This phrase has come
under scrutiny lately, called trite, overused, ineffective, insulting.
Yet, when Hurricane
Harvey hit Houston in August 2017, there was little more most of us could do
other than contribute money and goods, and offer our thoughts and prayers.
When the lone gunman
killed all those innocent people while they attended Sunday services in
November 2017, there was little most of us could do other than contribute money
and goods, and offer our thoughts and prayers.
Very few of us are
trained in rescue efforts or how to take down a shooter. If we tried, we would slow the efforts of
those who can, so we help in the best way we can. We offer our sympathy and our prayers.
Instead of on our knees
or offering sympathy, those who make fun demand instead that we should be on
our feet, marching and demanding change. Their displaced anger blinds them to
the fact that as human beings we need emotional and physical support as much as
we need food, water, and safety/shelter.
My knees are not only on
the ground, and my nose is not solely stuck inside my prayer book, I also keep
abreast of the news. I delve for
facts. I study the situation, what
caused it, and what needs to be done.
And I work toward it.
When I offer my “thoughts,”
they are not a vacant show of sympathy. I feel their sadness and trauma. I believe
in empathy, agreement, consensus, human need.
When I offer my “prayers,”
they do not come to an end with an “amen.” I believe in the power of prayer, spirituality
and meditation, its comfort and direction.
People are not won over
by bullying or denigration. I will not
be shamed into stopping from offering my thoughts and prayers.
It takes all of us to
offer the complete spectrum of needs that we require as humans.
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