Yesterday a gunman shot and killed Officer Deriek W. Crouse while he was doing a routine traffic stop at Virginia Tech. The suspected gunman may have turned the gun on himself...he was also NOT a student at the college.
The question remains as to why this person has done this...and was there intent to do more damage but because of lessons learned in the deadly massacre on the campus by one lone desperate gunman in 2007, campus and city authorities had been able to engage in new security procedures to protect students, did he in fact change his mind?
Monday, a woman turned a gun on herself and her two children after a 7 hour stand off in a Texas Welfare Office over food stamps she didn't receive because she didn't follow through on all the procedures-fill out the applications correctly and failing to show at her interview for them...she died on the spot, her daughter, Ramie died two days later in a San Antonio hospital while her son barely hangs on to life today...the father couldn't help because he didn't know the where abouts of his children since they couple had been divorced and she had a record of mental illness...how she had gotten the children is a mystery and the father was trying to get to them.
I understand poverty leads us to do many things we wouldn't normally do, and in today's society where we have a leader who doesn't seem to SEE those people who are in need, but killing children or in the previous story, an officer, isn't the answer.
Depression is the major killer of people this time of year...it is also the the reason WHY domestic violence and neglect cases sky rocket. It is enough to make me cry.
We can't go out and love on every lonely person this time of year, and we certainly cannot help all at one time to end this right this minute and that is often times my biggest frustration, and I have to REMEMBER that St. Therese of Calcutta (Mother Theresa) said we must begin with one, and continue to the next in order to change things for the needy...and to me the needy aren't just the poor in pocket, but the poor in spirit and in mind.
When we read these stories during the holidays many try to shut them out and concentrate on what they can do for the existing people in need, but what about learning from the ones that it is too late to help? Why NOT think about that and ask ourselves what COULD have been done and what CAN we learn from this to PREVENT this from happening again? Even if we didn't know those people, can we use this for the ones in front of us.
We hear these stories constantly...the ones where we could have, should have all the time, surely there is a way to do something for that person we know will be alone this Christmas.
What about the woman who spent the first part of the year getting a surgery to live, only to loose her beloved mother near the end of the year? What can I do to make sure that, even though she has family near her who help and love her, she knows she is loved? I already have the answer to this one...and I apply it daily...
We need to consider the weak of mind and spirit, be there to help when there is a need.
John Lennon once sang a song about imagining the world living life in peace, and it is a beautiful thought, but in order for that peace to occur, it must begin within ourselves, then extend to our neighbor, friend and coworker, before going out further.
Vince Gill sings a wonderful song that we play at this time of year called Let There Be Peace On Earth. The lyrics themselves speak of HOW that peace should happen:
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be.
With God as our father
Brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.
With every step i take
Let this be my solemn vow.
To take each moment
And live each moment
With peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me.
(child)
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be.
With god as our father
Brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.
With every step I take
Let this be my solemn vow.
To take each moment
And live each moment
In peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.
More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/v/vince_gill/#share
I think this is a perfect beginning, don't you?
Think about this: this time of year is fueled with the thought of a single child bringing that to the world two millenia ago, and other religions consider this a time of love and giving too...how hard is it to show love to others if we love in our own hearts?
Please take a moment after reading this and think about who needs YOU right now-you and that person next door.
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