This one took
me a while to write.
When I
started this blog, I never expected that I would see the things I have seen
this year. I started it a little after the shooting in my own state, and then
while the wounds were still fresh, I watched the news of the shooting in
Newtown came rolling in.
And then I
woke up to the news in Boston.
I never
thought that while writing a blog, I would be documenting and witnessing some
of the most tragic and horrific events in American history. And all I can think
about is how close they are to each other. It’s been less than a year since
Aurora, under a hundred and fifty days since Newtown. How much life we see lost
in so little time. How much horror we bear witness to every day.
And this is
just our country. All over the world atrocities like this occur. Some of them
in quicker succession than our own. While our country sheds blood and tears and
fights among ourselves, other countries battle war, poverty, tyranny, famine
and disease. No tragedy is worse any other and being alert to the sufferings of
others does not lessen the suffering of our own. We are all one global heart
and pain in on place is pain for us all.
I wish we had
a year. Maybe next year. I really wish, what I think the world needs, is one good
year. One year of cease fire. One year of strength and love instead of hate and
pain. Just one year, three hundred and sixty five days of selflessness and
honesty. One year where we don’t waste time blaming each other for everything
that happens. One year when we work towards the betterment of mankind instead
of its destruction. One year when our children walk to school in safety, where
our homes and our public spaces are places of joy again. One year of triumph,
prosperity and forward motion. One year where pass all the laws that we need to
move into a better world. One year when we forgive ourselves and others for
mistakes, for evil and for sadness. One year when they only disasters are the
ones of nature and we give from our hearts and souls to help the victims. One
year when we give way to peace and stop the senseless violence we enact on
ourselves and others. One good year.
And when we
get that year, I hope someone is writing a blog about it. I hope someone is
documenting it. So that thousands of years from now, when our posterity looks
back, we can have this one year where everything was good.
But maybe
that isn’t the answer. There is always going to be evil in the world. There
will always be pain. There will always be sickness, darkness and sin. Maybe
everyone needs one good year, and maybe that year can be this year. Maybe this
year we can fight back against those who wish to harm us, love our neighbors
stronger, open our mind and our hearts to the differences in the world, embrace
those in pain and let the dead rest in peace.
When I see
tragedy in the news, I can see the people who run towards the danger, towards
the bloodshed and towards the helpless. Those people are part of this year.
Those people, the ones who stand brave in the face of terror, they are part of
the year that we should remember for all the good we have done. My faith in our
world is restored with every act of anger and terror, because those who are
good will always outnumber those who are not. Those who love outnumber those
who hate. Those who seek war are outnumbered by those who give peace.
So this year,
or next year, or ten years from now, have one good year. Let it be your good
year. Do good in the world when the rest of the world is suffering. Bring joy
to those who are sad. Give hope to the hopeless and help to the helpless. Start
with one good year, and lead to one good life.
I am making this year my good year.
When is your
good year?
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