Last night I put a feverish Destroy to bed. This morning I hugged him tight and asked how he was doing. He wanted to watch Mickey Mouse. And when you’re recovering from a fever of 103.5, you get whatever you want. (Thems the rules in my house.)
I turned on the TV in search of the Disney Jr. channel. But the news caught my attention.
There had been a school shooting.
Reports proclaiming 27 dead on the other side of the country. Kindergartners. Kids who likely still can’t tie their own shoes.
Immediately my social media feeds began blowing up with words of sorrow, despair. Tears shed for those affected. Realizations that as a society we are ALL affected.
It wasn’t long after that the political rants began with calls for gun control. Vitriolic arguments between republicans and democrats devolved into rants about party ineffectiveness. “For anyone who says guns don’t kill people? Explain that one.”
So I shall.
Guns do not kill people in the same way computers do not write blogs. It requires intent behind the machine. And there is far more at issue in the diseased mind of someone who decides to kill the young innocents.
Do we need tighter enforcement? Perhaps. But today is not a day to rail at our neighbors. Let’s take a step back. For this moment let’s hold our children tighter – be they tiny or teenager. Today we mourn those lost to nonsensical violence. We mourn the circus our country has stooped to become. We celebrate the short time those children had to light up the lives of those around them.
A week before the alleged Mayan end of days, it gives me pause. December 21 is supposedly the end of a long era, as we transition to the rebirth of new time.
May the new age bring peace. With calmer minds we can gather and revaluate “what now?” No matter your political leanings or positioning, I think we all share the thought that today is not ok.
Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Thank you for being brave enough to say the patently obvious… being in possession of a gun does not automatically, presto changeo, turn anyone into a child slaughterer. I don’t think “gun control” will do anything — the Sandy Hook massacre was executed with licensed firearms. I think we need to re-think everything: perhaps 10 minutes ‘mandatory’ meditation, to learn to still the mind, and yoga classes to learn discipline, and a year of no ucky horror movies and a hard look at both mental health issues AND, heaven help us, pharmaceuticals. And, yes, extra hugs and extra Mickey Mouse.