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Writing about what I have been reading and encountering in the media. |
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WELCOME TO MY BLOG! I comment on things I am reading, thinking about, encountering in media, and spiritual issues. I hope you will find something interesting. PS. I love feedback... |
| (Written for a community memorial service>) Do you remember the old Yellow Pages Ad? “Let your fingers do the walking.” The internet has given a whole new meaning to “walking fingers.” Recently I had a conversation with a friend about buying shoes online. We live in an area where odd sizes are unavailable locally, so I order three pair, try them on, keep the pair that fits best and return the others. I notice that a lot of people wear the same brand that I wear, which I like because they are made in my state. However, no one would be able to identify me by my shoes. After the massacre at Uvalde, Texas, a child was so damaged by the shots to her body by an AR15 gun that she could be identified only by her shoes. Even when we don’t remember her name, we remember her shoes, green because she was a ten-year-old environmentalist. We don’t talk about the shooter’s clothing. We don’t talk about his values. We talk about his gun and what he did with it. We talk about him as if he were not a person. We grieve the victims, but not the shooter. We who were not there know about the event, have feelings about it, but don’t feel a part of it. It is as if our fingers are walking through endless words that float in cyberspace. We don’t need shoes for this. There is no ground under our feet. We have ordered the story and received it written in a number of different ways. We pick the version that fits our perspective and ignore the rest. This privilege belongs only to those persons not present for the event. Had our hearts been ripped from our bodies, had our spirits been perforated by rapidly fired bullets, that version would be unavoidable to us. What, then, do we need? How do we determine what we need? Do we need to understand what really happened, or do we need a story about it that fits our preconceived understanding of events? Do we need to go through such a thing ourselves in order to understand? What will make us value shooters before they acquire a gun? What do we need in preparation for loving the shooter as we love the victims? How can we ever understand the dynamics of the situation without empathy for everyone involved: the children, the teachers, the police, the shooter, those who love these people and those who don’t? We are painting shoes green and hanging them in the sun, in public in an attempt to connect with the event. We want to remember, to overcome the strong desire to forget. We want to learn what to do next. We want to do what is right in our community. We pray for our spirits to connect with the tattered and begin the work of mending as our spirits become more whole each time we engage in healing while walking with others toward peace. |
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