As a nation, we have to move forward: Your Say

Letter to the editor:

I pray, because I don’t know what else to do. I struggle to make sense of what is happening. We are still seething from the news of yet another senseless, baseless act of cowardice. As we are trying to produce enough saliva to swallow this coarse reality once again, we learn that another bowl has been prepared.

I pray for words to help ease the pain, though I know that even in the best dictionaries there are none. I pray for the wisdom to know that in the midst of this insanity something of vast importance to the elevation of all humanity has to be underway.

I pray for something to tell our children about the lie that is “the land of the free.” I pray for a way to prove that people are generally good when they’ve been given so many reasons to believe otherwise — in a time when their first role models are being taken down, and young black boys are being used for target practice.

I pray for words to help our children understand why we are in a war of words over if the lives that matter bears their reflection or just any other species walking on all-fours. Give me a way to convince our children that they hold a place on a higher rung of evolution’s ladder when White America says that they don’t.

I pray for our collective courage to admit, “this isn’t working” and hit the reset button. And I pray for the vision of what that looks like. I pray that we find a better understanding of ourselves, of our lives and of our power. I pray that we all learn to be honest with ourselves and with others about how we got in this situation — and open to exploring new ways of how we get out. I pray that we all have a voice in creating our next steps, and that we are all loud enough to be heard and quiet enough to hear.

I pray that we confess our hurts and vow to take responsibility for our own healing so that our pain does not become the pain of our brothers. I pray that we learn to love harder than we fight; that our vision is limited to only see what bonds us and leaves us blind to that which divides. I pray that we find the strength to not give up on one another, and that we find it in our hearts to forgive the unforgivable.

Lastly, I pray for this prayer to find its way into the hearts of all mankind.

Debbie Sullivan; Willingboro, N.J.

President Obama urged protesters to “maintain a respectful, thoughtful tone” after a week of deadly shootings — both of African-American men by police and of police officers by a Dallas gunman. Facebook comments are edited for clarity, length and grammar:

Police are there for everyone’s safety and security. It’s really disheartening, to have our own president not see the issue for what it is. Black Lives Matter, needs to stop protecting criminals. This world has no reason to continue to make excuses for all the bad elements in our society. If a “victim” has an encounter with the police and gets violent with them, the outcome seldom ends good for the “victim.” This is not a racism issue. This is a culture of criminals being considered innocent because of the color of their skin.

— Doug Buehler

People are satisfied with the staus quo. They don’t believe police brutality against the black community is a real problem, and they just want protesters to shut up. That’s not surprising. It’s the reason Black Lives Matter exists in the first place.

— Mike Spaeth