Dark Day

I could go on rants about what I think, my belief that this young man should never been able to purchase a gun (three guns, actually) in the first place, but it doesn't matter what I think.

It only matters what we DO.

So what can I do?  All I know to do is this: Really listen to people when they talk.  Not hold it against them when they are angry, but try to see through to the pain they are feeling.  Smile a lot.  Say thank you and I love you constantly.  Compliment people.  Try to be kind even when it is really supremely painful and we want to slap them instead.  Remember that kindness is more important than rightness, and that strength is acceptance and not resistance, and that there is nothing proven by lashing out.  It sometimes feels like I am helpless sometimes against evil (like today), but I tell myself that if I can inch by inch try to crowd it out with goodness, in my own little square of the world, I'm moving in the right direction.

"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21