Earlier this month, I posted those words on Facebook. I didn’t provide context at the time, but my uncle had just died. He had been undergoing cancer treatment for awhile, but he had recently moved from Arizona across the country to be with his daughter and grandchildren. They only had a matter of weeks together before the end of his life, and it was sudden and devastating. He was the second uncle I lost in as many months, and the double loss hit me hard.

Yes, March was a hard month.

Earlier this week there was yet another school shooting, this time in Tennessee. At this moment, 6 families are dealing with fact that their loved ones are never coming home, more victims of the ongoing surge of gun violence.

Yesterday, one of my kids had a close friend – someone they’ve been friends with half their life – abruptly end the friendship in a fantasically and unnecessarily cruel and mean-spirited way. It’s not so much the ending of the friendship (Friendships sometimes end. It’s an unfortunate but true reality) but the way it was handled that was just so mean.

I have a lot of feelings right now. Y’all, my soul is tired. But the prevailing thing I keep thinking is this: The world is burning right now, and this is how we treat each other? Everything feels very difficult right now, very heavy, very sad. And it’s always so strange to me how so many different thoughts and feelings and experiences can exist at the same time. The world is burning, and I’m still smack in the middle of the spring semester for school. The world is burning, and Everett is excitedly preparing to leave for Ireland in just a couple months. The world is burning, and Tegan is getting ready to record her audition videos for her National competition. The world is burning, and we’re looking forward to going to a concert by one of her favorite artists next week. Cancer, and evil, and the betrayal of false friends all exist. So do hope, and joy, and excitement. And we never know where someone is lying on the spectrum. We never know what someone else is going through.

Life is hard. And the only way I know how to deal with that is with more kindness. More softness. More grace. More listening. I get….. weary, for lack of a better word, at the state of the world at large. Especially on social media. Dear Lord, the comment sections! People can be so, so unkind. Sometimes it’s strangers (in which case, the delete and block buttons are handy), and sometimes, like this week, it’s close to home. I’ve said it already, and I’ll say it again: My soul is tired.

Please. Please, be kind. It costs nothing.