In light of the recent unspeakable tragedy in Colorado, I feel the need to share something. I wish the my vocabulary housed the words to describe how baffled I truly am at the shooting of innocent people at that movie theater. I just had a gander at a thesaurus to see if there were actually any words to describe my sheer astonishment at how hateful people can be, there are no such words.
As Americans, we ask ourselves, "How could someone be so disrespectful of the freedom our ancestors, friends, and family have fought so hard to protect?". As humans we say "How could one person do this to another person, let alone a room full of families?". And as a Christian, my heart thinks "Where is the Love?". How has it gotten so out of hand that people sit at home and plan destruction on others? Psychologists and psychiatrists will clutch their pencils in their teeth and try and decode the human mind and behaviors and try to explain chemical imbalances people may have, but that won't appease most of us.
As a nation, we grasp at straws trying to find an immediate solution to the problem, but is there any? I read on one of the news websites, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York said "You know, soothing words are nice, but maybe it's time that the two people who want to be president of the United States stand up and tell us what they are going to do about it, because this obviously is a problem across the country." He goes on to suggest that the presidential candidates squeeze in "more strict gun laws" into their campaigns. I agree, I have always thought it was a little silly that guns are so accessible; however, guns are not the reason for the crime, it's hate. Take away the hate, you take away the crime. Bullying in schools comes from hating people you don't know how to accept because you yourself don't know who you are yet. Terrorist acts happen because one nation disagrees with another, but what happened to "agree to disagree"? The list goes on and the motive is always hatred.
Lady Gaga, however bizarre you may find her, has introduced one of the more productive campaigns, I think: Anti Bullying. Her angle is empowering youth and teaching them to accept and love each other for who they are and were born to be, and I so admire that. We're on the right track if we can teach our youth to be secure, courageous, and upstanding citizens because after all, aren't they the ones that will soon be adults? But what if we can try to share with today's adults that are filled with anger and bitterness and know not of this thing I call love. What love can do to your soul, how it can make you feel, how it can be passed on to others. This could truly change the world. Maybe if we try our best to infect the bad with the good, soon the bad will be fewer and harder to find. A little bit of light goes a long way in the dark.
As we pray for those families and friends of the victims, we keep in mind the other victims around the world that are suffering in many other ways today and pray for them as well. I hope everyone can savor each moment with your friends and family, co-workers and employers, even the little old man at the grocery store who always says hello to you, because we are not guaranteed our next breath. I know I need to work on this myself. It's not that I hate people, I just rush here and there and don't look up enough to make eye contact with people and give them a little smile. You never know what that person you just passed on the street might be going through, maybe your smile could give them hope.
I Corinthians 13: 4-13
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