This last Saturday, June 11th, the United States experienced a heartbreaking tragedy. The most devastating shooting we have ever seen occurred in Orlando, FL. 50 dead, 53 injured.
By now, you know the details.
This shooting is generating more conversation than any before. It has become the spark by the gasoline of this country's hot button issues.
Gay rights, gun control, and ISIS all converged in the same room. The same news story. The same political agendas are set up to be discussed over and over again. An endless loop of discontent is ready to play from now until the end of time.
But the real issue is not one that stems from policy. It does not have to do with same-sex wedding cake toppers. It does not concern whether or not we ban guns. It does not include Muslim acceptance, or abhorrence, or tolerance.
No; this issue is a moral one, and it needs to be addressed.
How is it, that we as humans, can have enough hatred in our hearts to want to kill a person?
No, really, consider it.
Consider being so hateful, so angry, that you would willingly murder a human being.
Imagine the light leaving their eyes, the breath leaving their bodies, and their entire being simply ceasing to exist.
Imagine their loved ones hearing the news. Think of the heartbreaking phone calls, the chain of events.
Ponder their mother buying flowers for a funeral, think about their friends sitting on hard, wooden pews.
Now. Imagine that happening 50 times. Imagine it happening even more.
I, personally, cannot fathom the carnage that must exist in a human heart to inspire that kind of violence. I cannot comprehend the horrendous storm of a mind that would want to create that kind of damage.
And yet, it happened.
Why? Why, why, why?
We have no answers for the past. We have no understanding.
All we have now is the future.
This cycle of hatred has to end. It is not sustainable. It cannot continue.
One storm of pain will lead to another, and another, and another, unless we make a concentrated effort to stop it.
We have to stop the discussion, and begin taking action. And while the temporary answer may lay in gun control laws, or tighter border control, hatred will eventually find a way around those.
The action must lie in our hearts. The responsibility is within us.
So please, mothers and fathers, I beg you. Raise your children with love. Raise your children to appreciate life. Raise them to rise above the darkness of the world.
Sisters and brothers, help each other. Be calm. Walk softly. Think before you act.
Friends, know that this is all temporary. Anger will pass, youth will fade, and all you will be left with are your actions in the world. Tread gently, speak softly.
Or we will all surely be lost to this continual destruction.
To the friends and families of those lost this last weekend, know that we mourn with you. The future will be brighter, and we are battling to someday reach that horizon.
