This week, I have watched the news in tears, while holding tightly to baby C, just hoping and praying that everyone and everything will be okay. It is a sad, sad week in America.
As tragedy has hit our country, I keep hearing one thing that has me in shock, but also nodding my head: that the month of April has a history of dark violence and tragedy. In 1993, the siege in Waco, Texas ended bloodily after a 50 day standoff; In 1995, the federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed; 1999 Columbine High School in Colorado fell victim to a deadly shooting; in 2007, a shooter went on a shooting spree at Virginia Tech; and this week two explosions occurred at the Boston Marathon in Massachusetts and just last night, West, Texas was rocked by an explosion at a fertilizer plant.
And just in the last year, I can think of several tragedies that have occurred...
Last summer was the shooting in Aurora, Colorado at the movie theatre; all of summer 2012, the entire country was hit HARD by nature... All of Colorado was lit ablaze, and my own home town seemed to be all but burned to the ground. It seemed like every other week, another college was falling victim to another shooter; and the day we brought baby C home from the hospital, a truly evil, disgusting man struck an elementary school called Sandy Hook in Newtown, Connecticut. All of this happened over the course of my pregnancy, and now all of the tragedy this week with my little man at 4 months old... It all has me thinking, "what kind of a world did I bring my child into!?" Because the fact of the matter is that evil exists; darkness is a part of reality.
BUT... In the face of great adversity, heroes are born. In every single one of the circumstances I have discussed, the innate good in people has truly shone. Yes, shone, not shown. We must remember that in the midst of darkness, even the smallest light is victorious. I have lost count of the reports of people acting selflessly, as heroes. In light of the Boston Bombings, I have seen photos of people, strangers, turning to each other and helping... People trying to protect each other and save each others' lives. And this tells me that evil never will win. Evil is a coward; evil acts out of a place of desperation, in the hopes of overpowering unsuspecting victims. Ah, but evil is ignorant; evil underestimates the good in people; because goodness breeds hope, and hope breeds faith, and faith breeds love. And love is stronger than anything this world can throw at humanity!
In the midst of all of this heart break and tragedy, cling to your faith, spirituality, hope, whatever you might call it. More than that, let love connect you to man-kind. Put aside the debate of politics and religion. In the end, we are humanity, and humanity is attempting to turn on itself. We must stand up in love, and show those who would turn on us, that love truly is stronger than any evil.
To summarize the words spoken by our President this morning, let our "resolve be the greatest rebuke to those who have committed these heinous acts" and, I add, to the darkness that continues to attempt an overtaking of the great light of love inside each and every one of us!
Sending you all love, hope and light this Thursday!
-Ashley
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