Yesterday in Minneapolis, a young woman lost her life during an encounter with ICE agents. We don’t yet know all the details and much remains unclear. But one truth stands above all else: a human being was killed. A life was taken. A family is grieving. A community is shaken. And I believe God’s heart is broken…and ours should be, too.
It’s easy to rush to judgment in moments like this. But before opinions are formed and arguments begin – before we reach for conjecture, speculation, explanations, defenses, or debates – there is a space we need to honor…the space of grief and sorrow. At a time like this, the only faithful response is to pause and lament.
I believe every human being bears the image of God. Every life is sacred, not because it is useful or lawful or familiar, but because it’s beloved. When a life is lost – especially in a moment marked by fear and force, violence and power – we are first called to sorrow, not certainty.
This woman was more than a headline. She was more than a case number or a category or a political talking point. She was a human being with a name and a face. She was someone’s wife, someone’s daughter, someone’s mother, someone’s friend. She carried stories, memories, hopes, and dreams. Her life mattered as every human life does.
In moments like this, it’s tempting to retreat into camps and sides…to speak quickly, loudly, and defensively. But the way of Jesus demands something deeper and much more difficult: grace instead of cruelty, mercy instead of judgment, compassion instead of fear, love instead of indifference.
The prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures – the Old Testament – cried out over violence long before they offered solutions. Jesus wept at the tomb of his friend, Lazarus, before he spoke a word of power. And over and over, Jesus stood in the sorrow with those who were hurting. That says something important: grief should come before conclusions.
The Christian faith teaches us that lament is not weakness…it is sacred. It is how we honor the dead – no matter who they are or what they’ve done – and protect the living.
Today, I pray for this woman’s family and all who loved her. I pray for those who saw what happened and now carry the trauma of that experience. I pray for the agent who pulled the trigger and took a life. I pray for our cities, for our nation, and for all who live under the weight of fear…the fear of being seen, the fear of being targeted, the fear of not being safe. And I pray for us…that our hearts would not be hardened toward one another, that anger would not define us, that compassion would be stronger than division.
In a weary and hurting world, the faith Jesus calls us to remains the same: to resist language that dehumanizes, to refuse to look away from suffering, to show up with compassion, to speak with kindness, to act with mercy, to choose love when anger would be easier. In times like these, grace does not ignore pain. Mercy does not deny responsibility. Compassion does not mean silence. Love insists that every life matters and violence is never something to accept casually.
There will be time for reports and explanations. There will be time for policies and perspectives. But there is no expiration date on grief, and no justification that can make a death like this feel acceptable.
What we do in this moment matters. We can choose language that wounds, or words that heal. We can grow numb, or we can stay tender. We can let fear teach us who to hate, or we can let love remind us of who we are.
Our faith does not ask us to solve the world’s problems…it asks us to be human and to see the humanity in everyone we meet. To mourn with those who mourn. To protect the dignity of every life. To remember that God’s mercy is always bigger than our borders, our categories, and our fears. We can’t walk away from this, and we shouldn’t believe that this kind of loss is just the cost of doing business in a broken world.
Following Jesus Christ – and for that matter, just being human – means that every minute of every day we are called to choose grace…to choose mercy…to choose compassion…to choose love. Because every life is sacred. And because love – costly, courageous, persistent love – is still the only way toward healing. May God make us people who live like that’s true and may God have mercy on us all.