When I awoke on what I thought would be a normal Sunday morning, I did what I always do and check my phone. When I reach over, my phone is flooded with updates from my favorite news apps, updating me on what happened the night before in Orlando, Fl. I am disgusted and in shock.
Just a day before, I heard the news of The Voice singer Christina Grimmie. I remember watching her on YouTube after school when I was 13, wishing I had the capability to sing so beautifully. She was not just a beautiful girl with an amazing voice, but she was driven by Christ and her faith led her to be the person she was. I cried watching videos of her doing what she loved after I heard the news, as if I had known her as a great friend. Not even a day after, I read the update that more than 40 innocent lives were taken in the same place that Christina Grimmie’s was. I was speechless. How on Earth is this even okay? And why in my generation are these occurrences becoming so normal?
These innocent people woke up earlier that day planning their nights with their friends, getting ready and making plans. They had no idea that that would be the last time they would have the chance to do that. Who has the right to decide that that was their last time?
It is not OK that one evil person can justify taking any innocent life because they do not have the same beliefs as them. We can not let this be OK. We can not let this be just another shooting that we forget about in a week when another story comes along that attracts more attention. When is it enough? Airports, movie theaters, night clubs, schools, concerts…the list goes on and on. I find myself getting uneasy when I’m in an elevator and someone reaches into their jacket. Why is this OK? Something needs to be done, and something needs to be done soon.
We pray for peace and we pray for the innocent lives that get taken every time a shooting happens. Nothing changes and these shootings have become something that shakes us but does not surprise us. Though we cannot predict them, we can come together and we can love each other. We cannot blame each other and we cannot blame an inanimate object for the choices of someone who is overcome by evil.
I thank the Lord for each day that he gives me, and I should not have to be scared for my life to go to the grocery store. The only person who has the right to tell me that my time is done is God, not someone who lives a life of hate, contempt and evil. We cannot let this be just another update on our phone, this shooting needs to mark the start of a revelation. This is not an accident and this is not the last one.
Something has to change.
