Its bright sunny and hot in Louisiana today. But my heart is filled with grief and the color gray.
This weekend has been a grim reminder to not take a moment of life for granted.
Just yesterday 20 people went to Walmart, to grab laundry detergent, cereal, and pencils and notebooks for the upcoming school year for their child.…they didn’t make it home.
Before the nation could even process the grief, join in the SAME OLD social media battles, 9 more people went out to have a drink, meet up with a friend, or maybe just people watch and were murdered.
I’m not touching all the others who have been hospitalized, are still hospitalized and have a long rehab road ahead of them. But as a therapist who has worked with gun-shot wound victims, they are not lost
on me. I know the battles they have ahead well. (I wrote about this in a post HERE. This is also my 4th post about mass shootings, four too many.)
You know the stories. You’ve read the headlines. The question I ask, is truly, really what can I do? Me personally, right here and now.
Yes, we can vote and pray. I do these. I believe in Jesus and God and I know God will ultimately bring justice to those who have taken these innocent lives. I cannot understand how, but I know he will, because His word says so.
But it seems more and more, I am reminded to not take a single moment for granted.
Because I never know when I will attend church service, or a movie, or a bar, or a grocery store, or Lord forbid send my
child to school and the place be shot up without warning.
We are living in a tragic time where people feel their “second amendment right” is more important than life itself. And many politicians still value NRA money more than public safety.
There are no words to capture this. It’s sickening.
Gun control is NOT taking away everyone’s gun. Gun control is an initial step toward keeping guns (let me be specific and say assault riffles) out of the hands of people (seems to be white young boys – I will not use the word men) who are sick.
AMEN.
So today, as I shed tears for all the families who will never see their kids, parents and siblings again. For all the people who lost their best friend, or a coworker or acquaintance. I will remember to be thankful, because for this moment I have mine.
People like to say mass shootings are statistically rare. This statement is quickly becoming outdated.
We are to the point of counting hours in between events rather than days. To the point of thinking that a body count under double digits is “good.”
How disturbing, America.
Hold your loved ones close. Give hugs. Text a lot. Call your mom. Don’t take a moment for-granted.
And to El Paso, Dayton, Virgina Beach, Aurora, Thousand Oaks, Pitsburgh, Annapolis, Santa Fe, Parkland, Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Burlington, San Bernardino, Roseburg, Chattanoonga, Sandy Hook and every city I missed, there are no words for your grief. I am distraught for you.