Thursday; April 20

Throughout the years, April 20th has been known for a lot of events. One is the birth of Adolph Hitler, but another hits much closer to home. On April 20, 1999 two students assaulted Columbine High School killing a dozen people. Prior to the widespread publicity of mass-fatality events in the United States, the Columbine High School shooting stood out as a pivotal point in history. The circumstances that led up to the tragedy have been studied and deconstructed by a lot of people but one of the things that stands out to me is how many people knew about the two killers but no one was able to connect the issues and stop them. Had some of the people who had some of the information share it with others, maybe something could have been done to intervene.

Now, I am not blaming anyone – other than the two people who committed the atrocity, but this incident reminds us of an important principle – if you suspect something, say something! If you know of someone who is struggling with controlling their emotions, find a way to get them the help they need. If you know of a plan where someone could get hurt, tell someone who has the ability to intercede. If you are aware that danger is in the air, tell someone. We live in a time when bad things are happening with increasing frequency, so not saying something could be deadly! We can no longer just pass off threats as merely someone blowing off steam. We cannot allow overtly aggressive actions to be dismissed as having a bad day.

I don’t want to ever see another mass-casualty event in my lifetime. But as much as that, I don’t ever want to watch another person reflect on a tragedy and say, “I knew something just wasn’t right, but I didn’t want to get involved”. Folks, this is our nation – these are our communities – we must be involved whether we want to be or not!

Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more