A horrific event occurred on October 1 at Umpqua Community College in Roseberg, Oregon. Chris Harper-Mercer, opened fire in a classroom, killing nine people and injuring nine others. Reportedly, the shooter asked the people who were Christian in the room to stand up. He then proceeded to tell the Christians in the room "Good, because you're a Christian, you're going to see God in just about one second." After this, he proceeded to shoot the Christians in the room in the head and the non-Christians in the leg.
This story disturbed me to say the least. It chilled me to the bone that someone could make such a deliberate attack on others and kill them for their religious beliefs. These precious and unique lives were taken in a sick, disturbing way and their families' lives will never be the same after this.
However, instead of dwelling on the horrific nature of the situation, I started to think about what we can learn from this incident and others like it. In a time of grief such as this, it is important to reflect on these events and try to take away something from this instead of focusing on the obvious negatives.
First, we can learn that every day may just be our last. This is not to be taken in a negative, disturbing, or fearful way but more as a motivation to live a better life. The sad truth is that these horrific events keep happening in our world and we have to be prepared for whatever may happen by living each day to the fullest.
Second, we can learn a thing or two about human dignity and how simply being kind can change someone's life. Every human life matters, no matter how sad or sick they may be. The first step to end these scary occurrences is simply kindness. These attacks will not end until we learn to be kind to one another. Smile at someone, it could make their day.
Third, we can learn a lesson of bravery - from many people. We can learn bravery from the victims who spoke of their faith in their final moments. We can learn bravery from the victims who survived, as they learn to face the world again. We can learn bravery from the police officers on the scene as they tried to make sure everyone is safe. We can learn bravery from the families of the victims, as they try to be strong through this awful time. We also can learn bravery from the stories of the victims during the shooting. For example, the story of Chris Mintz, a military veteran who during the shooting attempted to block the door from the gunman and helped others to escape the building.
So, as we navigate through this time of grief we must try to open up our heartsand minds to these important lessons and figure out how we can change the world through our own daily actions.
