Praying for Peace in a Bloody Hour
That week represented one of the darkest series of events I remember in my lifetime. First on Tuesday, police in Baton Rouge, La., shot Alton Sterling to death. Two days later, Philando Castile was shot by a police officer after being pulled over for a busted headlight in Minnesota. His death was streamed live on Facebook by his fiancé.
The next day, a peaceful protest was organized in concert with the local police, where heartbroken Americans gathered in downtown Dallas to mourn and voice their objection to the horrific violence. As the rally reached its ending point, a sniper opened fire at the crowd, specifically targeting white cops. By the end of the night five police officers were dead and seven others wounded, making Thursday night the deadliest event for law enforcement since 9/11.
The violence in our nation is spiraling out of control, and we need answers; because it's in these times of extreme tragedy the worst and best in people comes out.
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The worst in us is our self-centeredness. We live in a culture where individual desires are pursued at the expense of everyone else's desires. Each of us has placed himself at the center of his universe.
The best in us is the proclamation of our dependence on God. "In God We Trust" — one of the foundations of our nation — is printed on our money, but in all reality, God has been minimized to a tagline.
