I will not be posting this Monday, but instead maintain blog silence in memorial for the Virginia Tech shootings.
I must admit that I when I first heard about it, I thought the whole silence thing was a bunch of over-sentimental cheese, but this post by Lorelle made me see the things differently.
I have come to realize that this silence is not a protest, or a statement, or any sort of attention getting tactic. It is merely a time to reflect. A time out from the endless rushing flow that has become normal life for many people. A time to contemplate, and meditate and pray. The recent tragedy illustrates for me that the world I see through my TV is not the world I want to live in. It is definitely not the world I wish to leave to my children to somehow survive.
We need a change. One bigger and more fundamental than politics can achieve. In the word of Bono, “A new heart is what I need, O God make it bleed.”1
So I encourage you to find some time over the next few days to consider what we normally try to avoid thinking about: What is wrong with us and is there any fixing it?
Happy weekend.
- Two Hearts Beat as One. «
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
thank you brent… it sometimes seems so hopeless. i’m having faintly similar thoughts today.
How appropriate to quote Bono as a stimulant of reflection: a wonderful humanitarian (and lyrical God).
I’m afraid there is no immediate solution to such horrific tragedies such as the VT shootings. There are several valid arguments on both sides of the gun control issue but all miss the most important issue of communication.
Most of these individuals that commit such violent acts of inhumane suffering are incredibly troubled souls. With just the right combination of mental illness (genetic predisposition), environment (how one is raised), and opportunity (ability to purchase a weapon) these individuals culminate in to a dangerous mass of anger and depression where the only seemingly possible outlet is violence. If we could pay attention to the red-flags we may have a chance to alter their course. It will not work with everyone (this VT shooter was, in my opinion, beyond “repair” and should have been committed to a mental institution on the basis of being a danger to society and himself) but we have to try.
In the inspirational words of the Indian spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
Everyday across America 99 people take their last breath due to gun related violence. We can’t afford not to communicate.
One love
One blood
One life
You got to do what you should
One life
With each other
Sisters
Brothers
One life
But we’re not the same
We get to
Carry each other
Carry each other
One…life
One
I am very sorry for what happened at VT. I am however amazed how we as a culture can be so move by one tragedy and totally ignore others.
Based on 2005 crime statistics, the day before “VT” 46 people were murdered across the nation. And, then again the day after, and every day since. Seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Each of these victims was loved by someone. Each leaves a hole in someone’s heart.
When you lay your head down tonight and your thoughts reach out to the one who created you., remember it was like Virginia Tech for 46 more families today. Say a prayer for them as well.
John O.
Correction: The estimated number of daily gun-related deaths in the US is 39 not 99. Now I’m having trouble locating the site I received this information from. Anyway, you get the idea.
I agree John O. The morning after the shootings at VT, I remember thinking what about all the death and violence happening right now (and for the past 4 years) in Iraq?
So what do we do about it?
I think we need to grow where we are planted. I can’t change the world, but I can make a difference in the world around me.
If good people everywhere did that the world would change.
John O.
It has been my observation that policies and politics are insufficient to legislate morality. A society like ours grants its people great freedoms, freedoms that are easily abused and corrupted when citizens lack restraint and a motivation higher than personal gain. The person that sold Cho Seung-Hui his guns might have noticed he was unbalanced but undoubtedly justified the sale thinking that if he didn’t sell to him, someone else would. In the same way, the reporters and news organization that covered the Columbine shooting so very, very thoroughly had to have known that they would inspire copycat killers, desperate to have their names and their message known. But again, that story is what the people wanted to hear and if a channel or paper didn’t run it, it risked being overshadowed by the completion. Fueled by personal ambition, justified by completion, no one had the courage to step away from tragedy in the making.
So is the answer more laws? Just look at our lawsuit happy society to see the result of law without personal responsibility or honor. Power corrupts. Bring in a new group of people to fix the corruption of others and soon the new party is corrupted as well, that is, if they were every truly interested in the good of society to begin with.
At best, laws provide deterrent, not transformation.
So am I just cynical? No. I have hope for humanity, I just believe that this hope lies outside humanity. I have never seen any true change ever work from the outside in. But I have seen people changed from the inside, and watched that change work its way outward transforming attitudes and behaviors once thought intractable. In the song I quoted, Bono cries out, in the midst of people “too right to be wrong,” for a new heart, one that bleeds. I think that is the answer, the only one I see to the situation we find ourselves in. Legislation can help, but only transformation can cure.
Thank you Brent. That was right on!