Saturday, December 15, 2012

My thoughts on tragedy

I vowed myself I'd stay out of this, but as a writer I found out I couldn't.  So much as been said already, no matter what side of the 2nd Amendment you sit on or the effects of video games on our youth or even the entire mental health issue.  I won't muddy the waters here with any of the rhetoric, as all that will happen is push everyone even further apart.  And that's not my intentions here.

In the quiet little community of Sandy Hook village, of Newtown CT, tragedy befell them in a big way--the last notable crime to have occurred there was in 1986, a crime known as the Woodchipper Murder.

Tragedy can--and will--fall upon everyone.  Even tragedy of yesterday's magnitude (and even larger, when you think of the 9/11 terrorist attacks).  My deepest prayers go out to everyone involved.  Mourn the loss of your loved ones.  Then, prepare to heal.

Since the beginning of Man, tragedy (large and small) has occurred.  And then people moved on to buidl stronger lives.  And it will in this case too.  You may not know it yet, but there will be someone--or many someones--who will emerge from this tragedy stronger than ever because of their involvement.  How many stories from 9/11 are out there, the individual stories of heros and heroines who fought the tragedy and won?  Just wait and see.

Less than a month ago, tragedy befell our small community: two houses away from mine, a madman entered a woman's home and tried to kill her.  She fought off the attacker and ran to the neighbor's house, where they called 9-1-1.  In the meantime, the cowardice killer took his own life.  I can honestly say that I'm proud of the neighborhood, and community, I live in that one would feel comfortable to go to the neighbor's house for help.

How's your neighborhood?

Do you know any of your neighbors?

Maybe what needs to be done in light of this tragedy is to mourn where it sees fit, then move to glueing this society back together.  Get to know your neighbors.  Then, when tragedy comes crawling into your life, you will have people who can help.  There isn't a day that goes by of how thankful I am for this community to pitch together when my wife was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Instead of pointing fingers and playing the blame game, mourn and pray for those involved.  Then move on.  Emerge stronger than ever.

It can be done.

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