A Glimmer of Hope

via Bates Mercantile Co.

From the Wreckage Comes Hope

I hope that you all made the most of your weekend, especially in light of Friday's horrific shooting rampage.  I'd be remiss if I didn't mention with great sadness, the terrible tragedy in Newtown, Connecticutt.  My heart aches for these families and their town.  I know how sad we were in my Seacoast area when a local police chief was killed here last year, while serving his last day on the job prior to retirement. To consider the grief the families and friends of the teachers and the many young children who were slain are feeling, is  incomprehensible. To consider all the young lives lost is truly too much to bear. To consider the heroic efforts of the teachers murdered, who gave their lives to protect the children in their care, gives me a small glimmer of hope that our world has not been lost completely to madness.  If horrors like this don't remind us to live each day fully and love with all your might, I don't know what does.

Some say, we'll never know why he did it. I say, it doesn't matter. Maybe he was bullied, maybe he had mental illness, maybe he was depressed, maybe he felt he was never heard. No reason will change the fact that 26 lives were lost. No 'reason' will change the ripple effect that those lost lives will have on those close and far.

The only way to remember these children and their teachers, as well as the first responders who had to witness the unfathomable sadness first hand, is to love even more. Love as much as you can, and hopefully that ripple will travel far and grow. Hopefully it will grow so big it can't be ignored.

It's very difficult to watch the reports with deep sadness in your heart and tears in your eyes, but that's ok.  Compassion can be painful, but it means you care. We need a lot more of that in this world, especially right now. 

Peace,