We have a family text thread that includes my husband and me, our son, Colin, who is away at college, and our daughter who is at home.  Last night we received a text from Colin that said “word is going around that Paul H. passed away today.” Paul is the younger brother of one of Colin’s close friends.  Sadly, we soon learned that it was true. Paul had indeed died by taking his own life. In our grief, we struggle to understand how this can be true. Paul was a senior in high school who did well in school, went to church, played sports, had a loving family, yet here we are with this tragic truth.  Paul is no longer with us.

Many of us are throwing up our hands in dismay these days.  How can we move through this time? How can we make our interconnection visible?  Some say that conversation is the answer, yet civil conversation seems to be a thing of the past.  Conversation is defined as “the informal interchange of thoughts, information, etc., by spoken words.”   I don’t know about you, but I’m noticing that very little information actually gets exchanged in the divisive climate we are in.