19 Comments
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Susan Buttenwieser's avatar

Thank you Jami, this was beautifully written as always. I can't stop thinking about what happened yesterday either.

Audra B.'s avatar

The world is a hard place right now.

Karen Bryant Lucas's avatar

Yes. And I'm feeling despair over whether or not words have any power in such a world.

Audra B.'s avatar

I agree with Jillian. And what do we have to teach us what it was like in Germany in the 1930s and Europe during World War II, the words of people who lived it. And so many people then created real change with their words through books, pamphlets, leaflets, underground newspapers, etc. The words matter and have more power than the weapons.

Karen Bryant Lucas's avatar

Yes, I agree, words do have power. Especially stories. When we tell our stories, we shrink the distance between people, and nothing is more dangerous.

Jillian Bybee, MD's avatar

I think the fact that people are murdered, books are banned, and people try to erase or rewrite history shows just how powerful words are and, heartbreakingly, what lengths people will go to to destroy them.

Nathan Ingraham's avatar

Thanks for sharing this. I respect the mission you usually shoot for in these writings, and equally appreciate that sometimes you have to say something different for your own sanity.

Anna Baker Smith's avatar

Thank you. It's hard to know what to do and what not to do, but you expressed how you've been working with this well. Helpful.

Maureen O’Connor Saringer's avatar

Thank you for this, Jami.

Kalinda M Vazquez's avatar

Thank you for this post, Jami. Most needed today. 🙏🏽

JUDY REEVES's avatar

Thank you, Jami. My early dream was to be "Brenda Starr, Reporter." To me then, it was a romantic and adventure. Yesterday's events, and reports from other broken places shows the reality of the life, the work, the danger. My heart is broken, my idealism shattered, and still I want to write. Thank you for your writing and for this expression of compassion and prayer.

Judith Sornberger's avatar

Hi Jami, While on my walk with my favorite creature by my side, I prayed for those in Gaza who are starving. Although I've donated money to some relief organizations, it sounds like very little of it is getting through. But the journalists--yes, the journalists. Writers like us. Like you, I feel devastated and very privileged to be writing in safety and comfort. Thank you for this reminder.

Rene's avatar

Thank you Jami. I too thought about these writers yesterday and their bravery just being there. I also thought about the unspeakable cruelty as it was reported after bombing the hospital, planes turned around and went back to kill the reporters. It appears they don’t want anybody documenting what’s going on there. True or not, I pray every day that fresh food actually does get through to the beleaguered

people of Gaza and that more reporters and writers are brave enough to go there and report what they see.

Linda Dunn's avatar

Thank you very much for this beautifully written letter.

Elisa M. Speranza's avatar

Thanks for articulating what so many of us are feeling. As I put the finishing touches on my Katrina post and work on my novel some more, I’ll be thinking of those journalists. Seems appropriate, somehow.

Bo Roth's avatar

Thanks, Jami. I just donated to the Sameer project because of you.

Denise T's avatar

So much love to you for this - for all the words you offer always.