Last week’s shooting at a theater in CO was sad news indeed.  Our hearts went out to the families and friends of those hurt and killed in the shooting.

It’s natural to focus on those who were killed and wounded, having deep sorrow for those who lost their loved ones.

In church on Sun. we were reminded that life is eternal.  While we may shed our earth body, life is everlasting. Those who have died in physical form still live on, their souls can not be destroyed.

Don’t weep for the snake skin, it’s simply tissues and cells left behind.  We weep for those left behind picking up the pieces.

Yet, do we weep for all people who are wounded-  physically, emotionally, spiritually? or just those who are on the wrong end of a gun?

How then Shall we Weep?

Many want swift and certain justice for the man who did the shooting. Their sadness appears in the form of retribution, of purging the source of the violence.  Yet the source of that violence doesn’t lie in just one young man.

As I sat in church I thought of the pain the young man must be in to do that kind of act.  I felt deep sadness for him and others who feel so hurt, scared, abandoned, or lost that they would need to act out their pain in that way.  From the newspaper accounts he had a bright future in graduate school, yet something more disturbing was going on below the surface.

The young man who did the shooting is just as hurt as those he shot.  Understanding our world as one interconnected web of life, one interwoven living system, his pain is our pain. I pray that he, and others who act out their pain through violence, find the healing that they need.  I hope and pray our response can be more Love rather than more fear.

Let this shooting be a reminder to all of us to reach out to those who are hurting, who feel lost, who ask for help and comfort.  In this way those who died last week will not have died in vain.  In this way we can channel our grief and compassion into positive action to comfort and support those who are in pain.

Share this post with family or friends who are in need of comfort and support.  Let them know you care about them.  Feel free to comment below with your response to this blog post.

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Linda J. Ferguson is a job and life coach, seminar leader, and speaker, supporting spiritually awakened people who want to live and work with greater peace and balance.

Click here to order Linda’s book “Staying Grounded in Shifting Sand: Awakening Soul Consciousness for the New Millennium”

 

Tags: Compassionate Understanding, Death, Grief