In a time littered with darkness of expression, it’s easy to begin to lose your perspective on the brighter scenes of the moments of life. Nowadays we all seem to be constantly beleaguered with a constant river of tumult and viciousness of character, the audacious nature of which is difficult for anyone to even begin to contemplate in realistic perspectives let alone to try and accept as being real!
Between so many wars and actions of terrorism targeted in the name belief, with the current nationalist tensions that could rival some of the most confusing days of the late 1890’s when most or all of Europe was literally an armed camp loaded with paranoia and all just awaiting that single spark that could ignite the worst of all their fears. With the continuing presence of the unsteady foundation of local politics and economic fears creating an unsteady environment of unsure security as well as the revering of a “Mayberry” way of life seeming to be long since past our possibilities. On top of all of these and many more, we all sit and ponder if even in the most brief and silent of ways, why it is that those thankfully rare of individuals in our midst choose to do the things that they do?
One of the stanchions of hope and praise that we’ve always looked upon and that we’ve always had working in our favor was the image and the visage of the positivity residing in neighborhood America!
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Why is it then that we again are witnessing the presence of such horrific and terrible events as we have seen unfold?
Well, certainly in psychiatric circles there will be many who will recite chapter and verse on standards and diagnoses both potential and historic. In locally political ways there will be the releases of supportive thought for their community. In Policing terms from our brave and gallant men and women serving our communities there will be assurances relating to their hard work to see to our safety and our security. All very proper and all serving to help the rest of us to find a sense of soul between one another throughout all the tragedy!
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Then there are still the core questions that will still remain regardless of all of the hope being expressed. The question will still remain.
“Why?”
Every household, on many sidewalks, in many coffee shops and in every church pew they will have their instincts regarding what it is that could move someone to act in such a dark way? Most will resolve themselves to the presence of a definite core of some form of illness that worked to promote such motions of being.
Then of course the questions and the grief will still remain after all has been said and displayed across television screens, in community gatherings and within newspaper headlines.
“Why?”
In modern neighborhood America how could such events still take place?
It goes without much stretch of thought to conclude that something went terribly wrong somewhere within the spirit of such thankfully rare souls in the world who choose such horrible ends in their lives.
In personal thought, for myself mind you as we all will come to our own conclusions, as I think on the places and the people I have come to call home and my special spots in my own parts of the world, I remember that at their core, there are some who by virtue of their own self vision and the evolving lacking in its clarity, there is somehow a loss of spirit that suddenly resides in such souls.
For some reason instead of steadying into a soulful spirit of some hope for the future, that life will indeed get better, and that feelings for what they are will all eventually pass dawning to brighter and better days yet to come; a few instead make horrible choices that lead to even more horrible ends.
We all recognize that many throughout all of our great communities work hard to reach out to one another to express that hope does exist and that nobody is ever all alone! The professional hands and the human hearts are present in all of our communities from all of the aforementioned and more to try and lend aid and support to those who for their own reasons may feel lost, alone, very scared, and understandably powerless in their lives!
Hey, let’s face it! As John Wayne uttered to Katherine Hepburn in the 1974 Film Rooster Cogburn, he said:
“Life’s not an easy game sister…”
Its not! Life really can be difficult even in its brighter of times! Life can take hard and challenging turns as we try our best to move our ways beyond the fog and the battle smoke that seems to constantly emerge on our individual and our collective horizons.
It’s a dark path that emerges at the point of making such tragic decisions as we have seen unfold in recent days.
There are no ideal ways of explaining any of them away or of settling the souls of the many millions standing at the sidelines in absolute awe of such tragedy.
The single-most quality that remains between us all is the steady hand of the hope of the spirit that we have between one another.
No, there are no words can take the pain away, there are no words can settle the fears or make adequate excuses to the children or to any of those older souls in our midst for that matter when they all ask that common single word;
“Why?”
For me I try to remember to seek out the hope that I see existing between everyone as we all try our collective bests to move forward. I try to remember that such dark paths are not residing around every corner of our neighborhoods. I try to cast a silent smile to my neighbor and to the people I pass on the street because that’s the best I have to offer others as I walk by them on most days.
After all of the questions have been asked, after the grief has taken place, as all of the media have their moments, as the rest of our nation moves forward, I think what really remains is our individual sense of hope adding itself to the person right next to us that helps us all to move beyond the tragedy.
The spirit that remains between us all is that there are better days ahead and in them is the hand of support we all offer to one another!
All Love, light, and the brightest of blessings!
Rev. WD Allan
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WD Allan, WDAllan.com
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