<p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary" href="https://bit.ly/Crux-Community"><span>JOIN THIS COMMUNITY $8/YEAR</span></a></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lTnS!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dbfbda4-4943-4c18-9834-3fe23bb56881_2048x1536.jpeg" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><source type="image/webp" /><img alt="May be an image of xray" class="sizing-normal" height="1092" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!lTnS!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0dbfbda4-4943-4c18-9834-3fe23bb56881_2048x1536.jpeg" title="May be an image of xray" width="1456" /><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg fill="none" height="20" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="1.5" viewBox="0 0 20 20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2" fill="none" height="20" stroke="currentColor" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><div class="pullquote"><p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own and do not represent those of my employer, any affiliated organization, or any institution with which I am associated.</strong></em></p></div><p><span class="mention-wrap"></span> asked, “<a href="https://jspark3000.substack.com/p/when-is-our-grief-political-the-answer">when is our grief political?</a>”. His answer is always and I believe he is right. Photos like this remind us that colonization, and its enforced patterns of segregation and stratification were exceptionally effective. </p><p>A friend posted the photo above and wrote:</p><blockquote><p><em>An officer fired rubber coated bullets at people who were protesting. One rubber coated bullet hit a child in his eye. The rubber coated bullet shattered his eye and pushed what was left into his brain. The rubber coated bullet passed through the brain and settled against the inside of the boy’s skull. This is a lithograph of the X-Ray of the skull of the lifeless little boy who was murdered by the government.</em></p><p><em>Some of you might ask if this happened in Syria, Libya, South Africa, Haiti or Myanmar. Or the USA. Or Gaza. Another child is dead. </em></p><p><em><strong>Does the location and nationality of the child matter?</strong></em></p></blockquote><p>The answer to that question is also “yes” because our grief, anger, sadness, rage, compassion and empathy has been put through the sieve of supremacy. Hierarchies of domination strain out the humanity of those who don’t sit atop throne of race, class, gender and environment. So exactly whose head was hit by this matters because we don’t know if those people are worth our tears.</p><div><hr /></div><div class="digest-post-embed"></div><div><hr /></div><p><strong><a href="https://thecrux.substack.com/p/empathy-isnt-toxic-or-sinful-it-is">We must stand ten toes down on the truth that empathy isn’t toxic or sinful but the fruit a deep relationship with Jesus. </a>I want to go further and say that a lack of grief is at best a sign of our emotional unavailability and at worst a signal of our bigotry.</strong> If this child is from Gaza or Israel, Bel-Air or Compton, the East Side or the South Bronx, our hearts should ache because that was somebody’s baby. But they don’t. Their zip code, income, past actions and context matter more than the reality that they are made in the image of God.</p><p>We are processing images of horrific violence in our social media, movies and TV, while swiping past family photos, celebrity gossip, and advertisements all in the same feed. The very screen that is streaming the genocide in Gaza and ICE raids across the country is showing us deals on Temu, Amazon and niche retailers. This is not the way God intended us to relate to one another or our stories. Yet, the constant invitation from our dominant culture and contexts is to flatten, simplify and bifurcate. We must remain soft, open and curious so that can be kind, gentle, and loving. </p><p class="button-wrapper"><a class="button primary" href="https://thecrux.substack.com/p/our-grief-is-always-political-593?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share"><span>Share</span></a></p><p>Even as things grow more intense, we must intensify our commitment to non-violence and resist the normalization of cruelty. As things grow more threatening, we must double our intentions on being gentle and kind. As things grow more hateful, we must cultivate a profound love within us. Lest we become the very thing we are warring against.</p><p>Our grief is political because we are social beings not autonomous drones. My life and liberation is bound up with your thriving or poverty and how we decide to share or hoard the resources and responsibilities we have is the essence of politics. So the first thing I will choose to share today is the space in my heart for your pain. </p><p>Whether you are grieving your loved ones held by Hamas in Gaza or the loss of your family line in the Nakba. Whether you lost your sibling to police brutality or in the line of duty. Whether you hold your child who has passed on in a wealthy suburb or in pieces in a bloody shroud. By God’s grace I will enter in because Jesus was a <a href="https://biblehub.com/esv/isaiah/53.htm">man of sorrows, acquainted with grief</a>, so too it shall be with me. So too it must be for anyone who claims to follow Him. </p><div><hr /></div><div class="digest-post-embed"></div><div><hr /></div><p><strong>Let me know what you think! I look forward to the conversation and comments because our screens make us into lonely consumers but God made us to be a vibrant community.</strong></p><p>– jonathan</p><p></p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://bit.ly/BeautyAndResistanceAMZ" target="_blank"><div class="image2-inset"><source type="image/webp" /><img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="1500" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!diQp!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F7cc912c3-2984-4d77-b4b7-0da370c5829e_971x1500.jpeg" title="" width="971" /><div class="image-link-expand"><div class="pencraft pc-display-flex pc-gap-8 pc-reset"><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container restack-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg fill="none" height="20" stroke="var(--color-fg-primary)" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="1.5" viewBox="0 0 20 20" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><g><title></title><path d="M2.53001 7.81595C3.49179 4.73911 6.43281 2.5 9.91173 2.5C13.1684 2.5 15.9537 4.46214 17.0852 7.23684L17.6179 8.67647M17.6179 8.67647L18.5002 4.26471M17.6179 8.67647L13.6473 6.91176M17.4995 12.1841C16.5378 15.2609 13.5967 17.5 10.1178 17.5C6.86118 17.5 4.07589 15.5379 2.94432 12.7632L2.41165 11.3235M2.41165 11.3235L1.5293 15.7353M2.41165 11.3235L6.38224 13.0882"></path></g></svg></button><button class="pencraft pc-reset pencraft icon-container view-image" tabindex="0" type="button"><svg class="lucide lucide-maximize2 lucide-maximize-2" fill="none" height="20" stroke="currentColor" stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" viewBox="0 0 24 24" width="20" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"><polyline points="15 3 21 3 21 9"></polyline><polyline points="9 21 3 21 3 15"></polyline><line x1="21" x2="14" y1="3" y2="10"></line><line x1="3" x2="10" y1="21" y2="14"></line></svg></button></div></div></div></a></figure></div><p></p>