to the world. Today I'm motivated to write so that I can more clearly and rationally plan my Confirmation lesson for this afternoon. Normally, I'm not too worried about teaching Confirmation; it's one of my favorite things to do and I think I'm pretty good at it. However, today, I find myself intimidated by the topic: the Sixth Commandment.
You shall not commit adultery.
What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.
On the surface, this is pretty straightforward. Don't have sex outside of marriage and respect your spouse. Easy, right? Wrong. This is the first time I'll be teaching on the Sixth Commandment since the #MeToo movement gained traction, and I want to do it right. We in the church are far from immune to the enormous problem of sexual harassment and abuse. We can't ignore it. When we have the opportunity, we need to talk about it, plainly and openly and honestly. This seems like an opportunity. But how do I take it? How do I get my point across to my class? What is the point I want to get across, exactly?
In the latest version of Luther's Small Catechism, question 68 reads:
How do we fear and love God in keeping the Sixth Commandment?
We fear and love God by living as men and women who respect God's purposes for marriage. We do so by
A. treating our bodies as holy - set apart for the purposes for which God created us as male and female - and not as objects that serve our selfish desires;
Note: Human beings often violate God's purpose for them as male and female by engaging in sexual sins. This includes consensual sins such as fornication, pornography, and homosexual behavior. It also includes coercive sexual sins such as rape, incest, sexual child abuse, and other sexual assaults (which also violate the Fifth Commandment).
B. speaking and actions to one another as male and female in ways that build up rather than tear down (such as crude talk, derogatory comments about appearances, or immodest dress);
C. reserving sexual intercourse for marriage rather than before or outside of marriage;
D. refraining from lustful desire or activity of any kind, whether heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or otherwise;
E. treasuring our husband or wife as a gift of God and loving him or her sacrificially.
Now my question becomes, "is it possible to address all of these issues in a single class period that isn't even solely devoted to this topic?" The answer to that is unequivocally "no." So then, what do I address? What do the young people in my class need to hear the most?
I currently have the website for MeToo pulled up on another tab. The tagline caught my eye: "You are not alone." If nothing else, that's what I hope to get across to my Confirmation class. The Sixth Commandment reminds us that we were created to be in community with one another. From the very beginning, God said, "It is not good that man should be alone" (Genesis 2:18). We are meant to interact with each other in loving, positive, respectful ways, sexually and otherwise.
This Commandment also reminds us that, outside of the Garden of Eden, we are never going to be able to do that perfectly. It calls us to repentance for our own failures, and it calls us to look after our fellow humans who have been harmed by people who break this Commandment. It calls us to listen. It calls us to report. It calls us to have compassion. And it reminds us that, just as we are not alone because of our fellow man, we are also not alone because of the Son of Man, Jesus, who fulfilled this Commandment and all the others when we could not.
The MeToo website reminds us that 17,700,000 women have reported a sexual assault since 1998. If there's any small part I can play in reducing the number of sexual assaults in our country, then I'm going to do it.
This is me, doing my small part.
I urge you all to find your small part to play.
Monday, February 19, 2018
Our Young People Lost in Parkland, FL
Hello, friends.
As a DCE, I work with young people a lot. On Sunday mornings, you’ll find me providing children’s messages and teaching the high school Bible class. On Wednesday afternoons, I’m hanging out with elementary school kids, leading them in prayer and helping them with crafts. Annually, I lead events like Vacation Bible School and the children’s Christmas program and all-youth lock-ins. You get the idea: I’m with young people, or thinking about young people, pretty much all the time.
As a DCE, I work with young people a lot. On Sunday mornings, you’ll find me providing children’s messages and teaching the high school Bible class. On Wednesday afternoons, I’m hanging out with elementary school kids, leading them in prayer and helping them with crafts. Annually, I lead events like Vacation Bible School and the children’s Christmas program and all-youth lock-ins. You get the idea: I’m with young people, or thinking about young people, pretty much all the time.
Tragedies like the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, hit
close to my heart, because it’s so easy for me to close my eyes and picture the
victims as young people that I know, young people that I work with every week. Those
poor young people, I think to myself, as I am thanking God that they weren’t my young people.
The fact of the matter is that the victims were my young people. I might not have
known their names or faces, but they were mine, just like they were yours. We are
all responsible for each other. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain asks God in the book of Genesis. God doesn't dignify his question with a response, because of course Cain is his brother's keeper. Even if the story of Cain and Abel had played out radically differently - if Cain had not killed his brother in a jealous rage - the answer still would have been yes. We are responsible for each other. Part of being human is taking care of one another. I am your keeper, and you are mine, and we are all the keepers of the seventeen innocent lives lost last week.
The survivors of this senseless attack are angry. They want change; they are demanding change. I'm not pretending to know all the answers, but here's what I do know: we are all responsible for each other. If there's something, anything, that we can do or give or say that will prevent another tragedy like this one, we should be doing it, and giving it, and saying it.
Let's honor the young people that we lost, and work towards lasting change that will ensure something like this never happens again.
As I said, I am not, in any way, pretending to know all the answers. However, I welcome helpful dialogue that will help me and others learn how we can be better keepers of each other. If anyone had ideas to share, put them in the comments below or on my Facebook post.
Friday, November 17, 2017
Public Service Announcement
Hello, friends. I'd like to make a public service announcement, so bear with me.
Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, more sexual abuse/harassment allegations have come to light this week. I have no inside knowledge of any of these allegations, obviously, but I want to make something clear: just because something seems to be announced at a convenient time doesn't mean it's not true. It also doesn't mean that it is true. The important thing to remember here is that the majority of sexual assault cases go unreported. Approximately two out of every three victims don't report the crimes committed against them, and every time a victim comes forward and we accuse him or her of lying, another victim decides not to say anything, because they assume they won't be believed.
Some people lie about being assaulted. Far more people don't tell anyone, and their abusers have more opportunities to abuse other people. So no matter what the circumstances may look like, it's vital for us to give everyone who comes forward a fair hearing and a chance at justice.
This has become more personal for me in the past several years, first because of my short-lived position at a residential treatment center, then because of my involvement with the Children's Home Society in Tallahassee, and most recently, because of my vocation as a foster parent. In each of these situations I have encountered young people who have been abused. I can only imagine what the consequences would have been had those young people come forward with their stories and been shut down.
I suppose my point is this: don't assume, and show compassion.
Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, more sexual abuse/harassment allegations have come to light this week. I have no inside knowledge of any of these allegations, obviously, but I want to make something clear: just because something seems to be announced at a convenient time doesn't mean it's not true. It also doesn't mean that it is true. The important thing to remember here is that the majority of sexual assault cases go unreported. Approximately two out of every three victims don't report the crimes committed against them, and every time a victim comes forward and we accuse him or her of lying, another victim decides not to say anything, because they assume they won't be believed.
Some people lie about being assaulted. Far more people don't tell anyone, and their abusers have more opportunities to abuse other people. So no matter what the circumstances may look like, it's vital for us to give everyone who comes forward a fair hearing and a chance at justice.
This has become more personal for me in the past several years, first because of my short-lived position at a residential treatment center, then because of my involvement with the Children's Home Society in Tallahassee, and most recently, because of my vocation as a foster parent. In each of these situations I have encountered young people who have been abused. I can only imagine what the consequences would have been had those young people come forward with their stories and been shut down.
I suppose my point is this: don't assume, and show compassion.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
In Times of Crisis
Hello, friends.
It's happened again.
A mass shooting, this time at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Times of crisis are times to band together. I may not physically be present in Orlando, but my heart is there and my prayers are there. Does anyone know of a way people outside of Florida can band together with those directly affected?
Times of crisis are also times to remember our hope. There's a hymn on the Lutheran Service Book that reminds us of our hope, even in the times that seem hopeless. It goes like this. I can't think of a more appropriate way to end this post. (I skipped the second stanza because it's not as applicable at this moment.)
When aimless violence takes those we love,
When random death strikes childhood's promise down,
When wrenching loss becomes our daily bread,
We know, O God, You leave us not alone.
Our faith may flicker low, and hope grow dim,
Yet You, O God, are with us in our pain;
You grieve with us and for us day by day,
And with us, sharing sorrow, will remain.
Because Your Son knew agony and loss,
Felt desolation, grief and scorn and shame,
We know You will be with us, come what may,
Your loving presence near, always the same.
Through long grief-darkened days help us, dear Lord,
To trust Your grave for courage to endure,
To rest our souls in Your supporting love,
And find our hope within Your mercy sure.
It's happened again.
A mass shooting, this time at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
Times of crisis are times to band together. I may not physically be present in Orlando, but my heart is there and my prayers are there. Does anyone know of a way people outside of Florida can band together with those directly affected?
Times of crisis are also times to remember our hope. There's a hymn on the Lutheran Service Book that reminds us of our hope, even in the times that seem hopeless. It goes like this. I can't think of a more appropriate way to end this post. (I skipped the second stanza because it's not as applicable at this moment.)
When aimless violence takes those we love,
When random death strikes childhood's promise down,
When wrenching loss becomes our daily bread,
We know, O God, You leave us not alone.
Our faith may flicker low, and hope grow dim,
Yet You, O God, are with us in our pain;
You grieve with us and for us day by day,
And with us, sharing sorrow, will remain.
Because Your Son knew agony and loss,
Felt desolation, grief and scorn and shame,
We know You will be with us, come what may,
Your loving presence near, always the same.
Through long grief-darkened days help us, dear Lord,
To trust Your grave for courage to endure,
To rest our souls in Your supporting love,
And find our hope within Your mercy sure.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Love in the Planned Parenthood Tragedy
Hello, friends. While I've spent most of today decorating for Christmas, a delightful activity, I'm not going to write about that. Instead I'd like to discuss the shooting that happened on Friday at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs. I'm devastated by this tragedy, and my prayers are with the victims' families and all those who have been affected.
First I'd like to clarify that the police have not released any information about the shooter's motive. However, there has been much speculation. It's widely believed that the shooter was motivated by his anti-abortion political views.
Notice I said anti-abortion, not pro-life. I did that very intentionally. I don't know what made the shooter enter that clinic on Friday, but I know what didn't: pro-life views. No one who is truly pro-life would ever condone such an act, let alone commit it. Murder is the ultimate anti-life act.
I'm not going to lie. I celebrate when I hear that abortion clinics close. That's because I believe that abortion is murder, and I am against murder! But I would never murder someone to make that happen. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
Our Students for Life shirts my senior year said just that. Love. That's my goal in everything I do: to show the love of Christ to the world. That's the way things can change. Love. Not hate. Not murder. Hate and murder never go along with the cause of a true pro-lifer. Love is my goal. I hope it's yours too. If it is, let's combine forces, pray for these victims, and change the world - one act of love at a time.
First I'd like to clarify that the police have not released any information about the shooter's motive. However, there has been much speculation. It's widely believed that the shooter was motivated by his anti-abortion political views.
Notice I said anti-abortion, not pro-life. I did that very intentionally. I don't know what made the shooter enter that clinic on Friday, but I know what didn't: pro-life views. No one who is truly pro-life would ever condone such an act, let alone commit it. Murder is the ultimate anti-life act.
I'm not going to lie. I celebrate when I hear that abortion clinics close. That's because I believe that abortion is murder, and I am against murder! But I would never murder someone to make that happen. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
Our Students for Life shirts my senior year said just that. Love. That's my goal in everything I do: to show the love of Christ to the world. That's the way things can change. Love. Not hate. Not murder. Hate and murder never go along with the cause of a true pro-lifer. Love is my goal. I hope it's yours too. If it is, let's combine forces, pray for these victims, and change the world - one act of love at a time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
-
Dear Sun, I know that you are important to the earth and all that, but could you shine a little less on Tallahassee, please? That would be... -
Hello, friends, and welcome back to Iowa Girl Meets World! In this episode, Iowa Girl sits in a borrowed chair in her bedroom and contemplat...
-
Hello, friends! I have low self-esteem. I wonder all the time whether I am making a difference. So, to combat that, I challenged myself this...