It’s times like these that make it difficult to simply go about my normal day, to write my normal posts. So today I just feel reflective.

All my worries, concerns, and problems are put into perspective. Those things that I had to get done today, suddenly don’t matter. Most of my worries are trivial at best, especially when I see the world falling apart around me.

later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?

it answered

everywhere

everywhere

everywhere.

Warsan Shire

It’s been a bad couple of weeks. There have been multiple instances of Muslim on Muslim violence during the holy month of Ramadan, followed by innocent black lives lost in Minnesota and Louisiana, followed by more violence in Dallas last night where the DPD lost some of their finest. Things are bad and getting worse.

As each new tragedy has been reported, seemingly every day, I’ve started to wonder has the world always been this way? Or is it just that social media has made it that much more visible? I don’t know the answer, but it makes it clear that a lot of work is ahead of us.

Most importantly, is how we choose to respond. Do we react with further violence or do we join together in peaceful action? It can be easy to retaliate and fight fire with fire, but that’s not the answer. Such difficult situations bring my thoughts to Martin Luther King Jr. and his approach for change during the civil rights movement.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.Martin Luther King Jr.

We need to stand together and fix these problems. It will be hard and it will take time and there will be setbacks, but if we don’t act with resolve, progress will simply be a mirage.

Today though, I just want to send my prayers towards all those lives lost, to their families, and to all those suffering around the world.