jackpickel

I don’t want to hear the opposing sides shouting self-righteously about how armed teachers could have saved those children or how gun control could have prevented this all from happening in the first place.

I don’t want to hear the names they’re calling the shooter, like “evil” and “coward”.

I don’t want to hear about innocence and unfathomable grief and holiday presents that will never be opened because my heart just can’t bear that right now.

I don’t want to hear Wolf Blitzer on CNN saying things like, “It may be maudlin to say, but just imagine how tragic it will be when we start seeing the actual images of the children’s bodies.”

I don’t want to hear timelines, recorded police calls, press conferences, crime experts, or the President.I don’t want to hear reporters eagerly clamoring to confirm whether the death toll is rising, how many are children, whether it’s 27 or 28 dead now, whether this will be “possibly the 3rd, or POSSIBLY the 2nd worst mass shooting in our nation’s history”.

I don’t want to hear about what kind of gun he used or how many rounds he shot or how many bullets the clips could hold.

I don’t want to hear about children huddled in locked bathrooms or being told to hold hands and close their eyes while being led from bloody classrooms.

I don’t want to hear any of it anymore.

All I want to hear right now is the sacred silence of our souls in prayer, in contemplation, meditation, reflection, seeking salvation, seeking compassion, holding tight to a love more powerful by far than what happened today.

It is only from this silent place that change will come and this madness will end.

No shouting.  No demonizing.  No politicizing.

Silence.

(This article can be found at http://onlybiggerthinking.com/2012/12/14/a-powerful-silence/)