Tragic. Horrific. These are just two of the words I've used to describe the shootings in Arizona today. We don't have all the details yet. All we know is that several people are dead, including a little girl who happened to be born (by reports) on 9/11/01. A Federal Judge is dead. A Congresswoman may or may not be dead. She suffered a gunshot wound to the head. There have been conflicting accounts as to whether or not she survived. The scene must have been incredibly frantic and I can't imagine how those people felt, knowing that they were under attack.
The controversy is mounting as to the motivation behind the attack. The news media is doing its best to feed the public lust for facts concerning the shooter. The few sketchy details released so far have revealed only a few rambling, nearly incoherent postings from social websites. Where can we place the blame? We may never know.
We may never know because it is senseless. It is not predictable. We didn't wake up this morning and expect this to happen. But...
...did we do everything we could to prevent it from happening? I'm going to go out on a limb here and throw out a whopping generality and say no, we did not. Oh, maybe this particular incident was going to happen anyway, but what about the one before it or the one after. I'm going to step on the thinnest of ice and say that we are pulling the strings of tension so tight that snapping is inevitable. Our fellow men are standing on the very edge of the precipice and we crowd them ever closer to falling. Our world is loud, full of noise and jangle and we keep screaming.
Nothing excuses the actions of those who perform such horrible acts as those which were done today. Nothing excuses those of us who perpetuate violence and hatred in our society. Nothing excuses those of us who would allow the sickest of our brothers or sisters to go untreated.
It is not with naïve mind that I write this, it is with sick and honest heart.
May peace prevail on earth. May healing find the way to those who are hurting.
©Michelle Scofield January 8, 2011 All Rights Reserved
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