Once again, this time in Connecticut, evil thrust its way
into our lives. It came with lightning
speed, and left just as quickly. In less than 15 minutes, it did its terrible
work. What it left behind will forever haunt
our sensibilities.
And it was so frustrating, on that awful day, that the talking
heads that bobble, erroneously reported most of what happened just to “get the
news to us first.”
This event was just so horrific that we could not process
the facts or the emotions. We were all rocked by the news, but comprehension of
the full scope of what happened was not to be ours. I believe there was a reason, best explained
by Mark Twain.
Twain had four children.
In his lifetime, he buried three of them, plus his wife. No stranger to grief, Twain knew life’s
ultimate cruelty. But once, even he was at a loss. His oldest daughter Susie died at the tender
age of 24, from meningitis, at their home in Hartford, CT, while Twain was on
tour in England. Susie was his favorite
daughter, and he treasured her above all else.
Upon hearing the news of her tragic and untimely death, far across the
ocean, he felt a grief he could not fathom, and wrote this:
“It is one of the mysteries of our nature that a man, all unprepared,
can receive a thunder-stroke like that and live. There is but one reasonable
explanation of it. The intellect is
stunned by the shock and but gropingly gathers the meaning of the words. The power to realize their full import is
mercifully lacking.”
I have granddaughters named Emily and Mary. Two of the kids murdered in Newtown were
named Emilie and Mary. Every time I even
heard those names, I was immediately transported to hell, such was the horror evoked
by even this innocent calling of their names.
We cobbled together this world we now live in. Whatever it has become is our handiwork. It will also be our legacy one day. When
we search for the source of this evil, we need only look around us. We blame all our ills on those things we
ourselves made. What transforms human beings
into the living evil that violated Newtown?
Chemical imbalance, medications, organic disease, lousy parents, drugs,
video games, poverty, abuse, movies, television, accessibility to firearms, and
the list goes on. They all, in their own
proportion, are ingredients in the recipe.
Now, commissions will be formed, committees will sit, and words,
and promises, like water, will flow copiously. Will anything meaningful come
from all this pontificating? Is this latest affront to humanity enough to make
the difference? Will anything good come
of yet another tragedy? Can we make the
decisions that need to be made?
I heard a most interesting proposition on the radio today. We now have the ability to identify and
profile the most dangerous mentally ill among us, the very ones who are most capable
of committing such acts. We should be allowed, the reasoning went, to separate
them from society, now – and forever. A
very proactive approach this, but if history be our judge, then it would be
wise not to hold your breath. Ours is probably the least proactive country on
the planet, which by default, makes us the most reactive.
So much to think about, so much to do. So little time.
When I grow very weary from all this, and it is finally time
for me to rest my head upon the pillow, I am left with two thoughts that trouble me greatly. One is a question –
three simple words. The other, a disturbing observation.
Where was God?
The only sure thing we know is that someone….out there….is
planning….is getting ready. Right now.
Mark Twain Quote: “It
is one of the mysteries …… full import is mercifully lacking.”
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