...peace and hope...

I happened to have my phone with me on my morning walk with Buddy, a fairly rare occurrence since I wasn't in the habit of grabbing it before rushing our puppy out the door to “potty.” Upon running into a neighbor also walking her dog, she began to recount to me the nightly news, which she had stayed up until 2am watching. Her conversation revolved around riots in North County. Looted stores.

A burned down QuikTrip.

My heart began to pound. Andy, who has been a night manager at QuikTrip for the past two years, was working in North County last night. Surely I would have heard if something had happened to him? Still, it was well past when he should have been home. I called, only to hear his voicemail and leave a message.

Refusing to freak out, I sat outside with the little puppy until Andy called and gave me details on his night.

As it turned out, it wasn't his store that was looted and burned, but his store was close enough to the rioting that headquarters decided to shut it down for the evening and move all the workers to a different location. With a personal touch, he rehashed the evenings events, the riots, the looted stores, the burned down QT, and his own fears from the previous night.

Not a great way to begin a Monday morning.

So, instead of going out on adventures, I have spent the majority of my time reading. Reading the news, reading editorials, reading blogs, reading posts and tweets, trying to understand. Then, I journaled out my own thoughts and reactions, in a vain attempt to make sense of it all.

I am a woman of facts. I can be moved by emotions, but I must first be swayed by facts and reason. Without the latter, the former is worthless to me. Much of what I have read has been jarring, mostly due to the fact that we are aware of so few facts. Then there are the troublemakers, only seeking to stir the pot with twisted logic, false reports, and misrepresentation.

Bitterness, pride, anger, resentment, fear...all these are playing into how everyone responds.

Compassion, patience, respect, understanding, love...all these are in limited supply.

Nearly two weeks later, and I'm not sure that I know many more facts than before. The facts that I do know are heartbreaking, for all involved.

I know many people that have been negatively affected by this issue, people that are choosing to fight back bitterness and work together toward something real and lasting. Perhaps, if these issues can be voiced and dealt with now, it will lead to a stronger more unified community in the future.

One can hope...

If you have the means and opportunity to help Ferguson, here is an article offering practical ideas.