Friday, December 14, 2012

In Darkness we must seek Light

I had a different post scheduled for today.  It was about the power of positive thinking and the effects of having positive people in your life.  It was edited and ready to go, and just as I was about to hit "post", the news of one of the deadliest shootings in US history began to roll in.  Connecticut.  26 dead.  Elementary school.  Children...suddenly, my post on positive thinking just didn't seem right.  The fate of the little children who lost their lives today had nothing to do with positive people or negative thinking.  No "attitude" brought this on these families.  What happened today was an unspeakable tragedy that simply cannot be fathomed by anyone with a heart and soul.  Being a new mom this news hit me hard.  It was impossible not to shed tears as the details unfolded.

So many people ask why Scott and I want to take off on a boat with our baby.  Days like today punctuate the reason.  Days like today make me want to sail away forever and keep our baby far, far away from here.  What is wrong with the world today?  What has become of our nation when we cannot send our kids to school without fearing for their safety?  What sort of society do we live in where a twenty year old man is so irreparably broken that he can kill innocent little children?  I know that violence has always existed.  That there are and always will be outliers.  It's statistics.  But doesn't it seem that tragedies like this are happening more?  That somewhere, somehow we have taken a turn for the worse?  That the moral fiber of our society is thinning out at an alarming rate?  I don't know if it's media, violence on television, chemicals in our food or the breakdown of the family unit - but something isn't right and something must be done.

Now, more than ever, is a time to focus on the good in the world.  We need to turn our eyes to the everyday, unsung heros who do NOT make our world ugly.  They are everywhere.  They might not be on the news, and they won't get famous for their deeds but there are millions of tiny acts of kindness and love happening right now.  Raise them up high and sing them from the mountaintops.  There are wonderful things happening that are making this world a better place.  Despite the unspeakable, inhuman crimes of people like the monster today, this world is still a beautiful place.  Do something kind.  Help someone in need.  Lend an ear to a friend.  Smile at a stranger.  In the wake of this tragedy, let's all shine a little light of goodness in honor of those innocent children who lost their lives today.  Are you with me?
You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. 
- Mahatma Ghandi

5 comments:

iamcdn54 said...

I say "Yes" to a flood of "pay it forwards' in honour of the little lives lost.

BUT something has to happen with controlling the access to guns. The nutbars in the NRA, who prattle on about needing a well armed militia to protect against future rogue US governments, need to be marginalized. They need to be viewed with the same disdain that we now view a mother smoking in her baby's face.

Yes you need to address the underlying social reasons that cause people to snap. Your country is 10x the population of Canada and yet it has 25x the gun murder rate..what gives?

The US gun lobby is so powerful that even Democrats barely touched on the issue of gun control during the election. In his first term Obama could have re-instated the assault rifle ban that Bush let expire but he chickened out. Granted there were increased assassination threats against him as warnings so that could have influenced his thinking.

"A Pew poll conducted after the 2011 assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, that killed six other people, found that 49% of Americans said it was "more important to protect the rights of Americans to own guns," while 46% said it was "more important to control gun ownership."

Read the comments under the online articles today and you will see the nutcases within the NRA...no Democrat has the guts to stand up to them. I am sure every US politician who suggests more gun control has got to then have an increased worry about being shot for his views.

I am not holding my breath that 20 little lives lost will serve as a catalyst for change. Americans are gun rights crazy whether they have one or not.

The fiscal cliff will reclaim the top spot in news and within 2 weeks the news cycles will be about yet another star forgetting to wear panties or how Kate is too thin or Oprah is too fat.

But before then I will reach out to our kids and grandchildren with extra squishy hugs.

Such a sad, pathetic waste of lives.

FYI Brittany...according to the UN some of the worst countries for gun deaths per 100K population are in the Caribbean and Central America...stay safe.

Tasha Hacker said...

Crap like this puts a lot of things into perspective, doesn't it? Moms everywhere must be clutching their kids extra close today.
xx
Tasha

Michael Robertson said...

Nicely written Brittany. Michael

EH said...

Hi Brittany,

I stumbled across your post while I was looking for an image of Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie...which was, as you know, embedded in your post about removing your own containment tank. Because you and your family are writing about following your dreams, and maybe also because I needed to read something positive this morning, I kept reading and found your 12/14 post.
I'm a teacher, and I, like everyone, else, can only put myself in the place of the teachers and especially parents of those innocent children in CT. And I, like you, wonder what the world is coming to. I am reading "Night" by Elie Wiesel with my h.s.seniors and when our discussion in class Thursday turned to what ordinary, single people can do in the face of overshelming hatred and evil, I quoted the author. Elie Wiesel knows well that the Holocaust he experienced was perpetuated through the decades that followed in places like Cambodia, Rwanda, and Bosnia. His advice to each individual is to be the light, to NOT hate, to NOT exclude, to choose love again and again, despite all evidence to the contrary.
I will think again when we enact our crisis plans in my school building - our protocol may change, I will encourage my students to feel safe but I will be much more cautious; I will hesitate to put my children on the school bus on Monday, too. But if I don't send myself and those who I love and encourage to love with abandon and without discrimination, whether it's another person, a dream, a value, then I am not part of the solution. Your blog, though its readership may be small, is a little beam of light. Please keep writing, and once in a while, come into port and bring the light on shore with you.

Best wishes,
Liz

JD said...

Well written Brittany. Focusing on hero's is my goal for next year. Ignoring the maniacal comment by iamcdn54 is this moments goal! :-)

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