Like so many of us, I am sobered, stunned, shocked, and suffering with the continuing onslaught of horrific political news.  And yet this morning I experienced the gift of coming together with a group of 72 people from around the world led by Russell Delman to celebrate our personal embodiment as well as to be part of a field of people who unite in the cultivation and sharing of Love and Compassion.

Today we grieve the murder of Renee Nicole Good, murder by ICE agents as she attempted to comply with their orders. She was a legal observer volunteering to help protect vulnerable immigrants, a mother of three children and an award-winning poet. Her youngest child, 6 years old, is now orphaned.

Both Pam Bondi and Donald Trump defamed her immediately following her death, labeling her a domestic terrorist and making gross misstatements about what actually took place. The facts are available for all to see.  Their lies are exposed.

As we grieve, we unite and fight, with “effortless effort” as Dogen, the founder of the Soto School of Zen in Japan, put it, with the ease with which a bud rises, emerges, and graces the world.