I am shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic shootings in Newtown, CT. Each unfolding story and every media sound byte brings me to tears. Because no matter how much I try to understand—I can’t. All I can seem to do is weep and pray. This morning when I woke up, I reached for my phone and every new headline was about the massacre. New day, new tears and a sadness that makes me feel as if I have lost someone close to me.
I grow even sadder thinking of parents who sent their children to school and must now endure the worst loss possible to mankind—losing a child. As a writer, I want to say something prolific. As a speaker, I am trying to find words that will soothe. As a believer, I am trying to find my Father’s hand in this senseless brutality. And as a human being, I want to know—why?
It comes to me that I feel as if I lost my own because in some sense I have. I may have never met Adam Lanza’s victims—those who died and those who must live with his heinous actions. But I am an aunt, a sister…a friend. Last night, a reporter stopped someone from Newtown and asked him how he felt. He responded, “This happened in a school, is nothing sacred?”
The reality is that schools are not sacred. We think they are because many of us hold the protection and education of children as sacred. We hurt for the adults who lost their lives…but it is the children that our hearts are bleeding for…they didn’t even get a chance to live!
In response to my brother who asked the question on TV, I believe that sacred things still remain, but they are sadly neglected every day. I am not speaking of sacred from a religious point of view. I am talking about the things that our faith teaches us are sacred. When you boil it all down, the sacred things in life are our relationships. First, with God. Then, with each other.
The hearts of mothers and fathers are broken because they could do nothing to protect their child. They will be haunted not just by the loss, but by the questions of how their children felt in their last moments alive. That’s because loving and protecting your children…your family is sacred.
As a coach, I sometimes do an exercise with my clients asking them the question, “ If this were you last day on earth, how would you want to spend it?” The answer is never making more money. It is always about spending time with people they love or doing something that will leave a legacy that will make the world better. So, having gifts that we use to change the world and we give our all to…that’s sacred.
Over the next few days, more stories will come. We will begin to see the faces of the 28 people who no longer live. We will learn the names of the children who make up that 20. We will see parents clinging to each other as they face the roughest days of their lives. We will learn of the bravery of teachers and adults who put the lives of the children first in an unimaginable situation. They will stop being numbers and become even more real. We will grieve more and cry more.
But, eventually the news will report different stories, because life will have to go on. This tragedy will eventually become history that we’ve had to move past for those of us not directly connected to the victims in Newtown. I fear that some politicians will forget the people behind the story and make it a political platform for votes and not real change. Time may numb us and we will forget how in these initial hours afterwards we loved what we have with all our hearts and remembered gratitude.
But, my prayer is that while the pain is still fresh. While our hearts are still tender and we can clearly see what matters, that we will commit to making one significant change that will cause us to live each day in a way that honors what we hold dear.
Live It! Honor that which is sacred!