SUMMER MOOD #4 

I had a whole other piece written for today’s post – mostly – with photos to share. 

But my hometown of Minneapolis has been grief-stricken for the past week. It doesn’t feel like it’s appropriate to focus on state fair food or beautiful flowers or the cool tree frog who came to visit our deck. It doesn’t seem quite right to share memories of happy walks with a growing puppy Finn or a birthday dinner out with my best friend. These are all wonderful things and they keep me sane, but I’m at a loss as to how to balance happy moments with the recent tragedy of children shot to death at the first children’s Mass of their school year, other children injured, families’ peace shattered.

And we cannot claim that this tragedy is ours alone. This kind of event is a daily reality for children in Gaza, Ukraine, Haiti, and other war-torn places. It’s also a reality for kids who live with the crossfire from gangs fighting each other, domestic terrorists trying to make a point, or from adults whose mental health struggles result in the purchase of weapons that they then fire upon others in their own community. This kind of event happens all the time at this point in history and, every single time, people are shattered.

Yet here we are again. We seem unable to let go of our ideas about what it means to bear arms or what it means to balance personal freedom with the good of society. We are unable to move to a different idea about the safety of our children and ourselves that puts a pin in the acquisition of modern weapons by ordinary citizens.  Here in the U.S., we still adhere to ideas about bearing arms that were written down in the 1700s, when the arms people had access to were completely different. 

And it’s killing our children. It’s killing us. 

Do not offer thoughts and prayers. Make the changes that matter. Demand and then vote on laws that control access to weapons that no one outside of the military needs to have their hands on. Demand and then vote on health coverage that includes mental health care and counseling. Demand and then vote on school curriculums that include empathy training. Demand and then vote for representatives who put people first rather than some bottom line, some business deal, or loyalty to a party. Get out in your community and take care of each other.

We need to act. There is no more time. Winter is coming.