I know where I was when I
heard about the San Bernardino shooting on Wednesday. I was teaching violin at
the time, and I received a text from my mom asking whether I’d heard about it.
I didn’t
immediately register what I read. It didn’t even occur to me that it could have
been a recent occurrence. I thought it was something that might have happened
months or years ago — it is hard to tell tone from a text message, you know?
So I messaged back almost
45 minutes later to ask where and when it occurred, and then something clicked.
I realized that San
Bernardino is in California, which is only about an hour from where someone I know was attending school.
All this made me
realize something. In the aftermath of the shooting, the whole thing was
completely (and prematurely) politicized. The response was predictable and
political: pro-guns versus anti-guns, pro-refugees versus anti-refugees,
pro-Muslim versus anti-Muslim, Right versus Left, and so on and so forth.
As with the last
mass shootings in the U.S., we lost perspective so quickly.
That’s not to say
that these issues are not important, but they are actually secondary to the
issue at hand — that 14 people died. They are the ones we should look at FIRST
and focus on—not the murderers who are getting so much media attention, not
guns, not one political party or another. Those are things we should address in
the future, perhaps, but not in the first hours after an attack.
The world lost 14
people on that Wednesday. These 14 people will not finish out the year. They
will not see those they cared for grow up and work hard and make them proud.
They will not see their children grow up and work hard and make them proud. They will not
be there to see their spouses and friends and family grow old. They will not
grow old.
They will not be
home for Christmas or any holidays, including the New Year.
This season is a
time for joy and family and remembering all of the blessings of the year. Yes,
holidays often come with stress because people feel obligated to spend more and
more and pretend they are happy when they are not — but Christmas and the
surrounding holidays are ultimately about being thankful for our blessings.
Even in the midst of stress, we have countless blessings.
I can’t say what
the blessings are for the families that were shattered by this shooting. That
is a tragedy of horrific proportions, and nothing can soften that. I firmly
believe that some good must come of this, because it must, but those words
won’t lessen the pain and grief of the afflicted families.
However, I will say
this: The shooting in San Bernardino renewed my gratitude for everything and
everyone around me. I am thankful for my parents, for my brothers and sister,
for my coworkers, for my friends, for my health and for all of the things that
have been given me. I could lose any or all of those things in a single moment.
I myself could die or lose my health and mobility or, God forbid, my family and
friends, at any time.
However, the only
thing I can say now is that you and I are here now by the grace of God, for
however long we are given, and that is something to be thankful for.
