Just got finished reading this piece and I have a few thoughts. First, let me say that I am a black American, a woman, a former member of the US Army, the daughter of a retired US Air Force Sr. Master Sergeant, and the mother of two former US Marines.
This article traces the very fiber of the conflict going on in the US House of Representatives. This article mirrors all that has been boiling under the surface of our now un-civil society. The attitudes thought processes and actions mirror exactly what is happening on a daily basis on our college campuses, at workplaces and in public schools all over this nation. I am surprised that it did not hit Ravelry sooner.
What bothers me most, as a former soldier, military dependant, and mother of two former Marines is that our ability to REASON and I did mean to put that in caps; is dying. Reason, compromise and the exchange of ideas are being blacklisted. One side is willing to reason, at least for now and the other side is not. The side that is unwilling to reason, exchange ideas, and talk, is pushing the side that is willing to talk, reason and exchange ideas to the breaking point!!!
This is dangerous indeed! Once the side that is willing to talk, stops talking and begins to act the way the other side wants them to act, then there is no backing out of that violent rabbit hole! If we want to keep what remains of our civil society intact, there is only one thing left to do and that is to pray. Yes. This old soldier says, get down on your knees and PRAY! If you are not in the habit and were at one time, then return to it. Yes! Everyone! Pray. I am a Roman Catholic who now understands that prayer is all we really have that makes any true and lasting difference in this world. The first thing it does, is change you. Yes, you the person. God acts thru prayer. I don’t know how. I don’t know why he uses this vehicle to amend this broken world but, he does.
Prayer causes us to slow down. It makes us concentrate on something more important than ourselves. It causes us to look at ourselves in all of our grief and sorrow, concern and worry and we can place those things at the feet of God and say what needs to be said. We can express anger and hatred and disappointment in prayer and question “Why Lord” This is good for us. We need to shout at God sometimes. I have done it. Don’t worry. He can take it. Just read the bible. So many stories in that book tell us of those who have screamed at God and he did not strike them dead. He is a big God. He already knows why we are screaming and, if we listen to his answer, he can remedy the problems.
I guess this is why I am writing this post. Only God can remedy Ravelry, Casey, Jessica, AOC, Trump, The US government, poverty, hatred, sin, death, and hell itself. But all of us must pray and ask God’s ever-present intercession each and every day. If we don’t, then, bloodshed is inevitable. There are too few of us who take what I am saying seriously. As a former member of the military, guns, bombs and fighter jets have limits and in the wrong hands they cause more problems than they solve. They have their place. But they are not what is needed in this time and space. A return to Christian belief lived out on a daily basis and a solid, steadfast faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ thru God the Father is all that will save this aching, blood-soaked world.
America is at a deadly crossroads and Ravelry was the canary in the coalmine. Some may disagree. But when knitters, spinners, crocheters, dyers, pattern designers, and other relatively peaceful crafters turn their crafts against one another in a kind of satanic hatred, vitriol and social violence, we are in much more trouble than we know.
Barbara Jackson Rickman
