I opened Twitter yesterday morning and learned about the heinous and hateful act of violence in Colorado Springs Saturday night. More people dead (and many more injured) at the hands of a shooter. This on the heels of the three University of Virginia football players shot and killed last weekend (two others injured) and the four individuals in Idaho murdered the same night. The individuals in Idaho weren’t shot but are no longer here, and it’s all awful. Honestly, that Idaho situation is terrifying.
I don’t know what else to expect anymore. This country is filled with hate, fueled by greed, and so, so broken. Some days it’s hard to get out of bed…until you remember how many people no longer have the luxury of deciding whether or not to get up.
Over 39,000 people have been killed by a gun this year alone. That’s more people than the population of the town I grew up in. It’s more than the student population of the university where I work. There have been 602 mass shootings (at least 4 people shot) since the beginning of the year. Six.Hundred.And.Two. How many more will there be before the new year arrives? How many more will lose their lives?
And by the way, there have also been over 35,000 people injured by a gun this year. I can’t imagine their lives will ever be the same again. The mother of one of those shot (but not killed) in Virginia had this to say about her son.
“My son, he has feeling, so hurting is good. And so I’m trying to look at it in that aspect because … I saw him yesterday … he was up, he was walking. He was laughing, and I mean we had a good time, and then today he’s hurting,” the mother told CNN. “He’s back in bed, and I know it’s going to be up and down, and I’m grateful for that because with the pain, he’s here, he’s with me.”
The mother described feeling helpless trying to comfort her wounded son.
“Anytime your child cries, you want to comfort them and this was a time that I couldn’t comfort him,” she said. “Kids always run to their mother, always, and he wasn’t able to run to me, and I wasn’t able to embrace him,” she added.
Now add on the fact that one of those killed was his best friend. He will never get over that. If he’s lucky, he will get through it, but this young man will never get over it.
At this point I can’t imagine that there will ever be more sensible gun laws across the country, but I’d love to be proven wrong. Of that 39,000+ that were killed by a gun, more than 21,000 were from suicide. I’d like to think we could prioritize mental health in this country and get people the help they really need but again, I can’t imagine that happening in my lifetime. Please, someone prove me wrong.
I guess that's all I have to say today…not a great way to start Thanksgiving week, but I know God is in control, not me, not those filled with hate, and not the politicians. If I didn’t wake up every day with my faith, I honestly don’t know what I’d do. It’s how I get through.
Thank you all for being here, for reading the fun posts and also for reading those, like this one, that are not so much fun.
Please enjoy these few quiet moments as you go about your day…