At times like this when we witness the wounded lives and hearts of those among us, there is no distinction between…
A Bay Stater and an American.
Black and white.
Man and woman.
Democrat and Republican.
Legal and illegal alien.
Red Sox and Yankees fans.
Young and old.
A Harvard and Yale grad.
A feminist and stay-at-home mom.
Conservative and liberal.
A Duke and North Carolina fan.
Cops and robbers.
Cowboys and Indians.
There is no distinction. We are Americans… persons each created equally, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable Rights. Those rights were tragically infringed upon on Monday.
Yet while there exists no division in the distinction between who we are, there is a distinction in how we behave…
There are those who weep… and those who can’t.
There are those who trust God… and those who won’t.
There are those who shake their fists at Him… and those who quietly mutter “help me understand.”
There are those who want immediate revenge… and those who recognize that prudence is most effective.
There are those who wish to enact legislation to ensure something like this never happens again… and those who acknowledge that no legislation completely curbs the heart of an evil man.
There are those who passionately articulate… and those whose passion is silently spoken through streaming tears.
There are those who speak foolishly in the aftermath… and those who intentionally encourage those around them.
There are those who seek to numb the pain… and those who know that numbing is never effective for the long term.
There are those who ache… and those who walk alongside them.
And there are those for whom we have abundant compassion… and those for whom we find great reason to withhold.
The reality is that over the course of our lifetime, we have each most likely behaved as each of those above. Hence, it may be wise to give a little more mercy and grace to them all.
Respectfully… as a still sober nation…
AR