I wish the world could look like this.
I wish both my sons would be viewed and respected in the same way as they walk down the street and enter into adulthood.
I know they will not.
I pray for this hurting world.
I pray for officers who are scared and reacting too quickly.
I pray for officers who are corrupt.
I pray for officers who are protecting all lives.
I pray for scared mothers raising their sons.
I pray for black fathers losing their lives.
I pray for the families of Alton Sterling, and Philando Castile.
I pray for all the families. Every family. Everywhere. Living in this crazy world.
I pray for myself and my part in this. Because like it or not, we all play a part in this.
I pray for this senseless division to end.
My heart is so heavy with images and stories that I can't get out of my head.
My heart is even heavier as I try to understand and admit that I have no idea how to raise my ten year old black son in a world that is so different than the one I lived in as a white privileged child.
I feel helpless.
I feel hopeless.
But then I look at my children and their best friends.
And I feel a tiny little spark: a shred of hope that maybe, just maybe, their generation can start to fix what our generation and the generations before us have so unequivocally and epically EFFED up beyond recognition.
As I kiss their sweet little heads tonight and tuck their long limbs into their beds, I pray for them to get some good rest.
They have a long, long, long, long journey ahead of them.
Well said although my heart is heavier because I hadn't looked at it from the perspective of 2 of my grandsons, side by side, in this perspective and reflection. I hadn't thought of the challenges of a parent of those 2 children. Loving them, nurturing them, giving the roots and giving them wings. Into a world that DOES see them differently. I just hadn't. But that's a parent's job to see that and you did and you know the prayers and love and faith it will take to give them both the best life possible! Thank you for giving this painful reflection to my heart because as a grandparent I too have a responsibility to see what's ahead of them and continue to love them with my whole heart for the ways they are already making a difference in the world by not seeing the differences. I love my grandkids. I love my kids. I love my God that will guide us all each step of this messy journey called life.
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