Last week — the week when Alton Sterling was fatally shot by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile was fatally shot by police in Falcon Heights, Minnesota — I had my monthly book club meeting.

The two events may seem entirely unrelated: Alton Sterling and Philando Castile were both young black men in their 30s; my book club is comprised of seven white women in their 30s and 40s. But this month, our book club was discussing my reading pick, the book Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Click here to continue reading this week’s “Faith in Vermont” column in The Addison Independent.

(I was actually all set last week with a “Faith in Vermont” column about pediatric dentistry in Vermont, and then I came home on Thursday night — after a brutal day of getting ready to go on vacation in two days and getting ready to move houses in three weeks — and I had to write this. I wrote it very tired, very raw, and way too late into the night. I think it may be one of the more important things I’ve ever written. But don’t worry — you’ll see the pediatric dentistry column in the near future, too. Because, in my circles, pediatric dentistry is a pressing issue….)