The Sandy Hook school shooting. This kid’s family was – is – broken, and he was broken. His mind and heart were broken. If he was sick, his family was sick. These truths are being exposed moment-by-moment.
If we lack a sense of community, and it needs to be restored, then we have a desperate need to figure out where to begin. It must begin at home, in the family. If our families are broken, and we send people out into the world from a broken family, they have a fraction of a chance to recover that. Some do; too many don’t, even if they don’t do something terrible; too many live lives “of quiet desperation.” If we try to find ways to fix it at home, we are better prepared to go out into the world peacefully.
Take a breather from talking about guns and the gun control debate; it’s a shallow distraction and it’s cheap, especially in this moment. Our talk and efforts must focus on people. People’s hearts and minds, and what has either filled them or emptied them.
It’s written that Jesus said, “The poor will always be with you.” Well if so, then likewise all tragedies will always occur eventually and yet the world will continue to spin. You don’t have to believe in God to know and buy into this hard truth. We cannot save the world, but we can start somewhere. It’s enough to start at home.
When families are broken, individuals are broken. There are many communities we can spend our time, money, and efforts on, and rightfully so. But we should start with the community of our own families, in our own homes.
Start at home. Then perhaps we can be prepared to go out.
Michael E Conner
Thank you for writing this to our State Superintendent.
Hi Michael,
Here is what I wonder: I think to be stable mentally we must know that we are loved. People are rather fickle with expressing this so when people fail we better have contact with someone that loves us unconditionally. That is why a faith-based solution is essential. It also becomes the source of our love expressed.
This is exactly where we are failing.