The world has again been shaken by trauma. Many children will be distressed and confused by what they are seeing, hearing, or experiencing. Our children will be an important part of the healing moving forward but first, we have to bring a sense of safety to their world. The conversations we have with them now are as important for that, as they are for helping them grow into the adults the world is yearning for.
The richness and strength of our humanity depend on our diversity. That diversity has been written with love in ancestral script on our DNA. Whether it is racial, cultural, religious, or physical, any wounding to people because of that diversity takes a collective response to restore safety, fairness, and the celebration of what is. More than ever, our children need to be part of this collective response. This will start with us.
I won’t pretend to understand what it is like to live with racism and I won’t pretend to understand the issues. I want to understand, I am listening and learning, but I have a way to go. I also won’t pretend that I can fathom the distress that comes with systemic and historic injustice. What I can do though, is connect with the primal longing to feel safe and seen, and the bone-aching loneliness that comes from feeling ‘less than’ because of who we are at heart. I am also aware that there are only two forces in this world – love and fear.
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