May the Light Shine

This week I sat in my home office with the television news on. I glanced at pictures of people killed in the Nashville mass shooting. I think my heart skipped a beat when I saw the photo of a nine-year old girl. Her name is Hallie Scruggs. 

I thought of my seven-year-old granddaughter and refocused my attention away from the television. With my head bowed, I noticed something shiny and red flickering on the floor. My granddaughter loves sparkly clothes. She has red shoes, like Dorothy wore, that sparkle. One of the sequins must have fallen from her shoe and landed in the threads of the rug. Though tiny, the sparkle shined brightly with help from my desk’s lamp. The sadness in my heart paused for a moment.

I write about grief and loss. Following mass shootings in schools, I feel like anything I say will fail to comfort because it should never happen. I think of the families with sorrow from my deepest being. The families of three nine-year old youngsters do not only lose the physical presence of their loved ones. They also lose the dreams of supporting them as they grow, of new bicycles and math problems, of dances at school, of graduation to high school and entrance to college. They lose hundreds of hugs over good and not-so good things and of seeing how they would love others. 

The families of the three adults, including the founder of the school, a substitute teacher and a custodian will lose the physically present love of very special people who no doubt loved children and worked to make our society better.

The trauma will last for the lives of those affected. And, as more shootings occur, they will be forced to think again of their tragic experience. Contrary to many, I still believe that your thoughts and prayers are vital for the surviving family members and others impacted by this tragedy. I think of the police officers who were part of the response at the school, the families of all the children in the school, and the residents of Nashville.  The thoughts and prayers will touch the hearts of those who hurt. For those who scream that thoughts and prayers don’t count, I would encourage them to channel their anger and focus to those who can make an impact to stop school shootings, but fail to try.

The family of the shooter needs your thoughts and prayers. This family will no doubt be ostracized and never again live a joy-filled life.  Those who speak of the need for increased attention to the needs for improved mental health are certainly correct. Help in that area as you can.

Recognize your sorrow and your pain. Do not walk away from it. Help those who need help. If you do not feel any empathy from these unfortunate reoccurring situations, please ask for help. Many will suffer vicariously. Let empathy for others lead you to those who can properly begin to straighten-out our country.

About that sparkle now in my rug – I am going to leave it there. I like to think that my granddaughter unknowingly was a player in getting me to refocus my saddened heart to write this piece…the one bright light shone to me this difficult day.

We are about to enter Holy Week in the Christian faith. May the peace of God, which passes our understanding be upon us and may others, in time, be At Peace.