Another senseless tragedy...

This is not a political blog. But in the wake of yet another senseless, violent, tragedy, I find myself unable to comprehend how we got to this place in our world. That we can't make progress on the issue because we don't want to "infringe on anyone's Constitutional rights," or it's "not the right time to talk about gun control" in the wake of tragic violence, seems like a ridiculous and unsubstantiated argument. Is it not the right time to talk about terrorism after a terrorist act? Is it not the right time to talk about the drug problem in a community after a massive heroin bust?

The first guarantee the Constitution is supposed to protect is life...

...that's not "the right to protect your life."
...that's not "the right to defend yourself in a life threatening situation."
...that's not "the right to take someone else's life."

...that's the right to life itself! A right that I think is far superior than someone else's right to carry a firearm, for whatever purpose.

My overwhelming sadness at the tragic news that seems to break far too frequently, is increasingly turning to anger at the fact that we a nation have essentially accepted this violence as a part of our modern culture and society, and have not created a plan, or even had a civil, bi-partisan discussion, on how to fix it. We yell about building walls on our borders...keeping out Syrian refugees...not flying the confederate flag...the threat of ISIS...and yet people continue to die on our own streets because of firearms, often purchased legally. But we can't talk about it...especially during an election year...without someone calling it out for "playing politics." Well maybe someone should play politics because the alternative is playing with people's lives.

Three years ago, in the wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, I wrote the following. Unfortunately, for the people in San Bernardino and the families of the victims, I have to post it again...because we can't seem to figure it out...though it shouldn't have to be so hard.

I was both horrified and captivated by the news last night. The stories of the tragedy and chaos juxtaposed against footage of a candlelight vigil where community members softly sang Silent Night...the words of which, never seemed to carry so much gravity. 

On Facebook, amidst the myriad of "Love and prayers to the victims and their families" statuses, I found one friend who had posted this quote in response: 

"This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before." -Leonard Bernstein 

In light of what I watched unfold on TV last night, a resounding chorus of "sleep in heavenly peace" drifting over a town trying desperately to wake from an unimaginable nightmare, I can't help but think Bernstein may have been on to something. 

This morning, I got up, made my coffee, turned on some Christmas music, and sat wrapped in a blanket eating my cereal and starting my day. As the first chords of Doug Hammer's "In the Bleak MidWinter" drifted through the room, I found myself reflecting on the music and the sentiment of Bernstein's assertion. There is, perhaps, no better piece of literature to capture the conflicting emotion of this tragedy with the ongoing holiday season, than what Christina Rossetti wrote in her poem that inspired the song. 

In the bleak midwinter

BY Christina Rossetti

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

In the bleak midwinter, long ago.

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;

Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.

Discussion on mental health issues/gun control/school safety/future prevention will come, and time will come to heal some of the heartache. In the meantime, Christmas will come...with the birth of a son who lived to teach us to love our neighbors as ourselves. 

If we really wanted to make a change in the world, we wouldn't need to start with anti-gun legislation or healthcare reform...we'd simply need to remember that simple, 'golden' rule. 

Happy Trails,