We live in dangerous times…

Our lives seem so small today, our plans so meaningless, as we try to grasp the pain and sorrow of so many families as the result of yesterday’s horrific shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. 

As hard as we may try to imagine their loss, their grief, we are left motionless, unable to step into their shoes for a moment to feel the helplessness, the hopelessness surrounding their lives.

We’ve all lost someone we have loved, many suddenly, many without but a logical sense of “why.”  I often cringe when I hear the well-intended speak trying to justify why it was accepted that life, young or old was stolen from a loved one. 

No words can justify the loss of life, let alone the loss in ours.  We all grieve.

And yesterday, and today, and many more days to come, we will wonder how this could happen in a quiet little town, seemingly exempt from such nightmares.  No one is safe.  We live in frightening times. 

Then again, many times were frightening;  wars, natural disasters, a wagon train traveling across the country in search of a better life surrounded by danger when a broken wheel could mean certain death for an entire family.  All times have been hard.  No one, no time is exempt.

Yet, we can’t live our lives in fear.  The danger is beside us every moment, an illness, a fall off of a ladder, a car crash, or a violent crime.  There is danger everywhere.

We watch the news, relentless in its pursuit to devastate us with one heart-wrenching story after another, glued to the TV, unable to look away fearful, we’ll lose our connection with the tragedy. We must stay attached to express our sympathy and to offer our prayers. 

Our natural human curiosity is an adjunct to our empathy and to our sadness for the victims and their families. We watch. We listen. We imagine if it was us.  We are grateful it wasn’t us.  But we genuinely care.

There was no reason for this. There is no lesson that we’ll learn.  Will we suspiciously monitor every quirky kid among us? Judge every parent who may be doing their best?  Change laws that the demon will workaround? 

We live in dangerous times. It’s too big to change. We’re all so sorry.