What to Say?

What to say on this day after the worst mass shooting in U.S. history?  What can bring any kind of comfort?  Do I believe that U.S. hearts can change?  If the massacre of children in an elementary school can't make us change our approach, what makes us think this massacre will?

What to say on this day that the U.S. president will visit Puerto Rico, an island still suffering so much from a historic hurricane?

What to say as we hear about the death of Tom Petty?  We know that gifted artists will leave us every day, some of whom we will know, and most of whom we will not.

How do we keep our souls from sinking and strangling under the weight of so much bad news?  Day after day of bad news?

These are the days that remind us that we don't always have to speak.  When there are no words, let us choose silence.

Let us light our candles and remember our dead:  the souls, the dreams, and every hope we had for something better.  Let us sprinkle yeast on the warm water and remember that we can't see the bubbling life that will come.

Let us sew our seams, even when we feel ripped and shredded.  Especially when we feel ripped and shredded.