Most of us got up this morning... maybe drank a cup of coffee... grumbled about having to go to work again... got in our cars and arrived at our respective jobs. Most of us will go home after our 8+ hours and do it all over again tomorrow.
Two of us will not.
A local reporter and her camera man were gunned down in Moneta during a mundane story on economic development in Smith Mountain Lake. The interviewee shot in the back. Very likely shot by a former coworker from a local news station. The alleged gunman apparently shot himself also and remains in critical condition.
It is with a heavy heart that I'm writing this. So many thoughts colliding in my simple mind. How and why a tragedy like this one would happen so close to home - or even at all!
The one thought that keeps coming to the forefront of my mind is this: we - as a collective group of HUMANS - regardless of race, religion, creed, background, whatever - have got to show love to one another. LOVING your neighbor does not mean the neighbor that is geographically closest to you, the neighbor that you like, the neighbor that looks like you, thinks like you or the neighbor that serves the same God. It means everybody. It means the people that you are thinking you will never even like - you are CALLED to love. This also includes the shooter.
But then again, in my 30-ish years on this earth, I have come to understand that people have different definitions of love altogether. If you don't know what LOVE really means (1 Corinthians 13 is a good place to start, y'all) - perhaps you can start with KINDNESS. And if you don't know what kindness is - then come see me one Sunday morning. I've got a great place we can go.
I get it though - there are times when my actions do not display love. Quite the opposite of love, in fact. I get grouchy. People get on my nerves and seemingly make my life more difficult. But then two people lose their lives and suddenly life is put into perspective.
A lovely woman at my church says when someone pops into your head for no good reason, it's the Holy Spirit nudging you to reach out. Call them. Stop by. Hug someone - anyone! Have you ever tried to fight anger with anger? Gets your nowhere. Have you ever tried to fight anger with love? Whole different ballgame.
Nobody gets out of this life alive. And the world isn't going to change if you don't. Love won't solve all of our problems... but it's a good place to start.
Great read!!
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