Light A Candle For Democracy

My heart pounds. My eyes cry.
I have grandchildren who expect to grow up in a safe world. They deserve that. We promise them that.

But right now, in Minneapolis, that promise feels fragile—shaken by ongoing violence involving federal agents and civilians. In just the past few weeks, federal immigration agents have shot and killed at least two people during operations in the city, including a 37-year-old man in south Minneapolis this Saturday..

These are agents supposedly sent to “keep the streets safe.”
Yet people are dying on those streets.
Homes surrounded. Doors broken in.
Protests rising.
Tear gas deployed.
Tensions flaring.

America is at war with itself.

I see masked agents armed with weapons.
I see people in the streets trying to protect their communities.
I see Fear. Grief. Anger.

How did we get here?
What kind of anger drives people to strike before they listen?
What hunger for power requires another’s suffering?

And so I turn to the Monks’ Walk for Peace. I want to walk with them. Their message of compassion and love is where I find my calm. Still, I struggle. How does one remain compassionate now? How do I walk in quiet love yet insist on accountability for violence?

I want peace returned to this country I love—
not the absence of struggle,
but the presence of justice, dignity, and safety for all.

I want my grandchildren to grow up in a world where leaders protect life, not devalue it.
Where disagreement does not turn into violence.
Where service means safety for everyone, not fear for some.

This feels like a turning point. Democracy itself is at stake. Republicans have the power to stop this right now, and I am pleading with them to do so—before our country is pushed further toward fascism.

For now, I light a candle for Minnesota.
And for our country.
And I pray.

Sweet land of liberty.
Let freedom ring.

Walk With The Monks – Walk For Peace