Thoughts and Prayers
I’m back.
As I’ve mentioned previously, life is quite busy in April and May as the school year closes out and so my writing takes a back seat. I’m hoping to write much more this summer and that I get a backlog going in order to have consistent writing out there from here on out. Thanks for being here.
The last couple of weeks have been wild, tragic, and incomprehensible for our country. Mass shootings have dominated the American landscape and the feeling of rage and hopelessness persist in the hearts of many, because while the majority of us know that something needs to change we are all too familiar with the political and national dialogue and the cycles that persist after each of these acts of violence. As someone who works in education and lives in Tulsa, the recent events of the last weeks have become even more personal. Mass shootings, even though they shouldn’t feel this way, often seem distant. You read stories and see the images of victims and perhaps you hear intriguing details about their lives before the violence was committed upon them, but in all actuality it still feels far away. But as these events continue, the reality of the violence encroaches us. It’s so close to us all, in fact, and it always was. You can be in a church, at a school, in a hospital building and then all of a sudden everything changes. Last week I was dining with colleagues to celebrate the end of our school year, and while we laughed and reflected together, I had the persistent worry that at any point someone could walk into that pub and take everyone out. It can be that quick and it is that terrifying.
Another cycle that persists after these incidents is the online bickering which often builds toward a pernicious binary reaction: thoughts and prayers vs. policy and change. A lot of social media conversation, as we know, is made up of black-and-white and either/or thinking. We all are experiencing and feeling so much right now, and to some degree, I also want to respect the variety of emotions and processing that my friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances are experiencing right now. Call it a generous orthodoxy if you will, but I think we can offer our best thoughts and prayers while also making concrete policy and societal change at the same time. With that said, here are some thoughts and prayers I am offering right now, because I too and struggling to process what is going on in this moment. Please note that I’m not looking to create arguments here, I’m just trying to deal with what I’m experiencing on a now daily basis. To borrow a phrase from the late Michelle McNamara, “It’s chaos. Be kind.”
Some thoughts…
Thought: Life is already difficult, do we have to make our existence even more arduous? If we have options to ease the pain and suffering of ourselves and others, why can’t we just commit to making that happen in our cities, states, and country? The stats are out there, and while it won’t curb all shootings, there is tangible proof that outlawing certain weapons, increasing background checks and other approaches can and will work.
Thought: What does “pro-life” even mean any more?
Thought: It’s been questioned by many others previously, but is arming teachers really an answer to mass shootings? Many districts and schools don’t give teachers codes to the printers but you want to give them stripped-down training and then a firearm for the classroom? Let’s think about the logistics for one minute here: Where will these guns be housed at the beginning and end of the day? What about when, inevitably, a gun is fired on a student or colleague accidentally or on purpose? I love teachers, that should be obvious, but by my estimate only about 57.8% of them know how to work a projector and/or computer successfully on most days, but yes let’s also give them a dangerous weapon to operate too. What happens when a student eventually gets a hold of one of those guns?
Thought: Schools, often like houses of worship and even hospitals to an extent, are meant to be institutions of growth, development, healing, and solace. They are not forts, they are not storages for munitions, they are not structures of defense. Now that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t address enhancing security issues and whatnot, but there is a fundamental difference and feel when a larger amount of weapons and police presence are introduced into an environment. How much harder will it be to learn and grow in a place that is full of anxiety and fear?
Thought: Prayers are obviously not changing the trajectory of this problem. This is not meant to be a dig at or discouragement to prayer as an action because I think, like meditation, prayer can reset the person and people practicing rather than changing a particular external outcome. So I’m okay with thoughts and prayers being sent out into the world, let’s just stop pretending that it is actually altering the situation we’re in. I think a healthy belief in divinity is accompanied by a corresponding belief in that divinity handing agency to humans. And if humans were given this power by an outside force, then we should utilize our intellect, skills, talents, and efforts to constructive solutions instead of praying for the change to arrive outside of ourselves.
Thought: Instead of the usual binaries that get drawn up in these conversations, let’s realize that this is a complex issue and will require many different approaches in tandem. That means we can address mental health issues, gun legislation, community outreach, school funding, security enhancement, systemic racism, etc. together instead of seeing them as competing issues.
With that said, here are some of my prayers…
I pray that our children don’t have to live in a country where they are supremely valued at their birth and secondarily valued as they are raised toward adulthood.
I pray that we can stop politicizing children (from all political perspectives) and can strategically fund and support every level of development of their intellectual, mental, physical, and spiritual lives.
I pray that we can be repentant to each other. That we can acknowledge the historical pain and harm that we have caused one another, that we can be truly remorseful and that we can offer our best futures to one another.
I pray that we stop defining ourselves by platitudes and instead contribute tangible actions that benefit our present and build toward a more holistic future.
I pray that people, myself included, realize that we don’t win by posting the best Instagram infographic or meme, but instead become healthier by having nuanced dialogue and a generosity of spirit with those that think differently from us.
I pray that the children and young adults experiencing this trauma don’t become cynical but are instead spurred to action in their local communities.
I pray that we become people less attracted to power, especially in the realm of politics.
I pray that we can excommunicate ourselves from this cult of death and instead create communities of hospitality and care for “the other”.