Jeanne Phipps: Holy week: Asking for help
I lament that violence ripped apart my community this past week.
How I long for that peaceful place I’ve lived in and loved for so many years,
Where violence is something that happens someplace else, not here.
I long for that cocoon where I, along with others hid and blissfully lived until now,
When reality hit us squarely between the eyes.
I lament the loss of that sense of peace we all felt.
In this Holy Week, I also remember,
That Jesus was born into a violent world,
A world where innocent babies were killed in mass,
Where political enemies were hung on crosses,
Alongside criminals,
Beside the main highways,
For all to see.
Yet he came in peace on a donkey,
A sign of peace,
And prayed,
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Oh, God.
Help me to be part of the solution,
To this senseless violence all around me,
To forgive as you forgive,
To love as you love,
Use me as your ambassador of your peace in this violent world.
Amen.
Jeanne Phipps
Longmont
Sharon Routt: Easter: Hope for change
We long for utopia, but it never lasts. In 35 centuries the human disposition of wrong choices that inflict harm on ourselves and others is proven over and over. Let’s face it, we need outside help.
Easter declares the work of a loving Savior – someone to do what we cannot. It rests not on human thought or governance but on a Being so vastly different from us, yet who miraculously loves us and calls us to follow. This good news is that we needn’t rely on ourselves to rectify the mess we are in. It does call us to seek Him, repent of our wretchedness and ask for help. He promises to forgive us if we ask, to save us if we seek Him and to empower us to change. Easter holds the answer to all the tears and sorrows, and provides the hope for real change.
Sharon Routt
Louisville
Tom Weis: Shootings: Search for our soul
The last one haunts my hometown of Boulder, a place that felt secure.
The last one claimed its innocent victims at my neighborhood grocery store.
10 beautiful people, killed for no reason, 10 who were there before.
10 beautiful souls, loved by so many, now walk the Earth no more.
All of them were my neighbors, any one could have been a friend.
Instead the hearts of their loved ones are broken in ways that may never mend.
What is wrong with U.S.?
Has this tragic scene become so familiar it is now just part of the American way?
Have we become so inured to senseless violence we can do no more than pray?
While appreciated, “thoughts and prayers” do nothing to stop the horror.
Must tragedy strike every town in America before we say no more?
May this be the moment when we decide as a nation to try another way.
It is time for the White House to convene a forum where reason has its say.
A bipartisan Town Hall on Gun Violence is what We the People are needing.
A national conversation to find common ground and ways to stem the bleeding.
Those defending the status quo of carnage a political price must pay.
The soul of America can no longer be held hostage by the likes of the NRA.
I’ve lit my candles, I’ve said my prayers, but I know I must do more.
I’ll start by not succumbing to dread, I’ll keep shopping at my store.
I’ll try to love better the people I meet there, I’ll be a little kinder.
And if we all search hard enough for America’s soul, maybe we will find her.
Tom Weis
Boulder
Barbara Miles: King Soopers: Part of our history
It was a big deal. A new store had just been built in the neighborhood. I was eleven or twelve. And at that age, your neighborhood is your world.
I remember the first time I walked into Table Mesa King Soopers. It was huge and shiny and new. The store soon became a hang-out, a place to spend what little money we had, and dribs and drabs of teenage time. Come high school, my friends and I would zoom down to King Soopers to buy snacks for our lunch.
A decade later, I would be carefully placing my newborn in the cart, tip toeing down the baby aisle to learn about products like diapers, wipes and Pedialyte. A few years later, I had one little, two little, three little kids of mine sitting in the cart, groceries packed all around as we zigzagged through the store.
Table Mesa King Soopers became an event, often the highlight of our day. Little fingers would point from the cart as we wheeled over to the bakery offering one free cookie per child.
At check-out, I made sure to have plenty of pennies in my purse. For that was the price of a pony ride, and the cost of a gumball. My kids looked forward to it every time.
As they grew, King Soopers provided their birthday cakes, the chips and sodas for sleepovers, and buttoners for their prom dates. The store seemed always open for late night emergencies like cough syrup, tissue or pizza.
Nearly fifty years have passed since I first walked inside. As an empty-nester, I push a much quieter, emptier cart as I meander up and down the aisles, reminiscing of grocery trips gone by. Thank you so much Table Mesa King Soopers – our friendly and dependable neighborhood store.
Barbara Miles
Boulder
Lisa Rowley: Sandcastle #BoulderStrong
We were walking on the beach in San Diego on Coronado Beach (Saturday, March 27) and saw this sandcastle – I thought the Daily Camera might like it and want to let the community know that we are all thinking of you and supporting you across the country. I grew up in Boulder and my mother still lives there.
Lisa Rowley
Newport Beach, CA