gun violence

Kirk’s Enterprise

Charlie Kirk’s 

horrific demise

as he pursued

his enterprise

as a conservative force

through

political discourse,

should be

our turning point,

USA.

This school shooting,

unlike the other,

was political;

an intentional

act of violence

to silence

debate-

the latest

in a spate

of hate

crimes

against

political

figures.

The triggers

may be

multiple

but when

the political

is emotional

and what 

seemed

impossible 

is no longer

notional,

anything

becomes

motivational

against

a perceived

enemy.

Because

the hate

is visceral

when our

discourse

is so 

uncivil,

we can’t be

casual

about this

hit,

especially when

it

took place

on a college

campus.

Now

most of us

can feel 

the real

pain and sorrow

for his widow

and his children.

But can we

mourn for 

a person

who sparked

attention

for opposition

that may 

have intended

to provoke

and offend

if not

upend,

the woke

when he spoke?

I am chilled

by the blood

that’s been

spilled,

and I feel

my own

turning point.

Our enterprise

can’t be

the demise

of opposing

another’s belief.

Let this 

monstrous

event

help us 

to reinvent

good grief.

I just realized

that today

is 9/11.

What

have we

become?

To boldly go

where no 

one

has gone

before

was the American

enterprise

(cleverly

stated in

the Star Trek

franchise),

at the birth

of our 

democratic

republic.

But we have

succumbed

to hate

and fear

that we’re

in our

final frontier.

Our reaction

to terror

is often

contraction,

while

heightening

security.

But political

(and social)

purity

is immaturity,

not worthy

of who we

need to be.

Mass Murder. Literally. Moms Demand Action

Children.

Children.

Children attending

Mass.

Murdered.

At School.

In Church

there.

Thoughts

and prayers

instead of laws

by naysayers

when kids 

were literally

shot

while praying.

Alas,

this is mass

murder,

literally

at mass.

How much

more crass

can we be?

I saw a

photo

like no

other

of a 

mother

running 

down the

street

in bare

feet

holding 

her shoes,

sprinting

toward 

the school,

with mother’s

fuel

and fear.

I tear

up just

thinking of

this image;

this extraordinary,

yet insanely

ordinary

scene.

Just back

to school.

Nothing

more cruel,

than doing

nothing

about

mass 

murder.

especially

of children.

Don’t accept

this

unconscionableness.

We can’t remain

still,

hopeless.

Momentum

takes time.

You can take action now:

https://momsdemandaction.org/

December Redefined

Abundant Life

Christian School

in Madison,

Wisconsin

is still reeling,

feeling

the fuel

of grief

and disbelief

from abundant

life 

shot dead.

That the shooter

was not a gunman

or a front man

for a cause

caused 

barely

a pause,

because

girls

can have

boys’

toys

too.

And the second

grader

who might

have saved 

her

by calling

9-1-1

probably

saved many

others

from her

gun.

Often,

adolescent

girls’ pain

is visible,

while boys’

behavior 

is often

derisible,

but the pain

is miserable

no less.

Too many

are stuck

not feeling

an abundant

life;

just strife,

sharp

as a knife.

The abundance

of violence

seems to be

cyclical,

but school

shootings

are atypical

in the rest

of the world.

We are desperate

for a respite

from the seemingly

endless

senseless

shootings.

And the irony

of the lexicology

of the entities

astonishes

me.

I just can’t 

stop thinking

about linking

meaning,

which no 

longer

seems 

linked:

United.

Health.

Care.

Abundant.

Life.

Christian.

School.

Now defined 

as combined

moments

a la 

Columbine—

referring

to disturbing

incidents

of lost 

innocence

and terror.

Each thought

and prayer

from despair

without repair

is useless.

Hope lives

in action

and legislation,

but given

the incoming

administration,

find grassroots

sources

for your 

resources.

In the darkness

of our 

Decemberness,

we celebrate

the light

we create

through

gifts

and shifts

in resolutions.

Rededicate

to effectuate

the path

toward

solutions.

A miracle

takes

people

to work.

United.

Health.

Care.

Abundant

Life

with love,

Happy Holidays!

Capital Punishment

Mourners 

will gather

as funeral

arrangements

will be

made

for those

murdered

in their

classrooms.

The injured

endured

the unthinkable,

yet 

we shoulda

thunk it 

by now.

Why give

hunting

a pass?

Like it’s not

killling?

Instilling

what values?

Pro life?

We are 

our own

weapons

of mass

destruction

as long as

obstruction

of gun safety

laws

persists.

The silence

on violence

and intolerance

beyond

thoughts

and prayers

alone

or lone

wolves

who tell

us who

they are,

is far

from who

we need

to be.

Yes, 

it’s insanity.

If we only

gather

for our own,

and our own

is like 

a clique,

we stick

to 

the residue

of this

toxic

stew,

that is literally

killing us.

I know

you know 

this.

It’s one more

once more

we shouldn’t

ignore.

But we do.

Ok, they do,

but they are

still we

and it should be

clear

by now

that this 

is how

we could

die.

Dismissal

Hasn’t it all been said already? The Valentine’s Day massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida yesterday killing 17, shot another round through the heart of America.

While I was getting ready for my Valentine’s Day dinner, a celebration of love and romance, the news was on with interviews with a teacher, students, the superintendent, doctors, and police. I had to leave the room. I had heard the initial reports and interviews a bit earlier, and the rehashing and inevitable platitudes and explanations were nauseating.

I heard the police chief urge, “If you see something, say something.” The heat of anger began to pulse through my arteries. If only people had said something? That was it?

I thought about the timing of this unspeakable act of terror in a school not far from where I lived until a couple months ago. The shooting rampage began near the end of the school day. I thought about the shooter’s’ plan: As kids would be getting ready for dismissal, on an especially social day, Valentine’s Day, the shooter could exact revenge for his own misery.

We have a gun problem in America. But that gets dismissed. We have a violence problem in America. But that gets dismissed. We have a mental health problem in America. But that gets dismissed. We have an education problem in America. But that gets dismissed. We have an economic disparity problem in America. But that gets dismissed. We have a Culture problem in America. But that gets dismissed. And we have a grave political problem in America that too many try to dismiss.

If your heart is heavy, as is mine, don’t dismiss the love you feel. Don’t dismiss the possibility you can envision. And don’t dismiss the reality of misery, violence, access to weapons, political cowardice, and the consequences—intended or otherwise—of dismissal.

Shaken. Not Stirred.

Breaking News: Gunman kills student in school shooting. This is any day, USA. Yesterday it was the Las Vegas “anti-government” shooters. Over the weekend, three people were killed and 20 were wounded in shootings in Chicago. That’s one weekend in one city. You’ve seen the newsflashes. The horrors seem to be more frequent. There is more hysteria when the shootings are suburban or in schools (or malls or movie theaters). What was once (or twice or thrice) regarded as an anomaly, has become a daily news story. Yes. DAILY.

We are being terrorized. This time it is from within. We have always been a violent society, struggling to overcome violent impulses and histories. We have  also always cherished individual liberty, but wrestled with balancing individual freedoms with public safety and well being. As more groups of people who were historically disenfranchised have greater access to social, economic and political equality, individuals who feel threatened or disenfranchised have become more emboldened and, in too many instances, violent. The violence is not only self-inflicted, but too often the shooter’s personal drama becomes the unending pain of so many others directly affected by the seemingly random madness. The shooter’s disconnection from humanity may not resonate with many others who would probably reject violence, but the shootings reverberate and shake us to our core.

Even sadder, it seems as though the only ones who are stirred are the disaffected. For those who are driven by madness, we need to make it harder for them to act upon violent fantasies. Where is the leadership? Tweets and petitions may stir some folks into demanding change, but more serious legislation is necessary. Where is the outrage? What does it take to stir political leaders to act?