Let Us Love

Here I was, happily scrolling through twitter looking for news of interest. I.E. All things Israel and find news of another shooting. What in the sam hell world? I saw this on facebook the other day and think it is necessary to share (or just to ramble on about) 

I can't help but absolutely 100% agree. Growing up in Montana we all had guns, all the time and we never shot anyone. We never even thought of it. We shot tin cans and hunted in the fall. Even though I am a Republican (my own sort of Republican) and I am against Gun Control for me it isn't about rights or all the Republican mantra's that you hear. Yes, guns are a method for mass killings, but so are a million other things. If we as a nation want to "fix" this problem of shootings we need to get to the root of the problem, which is when someone who is so upset, deranged, psychotic, etc uses something as a weapon to wreak havoc on other peoples lives. It's not about the weapon you guys! It's about the person! 

Perhaps if we paid more attention to individual people instead of some inanimate object there would be less shootings. Perhaps not. I'm not the judge. I can't help but think of something I saw last summer about a boy who shot his mom and sister because he felt like he was invisible and they didn't listen to him. I heard the 911 call and the boy slowly realized what he had done, that the method he took to solve the problem had extreme consequences that he could never change. He legitimately didn't realize what had happened until hours after the fact.

After I sat there crying for a little bit I thought about the things that people do that make me angry. I realized it was all so inconsequential after the fact. But in that moment I was angry, I was upset. Yes, in the past I haven't valued my life, not even a bit, but now, now I do. 

It's a long and hard lesson to learn. But friends, let's just love each other a little more. Let's use love and compassion to show each other how much we value our lives and the lives of others. Let's help each other. Let's treat the cause, not the symptom. Let's recognize mental illness and despair.

Let's love.