Terrible things seem to keep happening; innocent lives have
been lost in the most innocent of places – a movie theater, a city-wide race,
on Main Street, in schools…
We are losing family, friends, co-workers, classmates, and
children and what confounds me most of all is we are losing them at the hands
of family, friends, co-workers, classmates, and children…how can this be? We can talk all day about the weapons used
and the, perhaps, unnecessary access to them, but what are *we* doing to ensure
that our family, friends, co-workers, classmates, and children are happy,
healthy and well? If there is one thing
I’m certain of, it’s that every one of us has an obligation to one
another. When will we recognize that the
way we treat others, regardless of how well we know them, makes a lasting
impact? A lifelong friendship can be as impactful as a simple act of kindness
to a stranger…of this I am certain.
We hear about awareness. We should be aware of our luggage in an airport, of suspicious objects
in a train station, strange packages in a building and yet how often are we
asked to be aware of those around us? The student sitting by themselves at
lunch, the co-worker constantly distracted, or the passenger on the metro sad
and crying? We've all come in contact with them and we've all been guilty of turning a blind eye.
In memory of the 26 lives lost in Sandy Hook, the lives
taken in Boston yesterday, the 12 lost in Colorado, the 32 Hokies lost, and all
the other innocent souls taken by senseless acts I vow to be aware of those
around me and to make a concerted effort to be kinder, more generous, and more
forgiving.
Six years ago I would have thought that there could be
nothing worse than what happened on my campus and yet I was sorely mistaken. When will
it end, when will we finally put the arguments and debate aside and look deeper
to find a common cause and purpose? We’re already too late…
There’s a grief that can’t be spoken, there’s a pain goes on and on…Empty
chairs at empty tables…now my friends are dead and gone…here they sang about
tomorrow…and tomorrow never came…
In the table in the corner, they could see a world reborn and they rose
with voices ringing and I can hear them now…the very words that they have sung…became
their last communion…in this lonely barricade….
There’s a grief that can’t be spoken, there’s a pain goes on and on…
Empty chairs at empty tables where my friends will meet no more…
Oh my friends, my friends don’t ask me, what your sacrifice was for…
Empty chairs at empty tables where my friends will sing no more…
