With people fleeing from violence, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and others migrating to the U.S. seeking new opportunities, Thrive International officially launched on Monday with a mission to move local refugees and immigrants from surviving to thriving.

I sit here today wondering what words I can possibly offer, yet again, to the tragedy of children, killed by another youth using guns, at an elementary school.

Higgins said it’s through recognizing fear and using stories to tell ourselves and others about how those fears impact us that helps us deal with fear. Rather than leading to fighting, running or paralysis, it can positively motivate us in a new direction.

We re-awaken from this regular nightmare of guns and shootings and mass death, and as yet, we have not learned anything.

Lyell, a former vice president for Lifeway Christian Resources, the Southern Baptist publisher, whose life and career fell apart after she made her abuse experience public, doubts anything will change, even after the report. Lyell supported the abuse investigation but said it revealed only the tip of the iceberg.

Like most Americans, I grew up with a Memorial Day viewed as a long weekend at the start of summer season and not a sacred commemoration of the country’s war dead.