America is on fire in every way imaginable. Perhaps you’ve been affected by the catastrophic fires in Los Angeles or the Lahaina fire in Hawaii; you’re in New Orleans, recovering from the homegrown terrorist who killed and injured countless people; you’re still without a home in Florida and North Carolina because the post-hurricane disaster relief system is cracking under its own weight; you’re terrified to walk down the streets or ride the subways in New York, and you’re tired of having to ask the clerk to unlock the tube of drugstore mascara you’d like to buy, or crime and homelessness have escalated in your town, and 911 is slow to respond. 

Or like a week ago, Friday, when what I suspect were members of a South American gang came to install my new washer/dryer. They’ve set up a huge presence in my city.

At first, I thought the tattoos on their faces and down their necks were long skinny crosses, but on closer inspection, they were long sharp swords with individual drops of tattooed blood, dripping down their necks. I’ve lived in one of the largest cities in the United States since I was 11 years old, long enough to have come across some really bad hombres, up close and personal, and if the tattoos on the men in my kitchen were anything like the other gang tattoos I’ve seen—small teardrops near the outer corner of the eyes—then each drop represents the number of people they’ve killed. 

Neither one of these men spoke English, and it didn’t take long to realize they weren’t just installing my new washer/dryer. They were scoping out the art on my walls and the things they could see from my kitchen and my front door. 

Shame on America for letting them into our country, and shame on Lowe’s for hiring these men when there are lots of Americans who need jobs.

America has lost its way, and more than our cities are on fire, and regardless of your religious beliefs or political party affiliation, it’s time we come together before our country is taken away from us. This week on the news, I’ve heard a lot of Los Angeles residents say they’re going to stop voting for people just because they have a (D) or an (R) behind their name. Instead, they’re going to vote for people who have actual practical experience and will follow through, not politicians who continue to give them failed government policies and political rhetoric designed to pit us against one another.

Wake up America!

For some time now, America’s cancel culture has destroyed people who’ve talked about God and religion, and while you know I’m a woman of faith, I haven’t waved that flag in your face. But the world is on fire—literally and figuratively—and in real life end of days scenes of biblical proportion, great swaths of Los Angeles continue to burn to the ground. And when the embers die, what if the powers we’ve looked to for leadership and protection are proved impotent and ineffective, to whom do we turn?

Where do we seek the water to quench more than the fires? Where do we find the water to nourish our soul and renew our strength? 

I send each one of you my love and prayers.