“The tragedy of life is not death but what we let die inside of us while we live.” ~ Norman Cousins
We are all called to be people of love and peace, of mercy and justice, of faithfulness and trust. We are called to be people of the Lord. Somewhere, somehow, the world seems to have forgotten its great calling and has turned itself into all that we are not supposed to be.
The world, as we know it, is a cold, heartless place. The world seems to encourage horrible acts of violence that happen on a tragically regular basis. You may remember, several years ago, an incident in Las Vegas. There, a shooter killed nearly sixty people and wounded well over five hundred people attending a concert. After inflicting the carnage, he turned a gun on himself and took his own life.
Afterwards, the entire incident seemed to have been turned into a political hot potato. If you mentioned it in any way, shape, or form, you were put into certain categories. One of those categories was pro guns or against guns.
When we do things like that, though, we minimize what really happened. While some people want to talk about gun control and other people want to talk about how the government handles these situations, we cannot lose sight of the fact that people lose their lives, and that others are traumatized — many for the rest of their lives — because of these tragedies.
We are in the midst of Respect Life Month. What happens in so many places in our country and around the world cannot be ignored and swept under the carpet. They need to be a clarion call to us reminding us that all life is sacred and that we need to do everything possible to cherish it. It also must remind us that we need to do a better job of caring for people with mental health issues in our country.
When tragedy happens, too many people point fingers and blame others. We need to address the roots of tragic events or else we will be doomed to repeat them.
Failing to look at the causes of tragedy is one of the biggest ways to keep ourselves immersed in the culture of death that is part and parcel of our world. Addressing the causes and looking out for the health and well being of all people is one of the ways to embrace the culture of life.
Do not let values die. Rather, embrace them, live them, and show others how to live them as well. Only then will we be on the way to restoring a healthy respect for all life, from conception to natural death.
FAITH ACTION: Pray for all victims of violence and pray, as well, for peace in the world.