And yet....nothing.

Here we are, 33 days, or in thinking about it in a different context, 3 massacres later.

If you thought we were over the Vegas shooting, then throw in a shooting at an airport, then an attack in New York City, and finally, another attack in a church.

And, not just any church.  A church attended by families from my former employer.  I spent 9 years there, some of the most incredible years of my life.  Certainly, I learned how to teach there.  But, it was more than that.  I learned to invest in community.  I learned where my passion in Texas History could take me and my students to some fantastical places.

That won't stop.

But, time stopped yesterday.  Again.

My teaching family has been touched by this devastating act.  Their families and students and co-workers and community have unimaginable grieving ahead.

Students in my daughters med school were called in with trauma teams to help.  When she is a second year student, will the same happen to her?  Medicine is her passion, but more importantly, so are people.

When will our society develop a passion for people?

That's just the tip of the emotional iceberg we are subjected to, seemingly every month.  I don't have the answers.  On one hand, some sort of changes in gun control might help.  But, yesterday, a person supposedly banned from owning guns got them anyway.  We can't legislate morality.  Banning certain types of guns will only certainly bring in criminals from other countries to make a buck off our love of guns.  Too many hide behind the 2nd Amendment, not caring to take part in civil discourse.  Too many bash said amendment with no care for it's origin or intent.  Our elected representatives have sold out to lobbyists and special interests, and completely ignore the voices of those who put them in position to serve and represent.

It's a vicious cycle, and if History tells us one thing, it's this:  unrest breeds revolution.  When our voices are ignored long enough, people rise up.  And, they rise up at any cost to effect change.

Martin Luther King said we are made by history.

I'm not sure we want to be made by the history we witnessed yesterday.

But, as a matter of faith, perhaps we can learn about, and learn from yesterday.  Perhaps, we can treat each other better.  Perhaps, we can project humility and patience and love and empathy and the leadership to which we have been called to provide to this world.

And yet, 33 days hasn't been enough time to learn.  And if it has, what lessons did we miss?

Peace

"By three methods we may learn wisdom:  first, by reflection, which is the noblest; second by imitation which is the easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest."
-Confucius