Like many of you, I woke up today to news of a horrific shooting in Las Vegas overnight at a country music festival. Scores of people were killed and hundreds wounded. Already, stories of bravery and courage are coming through and speculations as to the killer's motives. Families are posting their connections on social media, reporting on family members safety and thanking us for our prayers.
I'm having a difficult time processing today. It seems like every week there is another, bigger, more serious disaster and tragedy being reported by the news. Natural disasters, shooters, bombings, threats of war, neglect of those suffering, genocide in foreign countries, violence during elections, the list goes on and on.
Drawing on my knowledge of history, the story is not really new. Or any less violent than it has always been. It's just reported more quickly and continuously. The 24 hour news cycle keeps the most current horror in front us, more for ratings than out of genuine compassion and caring for the victims and their families. Looking back at history, kings and queens killed mere boys to eliminate any threat to the throne. Despots raged on neighboring countries to gain real estate and control. Warring tribes have slaughtered each other in the name of political justice. The bad news has been around for centuries. We are just privy to it instantly these days.
The question, for me, becomes how do I react? I could stay glued to the t.v. and watch the endless panels of "experts" slicing and dicing each tidbit of information. I could sink into a dark place of gloom and despair, mourning for the senselessness of it all. Or, I could choose differently and intentionally reach out to the people I come in contact with every day and spread love and joy. I'm not advocated sticking my head in the sand. I am advocating consciously choosing how I interact every day. For instance, coming out of a sandwich shop today, I saw a nurse having lunch with a friend. I made a comment about the medical professionals in Las Vegas and what they were dealing with today and thanked her for her work every day. It was a little bitty tiny thing, and I meant it. Every day, if we collectively took the time to appreciate each other, offer words of encouragement and love, spoke kindness to each other, I believe we can shift how we view each other. We can find that we are really neighbors to each other and that we all have something in common. It actually takes less energy to speak love and kindness than it does to build up a load of steam and speak anger and hatred.
Would you try this tomorrow? Would you intentionally speak words of kindness to someone you come across in your day? And then would you please comment here and let me know how that was for you?
To you-being an ambassador of love, kindness and peace. Tomorrow and always.
Thanks Judith. My response has been resignation and I have avoided the news cycle and just checked in with people that I know in the affected areas. Everyone is safe so it is a relief. I consciously decided to go on doing exactly the same things I always do and avoid getting into the frenzy of the current "event" as until there is collective effort to change our narrative, nothing will change in the end and this too shall pass. I'm not burying my head in the sand, and my keeping up my efforts to protect and serve even if it seems futile in the larger scheme.
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