Do not tell me it’s only a mental health problem when people shoot up churches and country music crowds like it is a video game series.
Do not tell me you’re shocked at our current headlines when you see movies where people’s heads explode like fireworks and all the television on all the stations glorify crime and violence and anger and greed and revenge. It’s funny when, in The Kingsman, all the people die. I mean, after all, it’s a cute guy who happens to be in the secret service, avoids the bullets, and has sex in the end. Pass the popcorn.
But we are what we consume and what we eat and what we soak up like sponges. We are not driven to madness, as these shooters are, but we are part of the problem. To distance yourself, to put up a shield and do nothing about it, only exacerbates it.
We cannot continue to wring our hands and simply hope that love prevails. The fact is, we have to live out that love. We have to be extravagant and diligent and roll up our sleeves and do the hard work to change our world. After all, love is not just a feeling, but a verb. Even in the Biblical narrative, Jesus walked and healed and did actual things. We have to stop just talking about it.
Yes, the Texas shooter was crazy. The Vegas shooter was crazy. They are crazy in that sane, normal people do not just shoot and kill innocent people. Insanity, after all, is when your illness is so severe that one cannot distinguish reality from fantasy, when someone can’t conduct themselves in accordance with their own will, when one lacks all impulse control or does not understand the consequences of their actions.
But if asked, I’m sure these two shooters actually were aware that the bullets they fired would, in fact, result in death. They knew the year, and the name of the President, and the fact that they had breakfast, their birthday. They were not the typical definition of crazy in that they were unaware of their surroundings.
More than crazy is the concept of evil, a sinister urge that runs through all of us. Evil causes a man to beat his wife, beat a dog, hurt a child, rape a woman. Evil is the snake the slithers in the grass, that whispers to us in our darkest hours. Go ahead and hit her. Give in to the rage. Show him who’s boss. Get your guns and blow their fucking brains off. You know you want to.
And just perhaps, if we’re honest, to a lesser degree, we’ve all been there. Perhaps it provides a moment of satisfaction when the act is done. It’s the revenge that gives Clint Eastwood all the good lines. Puts the high school cheerleader in her place. But it is the classic double-edged sword, because when you make a deal with the devil you’re the one who loses. It’s not Hollywood. It’s someone’s grandmother that got shot, blood seeping out like tears.
This is not an urge that manifests overnight. It’s a slow burn from off-white to grey to pitch black, born over years of abuse and torment and the feeling that one is utterly and hopelessly alone.
Enough.
This country has more gun violence than any other country. And yet we are the richest, the most advanced, the most prosperous, dare I say the most beautiful. And yet we’ve allowed this pulse of evil to grow stronger, richer, more desirable. We underfund mental health care, and we make people feel stupid or weak if they need to be on medication or go to therapy. We glorify violence, we endure molestation in the church, and men simply aren’t allowed to cry. We have grown to a place where our women must stand up stronger, bolder, fiercer. We are no longer protected and we must learn to protect ourselves.
So do we have a mental health crisis in this country? Yes. Can angry fellows can simply obtain a semi-automatic rifle and shoot people if they get mad enough, which unnecessarily magnifies the damage from their rage? Apparently. But make no mistake – we also have a crisis of evil.
We have to be the change. It’s not going to happen from the top down. We can’t rely on our current administration or government or church hierarchy. It starts with us. We vote. We can be kind. We can ensure better lives for our children. We can reach out to someone who is struggling and simply be extravagant with our kindness. Love the unlovable. The invisible. The untouchable. Be absolutely fearless in our generosity of heart. And yes, we can take tangible steps to limit the access to weapons that can fire on multiple people simultaneously. We can do this with our collective voices.
Would that help change the heart of an angry white guy in Texas? Would that reverse what happened? No. Those lives are gone. But future men and women, mothers and fathers, janitors and presidents and teachers and lawyers – they are just toddlers, full of heart and hope, full of smiles and jars of smashed peas. We owe it to them to take the lever, the big one that is life that we have to hold with both hands that measures good and evil, and pull with all our might toward good.
Sit with your family and think of how you can send an anonymous package to someone in your neighborhood. How you can help someone who is feeling lost. Invite someone to eat with you that you wouldn’t normally talk to. Look around and think of how to be active in love. Can you afford Starbucks? Then pay for the person behind you in line. Can you carve out an hour of your week? Volunteer.
It starts with us. All of our lives depend on it. We as a nation, as a people, should accept nothing less.
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photo:
(threew’s).flickr.com/photos/paradisefound/35018164003/in/photolist-Vmrf9k-aweR2a-9A98u9-QPpnKq-T2cNhq-8pX7jG-avZUVo-oSn1UX-Tcyush-7B213y-jEPN3b-eBWbNx-2Wfc83-Lt7jU-VKBGUs-9gRWNy-UfBbd6-bNv3Sx-6Sgmk9-cp9hFm-SKK2Fm-fU174V-rdQoo-qbyP7P-hgG1pH-iRbDRC-UERsUu-64qbTH-TiXckh-aTZSPn-7G4dQZ-n87su4-6zdJU5-Rk9Xjm-a2zSHW-8Phen2-e3oDqf-7geQyM-dHABeL-8c1scU-qbyNu6-73ae45-8xYEZi-bjBrT6-6Jr2Xm-7vzeGg-7vD3Sf-8AdWJo-qsQpHP-XAafvJ
Slow, standing clap over hear, sister. PREACH it! And thank you.
Amen.