Inner Michael » A moment of light with that silence, please.

A moment of light with that silence, please.

All I heard was “gunman opened fire in a Colorado theater.” It was just enough to cause cold chills and an involuntary clenching of the teeth. A subterrenean moan surfaced from somewhere way, way deep: “Oh God, not again. Jesus, where’s the remote?”

I listened for a few minutes and called my daughter… in Colorado. She lived in Aurora when she first moved to Colorado and a month after she moved… Columbine. She lost kids she worked with.

Then there was Nine Eleven and her partner lost his uncle in the trade towers. And she lost something that I can’t define even to this day. I can’t name it but I know it well. In my youth, I lost a President, civil rights leaders, an Attorney general and musical heroes. Innocence lost. I was hoping the world would spare my children that same… whatever it is.

The Colorado fires a few weeks ago took her friends’ home and displaced other friends. She is helping to foster animals whose owners have no home and no place to bring their pets.

I made the call. She knew I would. She knew I knew and she knew why I was calling. Yes, it was in the theater where she used to live. Yes, there were deaths, one was a child. Denver was in an uproar and there were hundreds of cops… Her partner’s morning radio personality was killed; he’s in a kind of funk. They haven’t released all the names…

“OK, I said; keep me in the loop. I am so sorry… again. Let me know if there is anything I can do.”

I just wanted to hear her voice.

Anything I can do? There’s nothing adequate. But I will ask all of you to do something: Please do something surprising and wonderful for 5 people this weekend. It is a way to compound the light and spread it around to shame the darkness.

And keep shining. LYM ~B

8 Comments

  1. Robbie M said . . .

    Isn`t it always the case that in the depths of the deepest darkness, the light shines at its` brightest? People rally round, help each other, help out complete strangers. It sometimes takes the worst of human behaviour to bring out the best. I`m seven weeks into widowhood, and finding out first hand just how wonderful people can be.In the depths of my own dark hour, I have been blessed with the best that human nature can give. I will do as you ask, and do something wonderful for someone this weekend. Time to give back some of the light I have borrowed lately.Peace be with you, keep shining, it`s the only way to survive! Love and blessings from Scotland.

    Posted July 22, 2012 at 10:02 pm | Permalink
  2. B. Kaufmann said . . .

    Robbie, I am so sorry for your loss. Yes, tragedy can and does bring out the highest and finest in human nature: terroist attacks, natural disasters, senseless and random human violence, the many ways suffering comes in form and is the catalyst and alchemist. But I look forward to the day it does not take some kind of darkness to set it in motion. I look forward to the day when it is not lauded or applauded or even noticed, really… the day it comes naturally as a part of the human experience and of just being human.

    Posted July 22, 2012 at 11:13 pm | Permalink
  3. Robbie M said . . .

    Thank you Rev. Barbara. I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiments. I fear in many ways humanity is still stuck in kindergarten! Lashing out verbally and pysically at anyone who threatens the comfort zone of the status quo. God help you if you are viewed as “other”, and dance to the beat of a different drum.

    Add to that the collective woundedness on the planet, and you have a recipe for violence, anger hate and mistrust on a terrible scale. All we can do is strive to show a better way of living the human experience. A way of living in harmony with the planet and each other. Let`s hope our grown up example will shine out and aid humanity in graduating to a higher school and a higher way of life. The Universe is in a constant state of renewal, and sooner or later our species MUST progress. The alternative is unthinkable! We may have to drag them, kicking and screaming, like recalcitrant children… so be it. I dream of the future you hope for, and strive daily to bring it about. Love and blessings from Scotland.

    Posted July 23, 2012 at 11:58 am | Permalink
  4. B. Kaufmann said . . .

    R, when you say “all we can do is strive to show a better way of living the human experience,” I think of Michael Jackson fans having the numbers to reach critical mass and the motivation/determination to answer Michael’s call to “be my legacy” and “change the world.” Can you feel it? ~B

    Posted July 23, 2012 at 12:09 pm | Permalink
  5. Robbie M said . . .

    YES!!!!!

    Posted July 23, 2012 at 12:14 pm | Permalink
  6. gertrude said . . .

    Robbie I am very sorry for your loss.

    Posted August 3, 2012 at 12:04 am | Permalink
  7. Myrna Ramos said . . .

    Barbara I just wanna say I L.O.V.E U!!

    Posted August 10, 2012 at 6:51 pm | Permalink
  8. B. Kaufmann said . . .

    Wish I could say “love you more” but I think that’s alread been said. Eloquently in fact. *wink* ~Rev B

    Posted August 12, 2012 at 3:26 pm | Permalink

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