Last night, I entered my 12-year-old son Jacob’s room to say goodnight. We sat there recapping the day’s events. His team had won his baseball tournament. It had been a day of joy. A beautiful day in the sun.
There was however something I wanted to explain to him. An event that he had been fortunate enough to miss. Something he would inevitably hear about and something I wanted to try and explain. A man had committed an unspeakable crime of hate. Something so horrible and wrong. Taking the lives of so many others. As I choked up, I explained that sometimes people do awful things that hurt the innocent. Crimes of hate. Inexplicable crimes beyond comprehension. Tragedies where we can only pray for the survivors and the families of those lost.
Fortunately, I am blessed. I have a beautiful family and meaningful job. This morning, I was given another day surrounded by those blessings.
Wrapping up work, I headed out and hoped to avoid most of the rush hour traffic. There in the parking lot was another reminder of the tragedy. A reminder of such sadness. The country grieved. Our flag reflected the pain.
Opening up the side car door and flinging my briefcase into the passenger seat, I noticed something very different. A reminder of happiness was stored in the side door.
A baseball from the day before. A reminder of sunny days. Days of innocence and happiness. Also, a sign of hope.
There is a generation waiting. Waiting to make the world a better place. A generation filled with dreams and promise.
In these days of pain. In these days, where hate stings so deep. Let us show our most powerful side. A side of hope and love. A gift given to us by our God of creation, the same God that has given us another day. Let us take this gift and fill it with love. Love those around us. Remind those we care about that we treasure them. Let us show the next generation an example of love and prepare them to pass that gift along.
That next generation is on deck. In these dark hours, let us show them the power of light and love.
The depth of your expressions here is profound and so well said. So sad for the families who have to experience the grief of losing loved ones in a senseless tragedy. So important for all of us to find our way forward in a positive undiminished way.
It will take so long to sort out our feelings from such a senseless and horrific tragedy. What we do know is that we can respond with love. That is the most powerful response of all.
As always, well said my friend…..
I miss you guys 🙂