In a recent blog post, my colleague, David Livingston, wrote “Pastors are told to ‘afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.’ We are in a time when everybody feels afflicted.” [1] That last sentence sums up the past week, the past month, and the past year. It’s been a hard week for everyone who has had to relive the trauma of a sexual assault. [2] It’s been hard on people like me who did not realize the extent to which friends we know and love have been affected by sexual assault and abuse. It’s been a hard week for folks on both sides of our political divide. No one has won and everyone has lost. Tomorrow I’ll do my best not to afflict anyone.

[1] David Livingston, “A Plea From a Pastor,” Now and Not Yet, October 1, 2018, accessed October 06, 2018, http://bit.ly/2OL1OP2.

[2] Whether one believes the allegations against Brett Kavanaugh to be true our false, surely we can all agree and be sympathetic to the fact that having this issue lead the news has made this past week difficult for survivors.