Like all of us, I mourn with the folks of Boston, the participants and spectators, family and loved ones of anyone remotely connected to the Marathon yesterday. Friends, I'm so tired. Aren't you tired? I feel like here we are again with another sad face as a country. Again and again the loss of life is senseless. We don't even know who is behind this attack yet, and it doesn't even matter to me. It's heartbreaking...
Will we get to the point where we are living in constant fear of our normal routines? Will we become so adjusted to tragedy that it becomes a way of life. If I ever stop shedding tears for those suffering tragedy I will know I've adjusted. I hope I never adjust. Last night, many hours after learning the news of the Boston Marathon bombings I finally sat down to focus on the news coverage. Courtesy of the news networks I received a front row view of exactly what happened. My 13 year old had already done her own research and was blown away that something so awful could happen to people just trying to do something they love. Simply heartbreaking. I shed my tears. My heart aches for those affected by this. Another sad face for America. I am so tired of frowning.
Then I went to Facebook. Lots of folks lifting up prayers to those affected. Following every cry of injustice, those posts go round and round. I wish people were praying when things were good. If we as a people consistently sought God we would know that prayer changes things; that lives are changed, protected, shielded by the Great One, just because of our prayers. But, for the most part, we don't. We get wrapped up in our own lives and we forget to put God first. Until tragedy strikes. What would happen if we reversed the pattern? What if we consistently prayed and sought God and when tragedy got ready to hit we were so prayed up, so juiced up on God we saw the miraculous pieced together? We would see God move mountains.
The one thing I took away from social media's coverage last night was the repeated quote by Mr. Rogers. Man, who didn't love Mr. Rogers when they were young? I mean, the man took the time to change his shoes, while giving us good advice, and singing us a song. A gentleman. His quote said his mom taught him to look for the helpers in any tragedy. Focus on that. Man, that's good stuff. The good in folks springs right into action when the situation calls for it. Always. Every story has a hero. Many heros. I pray for that. I pray that should tragedy find us unexpectedly the good in people will take over the fear. Thank God for that yesterday.
I don't want to live imprisoned by fear. I don't want my kids to grow up thinking fear is their neighbor, their friend or their constant companion. Yet over and over again America is saddened by the loss of life because of an individual or a group. We want to get to the source so we can answer the "why." But when it's answered, what do we do about it? Do we change laws? Do we revamp our entire mental health system? Often we don't. As a country we are broken. Our government can't agree on much of anything, our financial state is a mess. There is so much division an disunity it's sickening. We attack each other for sport leaving lots of open holes for the enemy to creep in and rip the hole into a deep, infected gash. Then the next tragedy hits and we are left saddened again. It's time to stop frowning, America. It's time to take action in the good times. It's time to be proactive instead of reactive. When nothing's happening something should be happening. We shouldn't be making plans to deal with the next tragedy or massive episode of fear. Waiting for it to happen. We don't think our individual selves can make a difference, but we can. Each one of us has the power to change our hearts, to be more loving, to seek God more, to not be hostile or confrontational. It's heavy on my heart this morning, I'm sure yours too. America is sad again. I'm so tired of being sad.
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