Many are responding to cruelty and terror with powerful, beautiful, heartbroken love. Knowing our interconnectedness has blossomed into whole new ways of being community. Neighbor-love is the antidote to supremacy metanarratives that would rather trap us in division and isolation (among other things). Interrupt destructive narratives with the Good News of relationship.

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ONE

Jesus, aka, Immanuel/God-with-Us, reminds us that there is no division: we are related – connected – to everything. Experiencing/knowing our interrelatedness can lead to heartbreak, but it is also core to liberation and joy.

As young ones witness tragedy involving their peers, they are deeply affected.

We rejoice that Liam and his dad are home. Other kids are not.

We grieve the trauma they will carry.

The judge’s release order cites Matthew 19:14 and John 11:35, underscoring God’s grief when children are terrorized.

Help Littles process these enormous events and the enormous emotions they elicit:

  • Wisdom from Mister Rogers: Talking to Children about Violence in the Public Square (LeaderWise) is a great primer.
  • Love Finds a Way (Roaring Book) is a nod to Valentine’s Day that also reminds us of the importance of keeping our hearts open, even when loving our neighbors is heartbreaking.
  • Taking loving action can enhance our sense of connection and strengthen resilience. Friends-to-Friends is a one-time letter-writing campaign connecting young people anywhere with young people trapped in their homes. Learn more in our Great Ideas post or click the QR code on the flier. Runs through February 13, 2026.

TWO

It breaks my heart every time I hear, ‘ICE raids aren’t happening here, so my life hasn’t changed at all.’ Or, ‘What’s happening there doesn’t really effect us here.’

These are positions and choices of extreme privilege – a version of of supremacy culture’s ‘denial & defensiveness‘, ‘individualism‘ and ‘right to comfort‘/‘fear of conflict’ that reassert division: what happens ‘there’ or ‘to those people’ doesn’t effect me.

Paul teaches the opposite: we are ‘one in Christ’ (Gal. 3:28) and ‘when one of us suffers, we all suffer together’ (1 Cor. 12:26).

[See also: Ray Charles: None of Us Are Free]

So, right now, as ‘history is doing that rhyming thing again’ (Heather Cox Richardson) and When Love Thy Neighbor Is a Cry of Resistance (Rebecca Solnit), it’s crucial that what happens to others effects us enough to change our lives at least enough to ‘move TOGETHER and move NOW’. Because, ‘If Every American Did 3 of These 5 Things, ICE Would Be Stopped in Its Tracks‘ (Leona Waller).

[See also this week’s Great Idea, We Move Now Before It’s Too Late.]

THREE

The heartbreaking thing about being unaffected by neighbor’s being brutalized is that those unaffected then miss the transformational gift that is neighborhood bonding, trusting relationships of mutuality and reciprocity, love poured out, every minute of every day by people who were recently strangers. This is humanity at its finest.

This is church.

While every community and neighborhood develops their own way of being together:

FOUR

Truly reshaping our cultural narratives requires learning our history, acknowledging truth, and being open to transformation.

Black History Month provides an opportunity and Jemar Tisby (whose sermon was featured last week) provides an intergenerational triad of inspiration asserting that, ‘when the struggle for racial justice is discouraging, history can give us hope. These true stories from the past will inspire you to keep up the fight.’

FIVE

While the news cycle has moved on, per consumerist agendas, ICE agents continue to terrorize residents in the Twin Cities metro. AND, the world continues to race toward global catastrophe.

It’s a lot.

And the misdirection and smoke-screens (so to speak) are intentional. We are meant to forget and neglect our care of creation as we scramble to maintain human safety and basic human needs. Supremacy culture uses fear and scarcity to keep us looking out for ourselves rather than noticing others or the bigger picture.

Katharine Hayhoe calls us back, frequently, to the need for ‘collaborative and collective action’, most recently in ‘Climate Hushing’ – the Quiet Trend Undermining Global Climate Action (Talking Climate), confirming that ‘We know what needs to be done. It is not a failure of resources.  Global capital has never been more abundant… It is a failure of governments to align around shared interests rather than narrow advantage; of businesses to act as system-shapers rather than short-term competitors; and of leaders across sectors to share risk, and act in service of a common good.’

Interconnectedness.

SIX

In support of all of the above, and recognizing that daily life continues to hold regular patterns and challenges, parents may find wisdom in: