Broken

Reports of mass shootings are no longer uncommon. The fact that I can even make that statement is somewhat appalling and mind boggling, but it doesn't make it any less true. Have we become immune to such violence? Have we seen so much of it on TV, in movies, news reports, music lyrics, and video games that we are no longer affected by it? I would have answered YES to those questions, before a crazed gunman opened fire in a kindergarten class at Sandy Hook Elementary.  I'm truly saddened and feel guilty that it took such a horrific event, to finally wake us up and realize our society is broken. The question now is just how badly are we broken, and is there any way to repair all the damage that has been done?

Today's society is all about the quick fix. Instant gratification. We can ask why. We can theorize all manner of causes for such an atrocity, and point fingers at firearms, and mental illness. But are we as a society prepared to delve into the honest, raw truth of why and how we have reached such depth of depravity that we no longer value human life above all else?  Have we become so focused on maintaining a level of political correctness that we have devalued teaching our children right from wrong, or to believe in something other than our science and technology. In something other than our own inflated sense of self importance?

Some folks have openly asked where was God? If there is a God, why didn't He stop this from happening? Perhaps the answer we suddenly find ourselves searching for is just as intangible, yet ever present like the God we have deemed politically incorrect, and removed from a society as broken as the lives, hopes and dreams, of 26 innocent people and their loved ones they leave behind. My faith tells me that as little children suffered, and educators sacrificed to save their students, God was there so they were not alone in those last terrible moments. No matter how many turn their lives away from Him, and evict Him from  classrooms, and public buildings, God is always there for us.

 Sure, we can take away all the guns, lock up and vilify all the mentally ill, put armed guards in our schools, but will that fix what is truly broken within us as a society?  Can we come together body, mind, and spirit to work together as a collective whole to atone for our social shortcomings? In this season of hope, let us all take time to look inside ourselves, to stop and allow simple gifts of gratitude, kindness, and concern for one another take precedence over materialism, and selfishness.  Each of us are but one piece of society's whole, and until we heal individually, our society will remain broken and irreparable.