I went to my local farmer’s market here in the north woods of Wisconsin, feeling happy for the beautiful day and the chance to be a good local citizen—but the first words I heard were a guy saying “maybe they shouldn’t have shot seven times, but other than that I can’t see that he didn’t deserve it”— referring to Jacob Blake, shot in the back in Kenosha, in front of his children, a few days ago.  

This wasn’t said to me, I just overheard, and I didn’t know the person. So it was far from clear whether there was any way to respond that could help in the moment, since I suppose he was well inoculated against anything I would have said with FOX News and/or Trump tweet talking points. 

But it certainly ruined my day and made me fear for our country.  I made this reflection about it for a blog that my local church produces if you want to listen.

MBE standard notice: The time I spend on this blog is not in addition to a Twitter and FaceBook presence, but an alternative to it.  If you think anything here merits wider circulation, this will probably only happen if you circulate it.