I used to be a professional singer. Five nights a week I filled rooms with melodies. Occasionally my voice would tire; you could hear the fatigue in my songs. The only remedy for this tiredness was to stop singing. After a few days’ rest, the sound would once again fill the space and energy would return.
Can you hear it now? The fatigue in my voice, the weariness after these long days since the Dallas shooting? The sadness and anxiety that I carry around for law enforcement officers, their families and others killed as a result of gun violence. Police and Fire Chaplains all over the country have been on alert, standing by, ready to support the very people sworn to protect and serve our communities.
My gravelly voice reminds me of a greater fatigue, a fatigue in my bones that comes from attending too many vigils for people killed by gun violence. I’m just plain tired.
I have decided that my voice is calling me to silence -- stop talking, start acting -- in ways that can really make a difference. We all know what some of those actions are.
Join the Rockford Police and Fire Chaplains vigil at Court Street Methodist Church in Rockford at 9 tonight. It completes Friday at 12 p.m. With the exception of some short reading, it will be silent.
You are all welcome to join us throughout the night. Come sit with us in the power of deep silence. Be reminded that, when there is nothing to say, say nothing.
I’m Lou Ness, and that’s my perspective
