I was woken up at 6:30 Monday morning to be informed of the terrible tragedy in Las Vegas. As you can imagine, when you are suddenly woken up, your mind is not all there, so I drifted back off to sleep, thinking it was just a dream.
I then woke up at about 8, and checked the news and social media, and there it was. The horrific videos, the headlines reading “Mass Shooting in Las Vegas: 50 dead, Hundreds injured”, the hotlines and cries for help. It wasn’t a dream, it was real. It was horrifying, dreadful, devastating, depressing, heart wrenching; any word you can think of to describe a tragedy.
I’ve been thinking about it all day, as have many others. It truly does make your heart ache. I cannot even begin to fathom how those directly effected must be feeling. Those that lost members of their family, their spouses, their friends, members of their community. Those that were injured. Those that were traumatized.
Why do people do things like this? Why do they have the urge to hurt and kill innocent people? People they don’t even know? These people have families, lives to live. Some haven’t even gotten started. Others have lived, but their stories are not over. What makes a person sick enough to sabotage innocent lives and communities?
It seems that when a tragedy such as this one occurs, the nation comes together. But why does something like this have to happen in order for people to open their eyes and be generous to others? Why do we not act as a nation and care for each other as it is? Why don’t we do something to prevent things like this from happening?
You have seen it all over the news. They are calling this the deadliest mass shooting in the United States. But wasn’t that what they called the Pulse nightclub shooting which happened just a year ago? What about the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that happened in 2012? The Columbine shooting in 1999? This is just a short list of some of the shootings that have occurred over the years. They are the deadliest shootings in the US, until another one arises. So why aren’t we doing anything to stop all of the violence? We take steps to make a difference only when a tragedy takes place. We need to be taking steps all of the time, to decrease the probability that incidents like this will happen again, and insure that the people are safe.
My heart goes out to the people of Las Vegas and my heart aches for those affected by this horrific event. Lord help us.