Dear, Dear Cameron………. Your ability to articulate what so many of us feel is so extraordinarily bonding….
I live alone in a stone house I built on a hilltop in the woods. When I lit candles this morning for Renee, Alex and my sweet wife, I felt an overwhelming sense of community. I joined so many others…… and in the midst of my grief, I felt hope….. joy, and yes, community.
God bless you……. and my brothers and sisters who have joined together, knowing that Justice….. Kindness and Love will overcome the present darkness.
I sat drinking my morning coffee....pushing my cup aside as I took in the news about the latest killing in Minneapolis. I sat, feeling sick and saturated with horror and grief. I sat, a privileged white woman, who is informed about institutionalized racism as I can be, with the dawning realization of this is what is feels like and has felt like for decades to marginalized citizens in my town in my state and in my nation. And I was humbled. What you write today helps me articulate and understand this feeling. I thank you for it.
I give thanks to those who initiated the reframe from “protester” to “protector” and to you, Cameron, for letting us know about it. To protest is turn our energy outward, against something. To protect is to take care of something or someone. The word connotes relationship. Not petitioning the powers that be to give us what we want or stop doing what we don’t want – both necessary energies at times – but at this terrible and dangerous moment, emphasizing and saying that what we are here for is to protect what and who we care for. In the necessary dance between power and love, protecting leads with love.
Reminds me of another of God’s ministers: “look for the helpers.” Protectors is a deeply consoling and completely courageous reality in the face of power gone corrupt. It gives me hope that the people of Minneapolis are restoring our deeply wounded social fabric by their actions. They are a model for the rest of us. As was Alex Pretti who lost his life trying to protect another’s.
Thank you for the gift of your words in naming the national grief that breaks our hearts. The forcefield of your message strengthens my "spiritual resistance...for the allegiance of life."
You have pulled away the shrapnel to reveal the soft underbelly of our spirit bodies and I am moved to tears. I will be sharing this with my community with my full soul as weight.
I totally agree with you about the shift in language. We are PROTECTORS not protesters...it totally shifts your thinking. Another shift in language should be to stop using the term ICE and use what they really are.
Immigration officers' jobs are to inspect traveler's passports and other documents to determine eligibility to enter a country.
Customs officers' jobs are to inspect and regulate goods and possessions that travelers bring into the country
ICE IS NOT LAW ENFORCEMENT, if they do arrest people off the street, they must have a judicial warrant. So, let's call this regimes ICE what they are.... unlawful thugs.
A friend recently asked: You're spirituality is rooted in the Rule of St. Benedict. "You live in MN, what do you think St Benedict would say re: what is happening in Minneapolis/St. Paul? What are we to do? "
My response:
What Benedict and the Rule say to me is 'discernment' in the face of this. I/we are called to discern where God calls us to be/act. The Rule stresses stability, prayer, hospitality, to see all persons as Christ and a beloved child of God.
As for me, given my circumstances and conditions, I am called to sit still and hold steady for the sake of the world. As Merton or some other wise person said, when we sit in our chair in quiet/silence the whole world sits with us, joins us there. So I sit and pray. And as I move through my day, I keep casting a glance God's way as Br. Lawrence advises.
It takes trust that both action and contemplation (another Merton quote) are valuable and make a difference.
I love the move from protester to protector, and it is such an apt description of the role Minnesotans have assumed and modeled. Your daily reflections are helpful articulations of what’s happening, and how we might respond. I’m amazed that day after day they are so timely and helpful! Thank you!
Dear, Dear Cameron………. Your ability to articulate what so many of us feel is so extraordinarily bonding….
I live alone in a stone house I built on a hilltop in the woods. When I lit candles this morning for Renee, Alex and my sweet wife, I felt an overwhelming sense of community. I joined so many others…… and in the midst of my grief, I felt hope….. joy, and yes, community.
God bless you……. and my brothers and sisters who have joined together, knowing that Justice….. Kindness and Love will overcome the present darkness.
I sat drinking my morning coffee....pushing my cup aside as I took in the news about the latest killing in Minneapolis. I sat, feeling sick and saturated with horror and grief. I sat, a privileged white woman, who is informed about institutionalized racism as I can be, with the dawning realization of this is what is feels like and has felt like for decades to marginalized citizens in my town in my state and in my nation. And I was humbled. What you write today helps me articulate and understand this feeling. I thank you for it.
I give thanks to those who initiated the reframe from “protester” to “protector” and to you, Cameron, for letting us know about it. To protest is turn our energy outward, against something. To protect is to take care of something or someone. The word connotes relationship. Not petitioning the powers that be to give us what we want or stop doing what we don’t want – both necessary energies at times – but at this terrible and dangerous moment, emphasizing and saying that what we are here for is to protect what and who we care for. In the necessary dance between power and love, protecting leads with love.
Stunning reflection! Wonderfully written.
Reminds me of another of God’s ministers: “look for the helpers.” Protectors is a deeply consoling and completely courageous reality in the face of power gone corrupt. It gives me hope that the people of Minneapolis are restoring our deeply wounded social fabric by their actions. They are a model for the rest of us. As was Alex Pretti who lost his life trying to protect another’s.
Thank you for your words.
Thank you for the gift of your words in naming the national grief that breaks our hearts. The forcefield of your message strengthens my "spiritual resistance...for the allegiance of life."
Yes, "We the people" are in this together.
You have pulled away the shrapnel to reveal the soft underbelly of our spirit bodies and I am moved to tears. I will be sharing this with my community with my full soul as weight.
Thank you . . .
No, “this is not new.”
Will it ever be old news?
If we wake up, act.
...
Peaceful protestors
serve as sibling protectors.
Joined in shared purpose.
I totally agree with you about the shift in language. We are PROTECTORS not protesters...it totally shifts your thinking. Another shift in language should be to stop using the term ICE and use what they really are.
Immigration officers' jobs are to inspect traveler's passports and other documents to determine eligibility to enter a country.
Customs officers' jobs are to inspect and regulate goods and possessions that travelers bring into the country
ICE IS NOT LAW ENFORCEMENT, if they do arrest people off the street, they must have a judicial warrant. So, let's call this regimes ICE what they are.... unlawful thugs.
A friend recently asked: You're spirituality is rooted in the Rule of St. Benedict. "You live in MN, what do you think St Benedict would say re: what is happening in Minneapolis/St. Paul? What are we to do? "
My response:
What Benedict and the Rule say to me is 'discernment' in the face of this. I/we are called to discern where God calls us to be/act. The Rule stresses stability, prayer, hospitality, to see all persons as Christ and a beloved child of God.
As for me, given my circumstances and conditions, I am called to sit still and hold steady for the sake of the world. As Merton or some other wise person said, when we sit in our chair in quiet/silence the whole world sits with us, joins us there. So I sit and pray. And as I move through my day, I keep casting a glance God's way as Br. Lawrence advises.
It takes trust that both action and contemplation (another Merton quote) are valuable and make a difference.
I love the move from protester to protector, and it is such an apt description of the role Minnesotans have assumed and modeled. Your daily reflections are helpful articulations of what’s happening, and how we might respond. I’m amazed that day after day they are so timely and helpful! Thank you!