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Saturday, December 15, 2012

Wish for Peace

This week has been marred by tragedy. First the shooting at Clackamas Mall, and today the shooting at a Connecticut elementary school, killing an entire class of kindergarten students and several teachers.

What is there to say, really. What the fuck is wrong with people? Who hurts innocent children? What went wrong? How can we fix this? Seriously, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?!?

I was glued today to the "breaking news" coverage, flipping between channels, pouring over social media, and trying to wrap my brain around what this means about us as a society, and what this means to me, personally. The most interesting report I read was an opinion piece, offering silence as the only reaction. At least, at first. Then maybe gun control legislature can be hot on its tail.

In the words of Edward Blum, posted on the Huffington Post, as read via my iPhone Pulse app:

"So as we mourn the many losses; as we hug our children; as we have our debates over gun control; and as we wonder where God is, perhaps we can think about what we say and what we do not. Perhaps in this moment "sigh" is better than childish theology; perhaps to remain attentively quiet is what God would ask of us - because that is what God seems to do too."

My heart breaks for the children, the teachers, their families. The ones who were killed and the ones who survived, living now with holes in their hearts. As a new parent, I am acutely aware of just how much more emotion is stirred following incidents like these (isn't that statement alone tragic? That I can I refer to these "incidents" in the plural?).

I can't help but think, "what would I have done? How might I be feeling? What can I do to better protect my daughter?" And I think the reason it's so hard to grapple with is there isn't much I can do, on an individual level, much differently. I can vote. I can practice kindness. I can model asking for help. I can use my time and my money and my voice in favor of the things I value. Love. Family. Open mindedness. Flexibility. Education. Understanding.

My Christmas wish? Peace. On earth. Overseas and at home. At our malls, in our schools, with our families, and in our hearts.

3 comments:

  1. Very well said momma kiss the bean for us!

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  2. I spent a good part of my morning holding my baby girl and bawling... helplessness is not a fun feeling.

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  3. Jo - you said it perfectly. Sometimes events like this hit me hardest a few days after the fact. The day of I felt stunned and just shocked. I thought - what the F. It was hard to listen to all the commentary on the news that day (and it continues.....). The last few days I've just tried to ignore it and not think about it. But today it hit me hard and I've just felt on the edge and I can hardly put Peter down.

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