In remembrance…
One of our travels this summer was to Chattanooga, TN to attend an event for Russ’s work.
We were so blessed by the hospitality of the people and the beauty of that area of the country.
Chattanooga is one of Russ’s favorite cities to visit for his job and he drove me around to share with me this community he has come to know.
One of the places he pulled into was a rather small and unremarkable strip mall parking lot.
Like so many in our own town, it was a one story brick facility housing several random businesses with glass storefronts under their various signage.
Nothing really remarkable or worth remembering…
Except…
A community remembering an event of senseless, violent terrorism that ripped open their hearts one morning….
There wasn’t any big news coverage this year outside of this community where they remembered and comforted and showed respect for those who died and those left to carry on.
All over this country there are cities that have faced the unthinkable…
we are shaken around the country when it happens…
But then we move on.
We must.
We cannot carry the full burden of every community that has suffered, but to me…this is a quality of America that I love dearly
That when one city suffers a blow, we all feel wounded…
and express grief for our fellow citizens for the way the tragedy has impacted them…
but another quality that is so precious is the quiet way that we carry on life as the spotlight moves on and the wounded are left to choose Hope.
Go back to that picture of the plaque from Chattanooga…
maybe you just scanned it…
please take time to let the message resonate…
key in on these words….
“We did not riot. We prayed.”
“We did not lash out at easy targets for revenge. Instead, we invited each other into our lives, homes, places of worship.”
It is only through forgiveness and healing that our compassion for others will hold fast in these times of increasing violence.
To openly acknowledge that evil happened, but that we overcome evil with good.
In the words of the precious citizens of Chattanooga…
“…to respond to the unthinkable with the unbreakable”
May our God, whose Name was called on for the very founding of this nation…founded by imperfect people who have an imperfect history….bless us and unite us under His Name to overcome evil with good <3