Show…
It’s been quite a week out there, so I thought I’d start by injecting a little serenity.
…and Tell
But the horrible happenings of the last several days have led to some really smart, thoughtful and emotional writing, and I wanted to highlight just a little of that today.
There’s some overlap in the specifics addressed in these two pieces:
Concrete Ways to Be an Actual Ally to Black People | Maximum Middle Age
How to be a white ally: Fighting racism is your responsibility–start now | Salon.com
And this one is nearly a year old but remains absolutely current:
Joy of Joy’s Book Blog posted an eloquent public Facebook update sharing how her sense of community engagement has developed. I encourage you to go read the whole thing, but here’s a sampling:
For me, it all starts with this equation:
police officer = The State = our collective experiment of the United States = us = meWhen a citizen kills a police officer, it is an attack on us, on me
When a police officer kills a citizen, it is the death of a citizen at the hands of The State, our hands, my hands.
…and Stop and Think
These reactions point to why specifics are necessary and “thoughts and prayers” just aren’t enough,
I posted an angry post on Facebook.Don’t tell me you’re praying for Dallas. Do not. Write a letter, use your vote, go to a protest yourself, round up your friends, have a thoughtful conversation, teach your children. DO SOMETHING. God gave us free will because THIS IS ALSO ON US.It was a call for personal responsibility and action. It was a crying out. It was not a blanket assumption that everyone reading it was a target of my anger or a hypocrite.I am human. I am struggling to make SENSE OF IT.
I wonder if this is what Andi is trying to get at:
“Christian, the boldest prayer you can utter in these days, is the prayer that you begin to live more fully into the calling your faith has placed upon your life; the one that dares you to love and serve and give and sacrifice and mourn and give a far greater damn than you pretend that you do most of the time.
“So many hungry, hurting, invisible, disregarded, brutalized people are not so, because God has yet to move but because thepeople of God are so reluctant to.
Pray less. Move more.”
–from Why Christians Need to Stop Praying | john pavlovitz
And stated a little differently here by Adam:
Dementors in America | Roof Beam Reader
Or maybe, just maybe, we’re the ones who are supposed to act. The Christian book itself says: “faith without works is dead.” There are dementors in America, and we are without magic. There are no prayers, no “Expecto Patronum!” solutions; only our labors will make a difference. So, when a friend posts, “I don’t want to see that you are praying” in regards to these tragedies, and your reaction is to call them hateful, I have to think: have you assessed your priorities? Is it really hateful to ask that we all respond in some actionable way to this devastation, rather than simply wish upon a star? So pray, by all means, if it makes you feel better. But then?
Then do something.
Because the dementors are real and they are wreaking havoc.
…and Stop Again
These are times that remind us what we really need to take seriously…but even in times like these, there are still some things we take more seriously than what’s strictly necessary.
I’m embarrassed to be a book blogger… | Parajunkee’s View
On that note, I’ll mention one more thing that I’m taking rather seriously, just because it’s my project: Submissions are open for the first edition of “The Book Bridge” until this Friday, July 15. I’m inviting you to share the book you were most excited about during the last month–brand-new or backlist–to broadcast your enthusiasm to readers who might not have had the chance to hear about it before. This is NOT limited to book bloggers. If you talk about books on social media, Goodreads, or some other non-commerce site, you’re welcome to join in!
And here’s Winchester, taking the pursuit of a squirrel(?) very seriously.
I see each of us are handling the past week’s incidents in our personal, creative ways. I am learning so much from each blog.
The pieces I highlighted here come close to expressing some of my own perspectives. I’m learning more from those that speak from different places but didn’t feel as ready to share those yet.
Love the serenity pictures – flowers – beautiful!
Thanks, Kay! I’ve been playing around with tight focus on flowers, and I thought this was a good way to use some of those shots :-).
I did not have the time or the inclination to write a lengthy post about last week’s tragedies, but I did make a few comments in my Sunday post. Namely reiterating what Andi and Adam said about actually taking action. It is time to take back our voice from a vocal minority and let the world know we will no longer stand for such violence or inaction on the part of our government. Only then can we hope to change things. It is all so darn depressing though.
It’s depressing indeed, and one natural response to depression is withdrawal. Part of the challenge is resisting that, but at this point I don’t know what to do beyond reading and writing (a little) and amplifying the writing of people who say things a lot better than I can.