The story is horrifying. But with that horror comes a compulsion to turn away in judgment, especially of the father, who was almost certainly mentally ill or had been exposed to a similar violence as a kid himself. In moving away from the father, we in turn move away from the son, whose eventual gang activity we will abhor, but who was surely shaped by such a moment and could have used our empathy the most to prevent the cycle from continuing. Kinship asks us to move from blame to understanding. Our practice of awe empties a room, and suddenly there is space for expansive compassion. “Walk in
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