Years ago, I used to send out a weekly note originally titled “Second Thought,” and subsequently called “Real Talk.” It was my attempt to speak to a wide range of people on topics that I found to be important at the time of the writing. Due to personal obstacles, I discontinued writing. Recently, I’ve thought about picking up where I left off, and I figure this blog to be the perfect forum. As with Second Thought (Real Talk), I will publish on a topic each Sunday. For those of you who follow this blog (Train of Thought), I will still post on other days, but Sunday’s will be dedicated to Second Thought (Real Talk). Note that I will change the name at some point in the future, since the term “Real Talk” is used so frequently these days.
Today’s topic is one that is most likely at the top of everyone’s mind. On Friday, September 14th, we all witnessed a horrific event take place in Newton, CT. Our kids are a most precious gift, and it still brings tears to my eyes to know that these innocent lives were taken in such a violent way.
I was reading a post on FaceBook about these killings, and someone used this instance as a justification that there is no God. How could a superior being who loves us, let something so terrible happen to individuals who have not even begun to live their lives. I understand this course of thinking, but I want to look at it a bit deeper. God, this superior being, is all about love…His son Jesus is about faith. How better to test your love of, and faith in, God than by hardship (I’m not going to go all religious either). But even beyond that. Let’s think about the bigger picture…or let’s imagine that God is thinking about the bigger picture.
Terrorist attacks, storms, and massacres….all of these things that sicken the majority of us, fail to make us see that loving one another is the only way. That peace, and taking care of our fellow man is what will sustain us. The bigger picture is that these little angels are sitting at the side of God in his kingdom. But whether you believe in God and heaven or not, the fact is, these 20 babies were sacrificed. They were taken, and your anger and sadness today, has to translate into something more; otherwise, the losses were in vain. Some say gun control is what’s needed. Others turn to the handling of mental illness. Whatever the debate, the bottom line is about how we treat one another. The bottom line is, what we identify as important. We live in a world where we know what’s right and what’s wrong…and we know where we need to have some serious debate. Yet, we tend to lock ourselves in our own little world and live life as if it revolves around us.
I hate to say it, but acts like this will be repeated…over and over again, until we take a stand. Good outnumbers evil by a long shot, but evil is much more motivated. We have to change that. Doing good, and seeing good done has to take a more active role in all of our lives. We are not always going to agree, nor do we need to. But for those of us who have good in our heart, we can’t let conflict turn to unnecessary violence. We have to take better care of one another. What that means in practical terms??? I don’t know. I don’t have all of the answers. But we can’t continue to be helpless. We can’t continue to complain about our situation, but offer no solutions. We can’t continue to let hate, distrust, and misunderstandings be the things that motivate us. It starts with you in your personal life. With showing those close to you how much you love them. Teaching them to love and commit selfless acts. It’s not an easy thing to do, and it takes work and practice. You will find yourself “back sliding” from time to time. But if you continue to work at it…not giving up on yourselves or others, you will get there. Donate to charities, volunteer to help others who are less fortunate…say a nice word or two to unsuspecting people. I don’t know, but something has to be done. Just my thoughts…and I’m not above this advice. I have work to do as well. I pray that I’m successful.
Names of those lost:
Charlotte Bacon, 6
Daniel Barden, 7
Rachel Davino, 29
Olivia Engel, 6
Josephine Gay, 7
Ana M Marquez-Greene, 6
Dylan Hockley, 6
Dawn Hocksprung, 47
Madeline F. Hsu, 6
Catherine V. Hubbard, 6
Chase Kowalski, 7
Jesse Lewis, 6
James Mattioli, 6
Grace McDonnell, 7
Anne Marie Murphy, 52
Emilie Parker, 6
Jack Pinto, 6
Noah Pozner, 6
Caroline Previdi, 6
Jessica Rekos, 6
Avielle Richman, 6
Lauren Russeau, 30*
Mary Sherlach, 56
Victoria Soto, 27
Benjamin Wheeler, 6
Allison N Wyatt, 6
Train of Thought 