Finding Solace in a Chaotic World

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As the nation continues to grapple with issues of race and law enforcement, another video was released this week of an unarmed African-American being shot by police in North Miami, Florida. This time the victim, Charles Kinsey, a behavioral therapist, lived to tell the story.

In the video, Kinsey is seen laying in the street with his hands up in the air as his 23-year-old autistic patient sits next to him with a toy truck. Kinsey had been trying to get the man back to the group home where he wandered from, and despite telling the police repeatedly that he is a therapist and was trying to help the man, he was shot in the leg.  

"When he shot me, it was so surprising," Kinsey told local news station WSVN. "I'm like, I still got my hands in the air ... I'm like, 'Sir, why did you shoot me'? And in his words to me he said, 'I don't know.'"

In addition to senseless shootings, we've all been witnessing intentional acts of terrorism and political chaos around the world, and it seems there will be no reprieve from the endless stream of violent and destructive images any time soon. Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook says the way to strengthen oneself for the battles ahead is to find solace in the toughest of times.

Dr. Johnson Cook is the Obama Administration's former ambassador for international religious freedom, and the founder of the Pro Voice/Pro Voz Movement for Women.