“And every day feels heavy to me
I got a whole lotta fears that’s pressin’ on me
We got a whole lotta of years, that’s heaven to me
So I know
We good”

Meditation: Expressing Joy for Others, 14 minutes

All I want to talk about is Black Panther. Beyond the opportunities this week to show rather than tell those I care for how much I’m grateful for them, that movie is the thing that has sparked the most delight for me in the past seven days.

It’s all I want to talk about, but it isn’t the only thing that has happened.

I’ve run out of words to express my grief and frustration and anger over the unending gun violence Americans continue to endure. My response is to love more fiercely, more intently, more directly. And to hope that these young people, not yet old enough to vote, who have stood up in the aftermath of the Parkland Shooting and said, “no more,” will be undeniable.

This week’s meditation centered around being happy for others and their successes, whatever they may be.

“I’m happy for you, and I hope your life continues to be blessed.”

My mind turns to these children. These teenagers who just a few days ago were cowering in classrooms behind kevlar sheets while a young man, not much older than they are, hailed bullets upon them. These people who are burying their friends and going on CNN and organizing and speaking with such conviction that they glow like superheroes.

Will they save us? Why didn’t we save them?

I need to adjust the meditation.

“I’m sorry we didn’t protect you. I hope your life is blessed ever more in spite of our failings. I’m awed by your strength and I’m so happy you have it despite how mortified I am that you need it in this way at such a young age.”

We rightly mock the thoughts and prayers of politicians because we know they have the power to prevent this. This, though, is my prayer. It is not to some higher unseen power but to people right here living through real things even as they are unimaginable.

May I also marry it with action and may we all be each other’s heroes.