Terrible Tragedy Reminds Us of What's Important

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.