Alka's Angle

As you know we have Anti-Racist Prayer Vigils scheduled for the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays at 6:00pm. Rev. Joy Strome of Lakeview Presbyterian Church and I felt we needed to hold that space in the wake of all the Racist killings we are experiencing around us, lately focused against us Asian American people. It saddens me to even think that we felt the need to hold the prayer vigils against racism, twice a month. Hatred against other humans, beliefs and ideologies seems to have taken over our world. The unrest in Israel/Palestine is the most recent reminder of this sad reality. Now, I know that this is a sensitive subject, especially because several mainline religions, including Christianity, find their roots in Israel. So, I am absolutely not speaking of religion here, but people -- the people of Israel and Palestine. The recent unrest and the strong sentiment expressed against the Palestinian people forces me to speak up and speak out.

Re-Imagine! That seems to have been the word for most of the world these past 12 months or so -- as we all have been learning to do things differently, because of the pandemic.

Interestingly, it even moved us to make changes that we never desired to make or thought we could.

While the impact of COVID is lesser with each passing day here in this country, it is far from managed in many other countries. India and Brazil have seen the highest number of confirmed cases, followed by France, Turkey and Russia.

We all sat at the edge of our chairs and at least I could not pay attention to much of anything else. There was anxiety and also a hint of uncertainty. I hoped we would hear what would be fair and at the same time I was bracing myself for the worst! So, the news came as a sigh of relief -- albeit momentarily.

It seems like I have not talked to you in a while and there is so much pent up that needs to be shared and discussed -- so much in our world that needs a response to. We woke up this morning to yet another mass shooting, this time in Indianapolis.