On Monday morning one of my college roommates texted me: "I need to talk to you. Extremely important." One of our friends from the dorm where we lived as freshmen died suddenly on Sunday night. It still doesn't seem real.
On Tuesday morning I learned about the monster tornado that tore through Nashville and parts east. My entire family of origin lives in the Nashville area. I could tell pretty quickly that my parents and brother were south of the devastation, but I wasn't sure about my sister. She's fine, it turns out; no property damage, no people damage. But if I were the Weather Empress, I would ensure that monster tornadoes stayed a little further away from my entire family of origin.
On Wednesday my university decided that the coronavirus threat was enough of a concern to take action. (Vague vague vagueness, she said vaguely.) I was going to visit Alex over spring break, but Elwood and I had a sobering conversation about some of the small-tail possibilities, and I decided to stay home instead.
Today Elizabeth Warren dropped out of the presidential race, and I am sad about living in a world that seems bound and determined to tell smart women that they're not electable. "I couldn't stand her," said some middle-aged white guy on a friend's Facebook post about her post-Warren sadness. COME ON, middle-aged white guy; surely you can see this is not the place.
Tonight the Supreme Court permitted the execution of Nathaniel West to proceed. West was involved in the deaths of three Alabama police officers; prosecutors say he lured them to the house where a confederate shot them. He did not pull the trigger, and he declined a plea offer when an attorney assured him he wouldn't be sentenced to death. A divided jury sentenced him to die. The Supreme Court granted and then lifted a stay of execution. Nathaniel West died by lethal execution shortly thereafter.
This was not a pro-life decision.
So I am kind of wondering what tomorrow will bring. I was thinking about Psalm 91: though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, near you it shall not come. I know that's supposed to be comforting, but it also sounds like a lot of nearby carnage.
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