Missy's Musings

Of course, I am not against police , for heaven's sake, I have family members and friends who are police officers and deputies. Law enforcement officers whom I love, respect, and know to be honest, fair, kind, upstanding members of our society. And, to my friends and families who don't understand why people in every state and across the world are protesting. Many of whom have said they are appalled at what happened to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, and the countless others, BUT. BUT. That one word is actually the problem. This is what seems to happen every.single.time it is uttered. The argument goes something like this, "Yes, ____ death was absolutely wrong, BUT. That BUT , negates any acknowledgement of a systematic problem. That BUT allows the status quo a free pass because the person always thinks in terms of exceptions. What about the IF . That argument goes something like this. Well, IF _______ had _________, then

Yes, this will be an uncomfortable read for some.  That's okay because being uncomfortable is not the same as being dead, or mourning the loss of a child, or trying to survive another day. Seek to understand where the rage in coming from (no, I do not condone riots or anything that perpetrates violence or hatred) but I do understand that the frustration has been building forever.  Consider this... Martin Luther King, Jr . I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. […] in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. […] (America) it has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. […] Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention. Remember MLK, Jr's Letter from a Birmingham Jail was written to a white audience. There is so much we, white people - privileged people based on the color of our skin, have no way of understanding. Since the beginning of our American history,

We have all had these life-changing moments, when we choose to forgive or ourselves are forgiven.  Either is freeing, but the thing they don't tell you is that there will be seasons when you will need to forgive that person who wronged you, yet again, or seek inner forgiveness from your own actions. Life is complicated like that. But I think that the hardest thing is to be told you are forgiven when you don't know what you have done wrong.  You can guess, but you aren't really sure.  And, when the person doesn't want to share from what action or inaction you are forgiven, you are left forever wondering. Now comes the even trickier part, how does one forgive the person who is currently causing you great anguish by forgiving you of the "thing that must not be named."  Seriously, living and loving in this world can be incredibly hard. I come from a long line of people who don't share what really happened, whose family housed many secrets, ge