Like many of you, I’m guessing, my weekend was spent in a kind of sad shock over the tragic shootings in Connecticut. To witness atrocity is one of the most difficult and soul-rattling aspects of the human experience. It leaves you shaken.
This week, people in Newtown are burying children, friends and family. My prayers are with them now, and in the weeks and months to come, as the work of grief begins. My thoughts are also with teachers, parents and first responders who, today especially, are alert to the vulnerability of those they care for.
Violence comes in many forms and we are constantly being confronted with choices about how to respond: will I speak and act in kind or in the name of love; in the midst of this dark hour, can I still find love and hope in my heart?
As individuals and as a nation, these are the questions before us now – not just because of the shooting in Connecticut, but because of the epidemic of physical and spiritual violence that plagues our country and that manifests in forms from a mass shooting, to the daily murders of young people in Chicago, to budgets that prioritize defense spending over mental health services for those in acute need, to the kind of daily harassment that can erode a child’s sense of safety and wholeness. No one, least of all a child, should fear for her safety simply for being part of public life, or simply for being herself.
Even in times like this, life moves fast, and here at CSE’s office, we’re plugging away getting ready for the next stage of the WE DO Campaign. But our hearts are also heavy and in writing today, we simply wish to express our deep hope and resolve that love will prevail, because it must.
Thanks for all you do,
Jasmine
Rev. Jasmine Beach-Ferrara, Executive Director
