My wife wrote this beautiful compassionate piece in her journal:
“In January we all watched as Minneapolis came under siege and its people were tested… to see how easily a city might fall to fascism. Would good people look away as people were abducted and imprisoned without cause? Good people did not look away. And even and especially after this, they not only didn’t look away–they were more active. Another white woman confronted an ICE officer in her car the day after Renee Good was killed. But so much more is happening… and me?
“So many days of rage and depression. The lows are so low. But then we get to see the contagion of courage take shape, and it lifts my spirit to a space that is not heaven or earth… it is the moments where hope actually touches despair and just for that moment you see that hope is more powerful. It has crushed me that people can be so creative in their cruelty. But then I see the creativity of care, and it soars. People standing shoulder to parka-covered shoulder in a human wall shielding parents picking up their children from school. People grocery shopping for terrified neighbors–and strangers. So much more…all in nearly zero degree temperatures. I go up and down with this from my safe distance. Someday soon I think my time will come. I ask myself, “Have I nurtured those moments of hope? Have I sunk into the feeling of soaring enough to sustain me for the future trials?” What is mine to do? When so many are giving so much, what do I do with my withered soul? I can’t answer that for the future. For now, I believe it’s to not let my compassion curl in, dry up, and disappear deep inside some safe cocoon. It’s my job to keep my heart alive so that love and care is available when it is needed. However big or small, care will be needed. So, take heart: Music, Art, Poetry, Stories, Doggies (animals), Self Compassion. Soak in it. Cocoon when I must–and I must–but stay alive whenever I can.”
Janathan Grace Reflections 
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