When It Stops

"See me........Feel me........Touch me..........Heal me" The Who 1969

It has happened again.  Another school shooting where many lost their lives, seemingly for absolutely no rhyme nor reason.

We ask why this happened....again.  The media screams for bans on certain weapons and more gun control.  The blame is focused on lack of mental health options.  

Who is to blame for all these tragedies?  Perhaps, we should take a really good look in the mirror.

For the last 60 plus years, we have been taught that we, as  individuals, are better than someone else.  Disagree?  We were told not to associate with certain people, those people were beneath us.  We were told certain activities led to certain disasters.  We were taught to gather as much material things as we could.  A nice car, a big house, $150 dollar sneakers, etc. because those things made us look good.....better than someone else.

We became adults, parents and started the cycle over again with our children, except with a new twist.  We began to cater to them.  We made sure they were in every sport or organization imaginable.  We spent countless hours and dollars on the road, chauffeuring them to wherever they needed to be.  We gave them material gifts, to entertain them and to make them measurable amongst their peers.  We answered to the call of "So and so has one, I need one too."

Now we have a generation of young people who have been taught to not only not to hang out with the troubled kid, but also not to say anything about that person for fear of hurting their feelings.  It goes even deeper than that, they simply do not care.  It was not too long ago that teenagers videoed a man who was screaming for help because he was drowning and as he slipped under the surface of the water, for the last time, they simply walked away.  

We blame the lack of God in the school for this atrocity.  We sit in the pews and point fingers at the lowly sinner and pray they change their wicked ways.  We play the blame game as long as necessary, in order to take the blame off of our righteous selves.

The Bible mentions something about how we know a tree by its fruit.  The same goes for us.  We are known by our deeds, our fruit. It is also a fact that a child has learned just about everything they need to know to make it through life by the time they are five years old.  Where do they learn this?.....most often from their parents.

We lost something very valuable as we groveled through the muck to achieve success at any price.  We lost empathy for our fellow man and have taught our children the same.  We turn our back to the dirty, lice ridden child.  We no longer offer hugs for fear of persecution.  There should not be a class at school that teaches students how to sit with the lonely kid at lunch time!!  A teacher should not have to be heart broken to watch their students talk through a few minutes of silence for fallen classmates.

Good grief people!  Wake up!  God can be in school all day long,  but if WE are not teaching our children and others to be kind and to show that by our actions, then God could very well be the child whom no one talks to.

We have to pay attention.  We have to care about others.  We have to go out of our way to make the connection.  These kids, that are left behind, need to not only be seen, they need to be felt, they need to be touched, they need to be healed.  That is what empathy is all about.  It's about learning how to FEEL what someone else is going through, putting ourselves in their position, walking a mile in their shoes, if only for a short amount of time and then, with a heart full of sincerity, show that kid that someone truly cares about them. 


It is a simple solution.  But, it will take a lot of work to get this self centered generation to put down their phones.  Recently, two young men were involved in a roll over accident caused by slick road conditions and lack of experience.  Fortunately, neither were hurt. But, it scared the living daylights out of them.  They now know, they are not invincible.  Their story was shared here to make a point.  Not one of those 17 lives lost in this latest atrocity should be in vain.  May their loss be a grim reminder, that it took an act of extreme violence, to wake up our children, so they can  understand the value of life.