Writing about anything else seems unthinkable tonight. Though I live in Georgia, I consider myself a daughter of Charleston. I love that city so much. I spent my formative years in college there; I lived and dwelt in its streets for five beautiful years. I love its friendliness, its openness, its pure, unadulterated beauty.

What happened there this week…I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it. Less than a week ago, I rested my head a block from the site of the shootings. I go back there to “go home,” to pay homage, to pretend I’m young again, to revel in the city’s beauty. I am shaken by the senseless horror, the slaughter of innocents in their place of sacred worship.

I may as well confess that I suffer from depression and anxiety. And now, as I’m about to put Bear into a Bible school, and then into a Christian preschool, I cannot help but wonder at this decision…if he would be better off in a secular school, in a neutral place.

We have to decide…Christian or not…if we are children of darkness, children of indifference, or children of light. I am choosing—I am making a conscious choice—to be a child of light, and to raise a child of light.

May the hate of this world be overcome by light. May all of us—Christian, non-Christian, black, white, purple, polka-dotted, scarred, ignorant, hurting, healing—may we all carry these nine precious lives in our hearts. May we let their memories carry us through dark times, and may we let them inspire us. May we never let hate overtake us.

I pray their souls rest in peace and in the glory of their God. We are all in this together. Let us lean upon one another.