Orlando. I\u2019ve been staying off social media this week because I just can\u2019t do it. I want to know what the world is discovering about the tragic shooting at the Pulse nightclub on June 12 \u2013 but I can\u2019t handle the politicizing of some of the people in my network.<\/p>\n
Do you feel the same? My Facebook and Twitter feeds are full of accusations, of people being angry about accusations.\u00a0\u00a0 Guns are the problem, guns are the answer. Religion is evil, religion is the answer. Fear everyone, fear no one.<\/p>\n
The pockets of love and mercy are getting drown out and I just frankly can\u2019t read that anymore.<\/p>\n
Especially when I realize that people in both my virtual and my physical community are suffering too.<\/p>\n
Orlando is 10 hours drive, but I\u2019m still just degree or two away from the tragedy. One of the victims went to a school down the street. He graduated last year. He worked at our Kroger store. He was active in the youth group at a local church. He loved theater and choreography. His last pictures were of him doing what he loved \u2013 dancing, just 90 minutes before his breath was taken. Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo was only 20 years old.<\/p>\n
Did I know him? No. Had I interacted with him? Likely.<\/p>\n
What does it mean to my day? Well, that all depends.<\/p>\n
I tried to give blood yesterday, but I was turned away because of my iron level not being high enough. Apparently one of my ways to serve my community this week is to eat more lentils, spinach and dark chocolate. I\u2019ll try again later this week.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll pray for the 50 names on the list of those who died. Yes, the 50, because there is one family who is likely in shock and there is a 3-year old child who will now live life under the shadow of the acts if his father. There are still people in hospitals that still need prayers and blood. There are churches that are trying to meet the needs of grieving families. There are counselors, nurses, funeral home workers and florists who are serving the community.<\/p>\n
I think Romans 12 says it well: \u201cLet love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another is showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.<\/strong> Live in harmony with one another do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.\u201d<\/p>\n I think this is a great guide. This is full of action verbs that I can\u2019t handle not being able to act \u2013 and perhaps the best way I know to act is to realize that tomorrow isn\u2019t promised to anyone.\u00a0\u00a0 There are people that I love, and I need to let them know that they are loved, accepted and respected. I need to live considering the sacredness of each moment. And I need to give where I can \u2013 money, support, hope, and especially love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Orlando. I\u2019ve been staying off social media this week because I just can\u2019t do it. I want to know what the world is discovering about the tragic shooting at the Pulse nightclub on June 12 \u2013 but I can\u2019t handle the politicizing of some of the people in my network. Do you feel the same? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[45,52],"tags":[73,74,69,70,71,76,72,75],"class_list":["post-62","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-thoughts","tag-compassion","tag-omar-capo","tag-orlando","tag-orlandostrong","tag-orlandounited","tag-romans-12","tag-tragedy","tag-weep-with-those-who-weep"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8fdt8-10","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/wandertruenorth.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/orlandounited600x300.jpg?fit=600%2C300&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=62"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62\/revisions\/65"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/63"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=62"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=62"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wandertruenorth.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=62"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}