Waves of Forgiveness
The driving force of Shaping our Future Together is to create a community through listening and dialogue on matters that concern us. We continue to shape SoFT’s digital space to converge and exchange ideas, opinions and beliefs about all that makes for human flourishing. A recent local tragedy has intensified my commitment to SoFT’s mission when the bonds of a diverse community where I work were threatened by a tragic shooting, on January 23, 2023 leaving seven dead and hundreds if not thousands grieving. Like a tsunami its tremors are still felt.
Half Moon Bay, CA is a small city ‘on the coast side’. It’s famous among surfers for the Mavericks-- large waves following a winter storm. A mountain range parallel to the Pacific Ocean isolates the coast side from the rest of the San Francisco Bay. This area spanning San Francisco to Monterey is the traditional land of the Ohlone, which early Spanish explorers named ‘costeños’. After the decline of the mission system, land was parsed out to settlers during the Mexican occupation of the territory. Later, when California was annexed to the continental US in 1848, settlers continued to arrive. Its temperate climate and rich soil made it ideal for farming and grazing cattle and its bay offered a secure fishing port. Today farmers, ranchers, artists, teachers as well as a growing business sector catering to tourists inhabit the town and surrounding area. More recently the option of working remotely has further added professionals of the Silicon Valley tech industry to the local community. The diverse Half Moon Bay population is one of its shimmering features-- like its bay on a sunny day.
The tragedy of gun violence that happened here is storming communities large and small all across America. Whatever policies should be in place should not obscure the reality that each incident has its own trajectory. In the case of Half Moon Bay, the victims as well as the perpetrator were workers on two of the local farms. Apparently the shooter felt he was being cheated. He then killed seven of his co-workers. Distressed, he turned himself in to the police. The underlining cause of his violent action remains shrouded in fog. But his living and working conditions brought attention to the deeper problems of the migrant farm population all across California.
First steps to address the needs of this community were swiftly taken in the days following the shooting. Longtime residents of Half Moon Bay used their business and communication experience to galvanize and encourage the stunned public. A prayer service and blessing was conferred on the sites of the shootings. Religious and civic leaders gathered with Half Moon Bay residents at a vigil to offer more prayers and calls to reflect and act. Finally, a community meal was hosted by local restaurants and served by volunteers. Over a hundred people of all ages and backgrounds were seated at beautifully set tables decorated with flowers donated by local nurseries. A fund for survivors was launched and meetings on how to resolve the housing shortage were mobilized. But it’s the small and beautiful gestures of solidarity that have set the pace and forged the path. Perhaps like changing tides.
Another quiet force of change has emerged—forgiveness. Forgiveness is like purifying water for the toxins of hate, revenge, and indifference. A relative of one of the victims recalled what he learned from his cousin; ‘ a friend, mentor and brother’, gunned down in the farmlands where they both worked. Speaking in his native language, with genuine kindness in his voice, yet conveying the pain of his insurmountable grief, he expressed his wish that the killer be forgiven--by all of us-- because "he will never heal if he doesn't know he is forgiven”.
SoFT is a community of people who are curious about what helps humans care about others in ways that strengthen and connect us. Forgiveness like understanding, cooperation, and solidarity is a necessary condition for a vibrant community. It can be as gentle as intermittent ripples of overlooking small annoyances. At full scale it’s as powerful as the Mavericks of Half Moon Bay. We may not always have it in our hearts to forgive heinous crimes that millions endure. But we certainly won’t be able to forgive on large scale if we don't forgive what annoys or irritates. Sometimes what offends us is caused by our own reality distortion fields. The capacity to forgive begins with cultivating the awareness and the response; ‘I see you, I’m listening, I care--and I forgive you’. The thunderous tragedy in Half Moon Bay and the acts of solidarity that followed in its wake reminds me of the clarion call to forgive.
Rachel Sherman Phillips, SoFT Co-founder