Im grieved afresh by the violence that comes too close. Two incidences in two days.
... there was a fatal shooting this weekend in an apartment complex--known for its gang involvement. Its unclear who was involved in the shooting, but is clearly impacting our communities.
...working at the shelter, Ive become used to meeting women leaving abusive partners--when I meet them there. However, when its people I know at TN, people who have become friends, who I care for, are violent towards each other...these pervasive realities strike too close to home. This evening, after some sabbath time at Deception Pass, I was pulled back into the reality of those I accompany by a phone call from a young woman Ive been spending time with. Her boyfriend beat her again today, and this time she'd had enough. So I met her at TN, where she'd walked to in her socks, with no time to put her shoes on. She's safe now, although hurting physically and emotionally.
Tomorrow we meet as TN staff from 8:30-12, then I work at the DV shelter from 2-11pm.
how am I right now? grieved.
I hate violence. But I think it is a taste of God's heart I feel right now...anger & grief at the violence that people have suffered under themselves that contributes to their own violence, at the violence enacted on others, at the cycles that people are caught in.
We need God to break into this world, to bring life, hope, peace to the broken & dark places and people. I am daily all the more aware of this, and I do believe God is breaking in. Please pray with me for our friends who are suffering right now, for God to meet me them in their pain whether 'victim' or 'victimizer' as the distinctions are never so black and white.
No comments:
Post a Comment