Hello God. Is it you or is it us?
As a writer, I was finding no words to really describe how I am feeling about the massacre of 27 innocent people at the Sandy Hook school in Newtown CT last Friday. I just knew that I was devastated again because maybe the one true peacemaker might have been among those sweet six and seven year old babies who were slaughtered. I always go there when there is a mass murder. Did we just kill someone who could have brought peace to our world? I started to think that way right after John Lennon’s murder.
I figured everyone from the Pope down was having their say and then it hit me. This all has to do with us and God, the Universe, Bob or whoever you go to when you are in need of answers.
And we go to the deity’s throat when we need someone to blame.
Then I realized that this was what I was really mad at. Let us not take any responsibility for our actions. Let’s blame God (and please insert whatever name works for you). We didn’t cause this. God did. Really?
People are asking why God would do this. I don’t think God does this. I think we do. And to be fair to people in the throes of unimaginable grief, I don’t blame them for saying that. I blame the rest of us. But what I think those families should be saying is, ”Why did YOU do this to us?”
Do you think God would really do this to us? Do you? This is coming from someone who has not attended mass willingly since she was 16 years old. But I really do not think for a second that God did this to those families in Ct. Why would God kill babies who were learning how to pronounce big words?
She didn’t. We did.
And I believe this goes beyond free will. We know what is right and wrong. We know it instinctively and for those how don’t – you learned it from your parents, religious leaders, siblings and teachers. You get free will. We just abuse it over and over again.
I am going out on a limb here, but I don’t think God (or whoever you think came up with this idea) created all of us so we can kill each other. If that is true, then why bother? God could just go to the movies instead.
I am not going to go on but wanted to share the three reasons why I think this sort of murder will go on and on and on and on…
We don’t give a shit for our fellow man/woman.
People with mental issues are really not our problem. They are crazy and we’re not. Hide your good china.
Too many damn guns.
So until we really go back to the drawing board and rewire how we think, feel and love then more children will have to be sacrificed.
We just don’t care enough to admit that it is our fault.
“It’s really a wonder that I haven’t dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl
In so many ways, our planets is out of balance. Nature has always brought forth destruction. It seems to be, well, natural — hurricanes, earthquakes, forest fires etc. The food chain involves plenty of kill or be killed. We two-legged creatures have waged war and violence on each other since time immemorial. But it seems to me that we’ve gone off the bloody cliff, taken our propensity to violence, envy and greed to epic proportions. We are so out of balance. What will it take for the tribe to make peace, to care and nurture each other and the planet?
The goodness of God/the Great Mystery surely lies within each of us. I think most of us are good people and we do care. We are capable of sowing seeds of kindness, civility and love. Research into mental illness and its causes lies in the hands of the scientists and doctors among us. How can each of us contribute to making a better world? Out ouf our great sadness for what happened this Christmas season in Newtown, can we forge a better path forward? I hope so. We have got to turn this cycle of violence around, shoot at targets, not each other.
Thank you, Kay, for linking here to Elizabeth’s provocative post from our Creative Intentions group, Now I am going to read what Carol wrote.
Thank you, Keddy, for your comments and observations.
Elizabeth– I’m glad you weighed in. I too, as you know, have been coming to terms on my blog.
There are people who believe that nothing happens by accident, that everything is God’s will, the good and the bad. This belief seems to go hand in hand with the perversion of the 2nd amendment.
Mental illness is a reality and it most certainly is our problem. Children in trouble who grow up to be assassins are our problem. How we contribute to that is also our problem. And so on.
To me God is one of humanity’s most powerful ideas. In times like these, we have to turn to each other. xxj
I was raised to believe God is omnipotent – that God is everywhere. Was I taught wrong? I mean, I don’t believe anymore, but that’s what the nuns taught me. If that’s the case, then God resides within the heart of the believer, and given the whole “free will” thing He/She threw in there, I don’t think He/She should get either credit or blame.
“… maybe the one true peacemaker might have been among those sweet six and seven year old babies who were slaughtered. I always go there when there is a mass murder. Did we just kill someone who could have brought peace to our world? I started to think that way right after John Lennon’s murder.” You got me crying again with that one, Elizabeth. Thanks again for some useful insight. There’s been too little of that. I love you, Girl.
You’re right. We can’t blame God for this any more than we can blame God for war or any other manmade tragedy or natural disaster. There’s no reasoning for this horrific event. It was a sick, evil person who committed this slaughter, not God. You listed three reasons why you think these type events will continue, one being,”We don’t give a shit for our fellow man/woman.”
I believe we DO care. We have to find a way to protect ourselves and our children, as best we can, from sociopaths. But we also have to remember that most people are kind, caring and loving. You are, and so are most people.