It is profoundly profound and
unspeakably devastating. The world
should stop for a minute. We should all
stop for a minute and feel this. It’s
unimaginable. It’s insane. It’s inconceivable. Yet it occurred. It wasn’t an act of terrorism outside our own
borders. It wasn’t a nefarious religious
cult. It was a lone neuroscience
student. A young man pursuing an
advanced degree. The whole world was
ahead of him and yet… something snapped.
And in that moment, or as a result of it, fans of a comic book hero who
with such eager enthusiasm lined up to be the first to see the latest
installation of their imaginary world had a very real and very terrible turn.
Our reactions are across the board. We each experience a form of grief no matter
how close to our own hearts or lives this truly touches us. Perhaps we blame the parents, the system, the
bullies that picked on him, or one of the thousand reasons that someone could
go down a path so very, very wrong.
We are left terrified and vulnerable. These tragedies can take place anywhere and at any time so we pull each other near, count heads and account for loved ones. We might take a moment to thank God it wasn’t
us, it wasn’t our child, it wasn’t our friend.
We feel sad, scared, outraged …something… for a moment and perhaps take
the time to voice that emotion as I suppose I am doing here. And then… in a day or two … we put it out of our minds. We go on back to our lives living them just exactly as before. We send our kids to school without a prayer that a gunman won’t enter
the grounds. We take ourselves to the
movies without an exit plan should an attack be waged. We shop, we drive, we work, we live ... and in
our prayers, should we have them, we rarely ask God to protect us from
well-armed men nor thank Him that we are home safe and sound.
The real victims, though?
Well, they won’t be going back to life as it was before. If they were spared their lives at all
nothing will ever be the same. As I
said, it’s unimaginable. They have had
their world permanently affected. They
will bear these scars until their end.
I have no answers – no solutions – no arms to take up to
prevent against the horror of an event like this. And while it’s hard for me to hear defenders of our constitutional rights to bear arms to bristle against those of
us that understand all too well that guns really do kill people, it’s not time
for that conversation either. The only palpable
thing we can do in hopes of preventing such atrocities, or to comfort those who have
suffered, or to ease our own fears is to show compassion. To everyone.
Rather than instilling fear and suspicion, we can encourage our children
to love first and judge never. We can teach
them understanding of others, tolerance of diversity (if not a love of it) and
perhaps to reach out a hand to those who seem alone or alienated in the hopes
that that one act of kindness could be just enough to make a real difference.
May God bless and comfort us all.
