I watched part of a video interview with Daunte Wright’s parents yesterday. I couldn’t sit through the whole thing. His mother was distraught and his father was noticeably and understandably angry. I am not sure why they agreed to be interviewed. I don’t understand why the news organizations are seeking these interviews. This family obviously needs to time to grieve.

Derek Chauvin is on trial for the murder of George Floyd, just a short distance away from where this young man was shot. The murder of George Floyd wasn’t even a year ago. The accused murderer is still on trial. The city, even the nation, is still reeling from the first tragedy. Now, we are reliving it in the courtroom. And another tragedy follows.

This is a pattern in American History. We do not give ourselves time to mourn one tragedy before another besets. There are mass shootings after mass shootings. There are political assassinations, racial violence, and economic crises, with barely any space between them. Sometimes, it seems they are happening all at once.

In 2020, we were all told to basically go into our houses and stay put. It was like the world was put in a collective “time-out”. The purpose of time-out is to make you be still, to think about what you’ve done, and to encourage you to make better choices. Did we do that? Nope!!! There were more mass shootings in 2020 than in prior years. We didn’t take the time to grieve. Instead, we spent that time creating more grief.

I felt for Daunte’s parents last night. I saw his understandably angry father, trying his hardest to hold it together. I saw his inconsolable mother weeping uncontrollably. This is what America looks like today: A mix of anger and tears, and unfortunately, I don’t know if we’ll ever have time to mourn.

The Bible says to everything, there is a season. I can’t help but feel like this season is lasting longer than it should. The Bible also tells us to mourn with those who mourn. That’s what I’m doing today. I am grieving as one who has hope…even though hope feels hard right now.