Apparently, today is the International Day of Peace. I learned this on the facebook, as I learn about most other random holidays and special days. Upon a quick google search, it turns out the IDP was created by the United Nations as a day dedicated to world peace.  Funny, it doesn’t feel especially peaceful today. It feels like a calm before a storm.

I feels like the shooting of Kieth Lamont Scott in Charlotte, NC, not a day of peace. It feels like the aftermath of the shooting of 40 year-old Terrence Crutcher, an unarmed black man, shot by a police officer who has been taught to fear.

Today does not feel like a peaceful day. But for me, there’s no reason it shouldn’t.

Here I am, sitting in my office, on the Magnificent Mile, with a view of a fountain, as tourists come walking through taking pictures. I have a cup of coffee, books, a fish tank, some keys, and some photos of me and my wife on my desk. I hear the sound of honking as cars and cabs drive by. I have my computer, this blog, and my iPad open. Today, my day consists of planning a lesson for Sunday morning, packing some first aid supplies for a retreat, doing some reading and some emailing. For all intensive purposes, my day is peaceful. And I could live into this, except that I cannot.

I cannot feel peace while unarmed black bodies are shot in our streets. I cannot feel peace when Donald Trump is a presidential nominee. I cannot feel peace when our country limits the amount of refugees that it allows in. I cannot feel peace when thousands of people are wrongly convicted in our judicial systems. There are so many reasons I cannot feel peace.

I cannot feel peace today, and I am fine with that. Because if I felt world peace, then it would be a lie.

I hope on today, the International Day of Peace, that you do not feel world peace. I hope you feel the absence of peace in our world.