Tragedy has found us again. A tragedy that has hurt our country sorely and lead to many angry political debates on how we can keep this from happening again. There is no doubt that everyone has read and contemplated these debates to their saturation points, and these debates have overshadowed the actual event itself. We have distracted our pain, once again, with politics. With all these things considered, it would be easy to give my opinion on the topic of gun restriction…but I’m not here to do that. I am not here to condemn our use of distraction and anger surrounding this event. This is a consolation to the wounded Eagle. A consolation containing a blunt truth.

The truth is: bad things will happen again. How is that consoling? Shouldn’t we stop those bad things from happening? Well, to again be put bluntly, it would be impossible to expect a utopia where bad things never happen. Sure, we can find ways to limit them and make it harder for attacks to happen, but it would be illogical to assume that we will never find ourselves in this situation. It will happen again because of what our country represents. We represent a place where everyone is a human being. A place where everyone is granted opportunity and freedom. A representation we should be proud of, despite the target it lays upon us.

Unfortunately, nationwide it seems we have lost this image that was once so powerfully alive inside of each person. An image of America. In recent years, we have been so focused on our smaller factions that we belong to rather than the bigger picture. We prioritize different flags, and unite under those. This tragedy gives us an opportunity to wake up from that. The pained community does not only have a colorful flag, but a bigger one with stars and stripes. We did not only lose precious lives from one of these smaller factions, but we lost Americans. No matter your opinion on what their lifestyles were, they were your fellow countrymen. We are a larger family who care and fight for each other. If everyone had the passion for their country that they have for their individual groupings, that alone would solve many present-day problems.

To regress from a political direction, I leave with this. Our country is not dying. We are not going anywhere. The Eagle has a wounded wing, but soon it will be soaring in the sky, free and alive. The Eagle will not fly unscathed, as it will carry the pain of memory with it. But it will do what it needs to do for the lives lost, and fly with hope for the future.