Dear Readers,
I do not want to use the phrase "jumping on the bandwagon" for this post, but I will be following a prevalent theme that has been circulating lately. There have been in this week alone two horrific events that have our nation thinking about the hard things in life. I myself cannot even fathom the pain that these families have to endure now. I know only that I pray for them and hope that their loss will not be in vain.
There is a specific reason that I say this though, and I wish to illustrate why. Every story in the world has death in it. Whether it be a small children's tale or a Saga that spans centuries, we know that the inevitable is that we will all die. We fear death, we ponder death, we stare at her cold doors and know that one day they will open for us. We are motivated by death. In light of these events we have to think long and hard about life and death. Two young men this week made some of the worst decisions that a young man can make, and the result was that others lives were changed forever. Thrown from the normal into a spiraling torrent of emotion, one can only hope that there is recovery.
What can we do though, to make sure that the deaths we have all heard of are not in vain? Well, it will do us no good to amp up gun control. More security checks at schools may help for now but in the end it will only be more expensive than it is worth. The way that we can truly honor those lost is simple. We must live, love, and make the world better so that things such as this do not become so commonplace among us.
We all exist in this earth. We have bodies and minds and we are constantly breathing and thinking to some degree. What we need to do is live though. If I were placed in the situation of the families that were devastated this week I think that I would be trapped by regret and worry. I didn't do enough, it was my fault, I didn't treat them well enough and other thoughts such as this would be floating around my poor little head. The most important thing we can do is appreciate those that are around us right now, and let them know that.
In Harry Potter Mrs. Weasley feels absolutely horrible when Fred and George could have died earlier on, and she breaks down because the last things she said to them were in anger. Don't let anger be the parting feeling with your loved ones! We need to make the most of our time here, and this week needs to be taken as a lesson. Not that bad things happen to good people or that our families are going to be shot, but that we need to live our lives and love our families because we never know when our time will be.
Things like this don't just happen. People don't just go and do things like this. We can see that our society is degrading. People are too comfortable (myself included) with the instant gratification that we have today. Download that app, drive fast, get it on a layaway, buy it on credit, etc... the list goes on forever.
WHAT ARE WE DOING!? I know that there are some things that are necessary. I am going to school on loans starting in January because I don't have the money for school and I know that I need to go. We need to stand up for what is right though! If we only ever limit ourselves and say that we "can't" then we never will. If we don't follow through with things then we learn that it really isn't that important and we can just go by with the minimum and that isn't really good enough!
We need to take back our lives and help those around us.
How many more tragedies will we face before we realize that we need to do more? I urge each of us to hold onto our families and loved ones a little closer for this holiday season. We need to face these tragedies with hope for a better world, not bitterness for those who were deranged enough to do such bad in the world. Remember the things that we celebrate this time of year, and why we do so.
Thank you all.
My heart and prayers go out to the families that have been changed by these events, and to all of you that haven't been. Let's all work together to stop this sort of thing from happening.
Sincerely,
-Doug Knuth
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